“When two worlds collide” conflicting logics in indigenous community-based enterprises

Carlos Poblete () and Cristina Acuña ()
Additional contact information
Carlos Poblete: Universidad del Desarrollo
Cristina Acuña: Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Universidad del Desarrollo

Small Business Economics, 2025, vol. 65, issue 3, No 29, 1951 pages

Abstract: Abstract This study explores how Indigenous Community-Based Enterprises (ICBEs) navigate conflicts between Indigenous logics and Western logics. More precisely, by focusing on the case of Salinas de Guaranda in Ecuador, we examine, through an institutional logics perspective, how these enterprises confront challenges posed by environmental changes, such as generational shifts, regulatory pressures, and the pursuit of economic viability. Our analysis identifies two key strategies employed by ICBEs to manage conflicting logics: integration, which occurs when environmental changes are compatible with Indigenous logics, and symbolic compliance, which emerges when Indigenous logics clash with market-driven logics but the community remains the primary decision-maker. The findings highlight the interplay between tradition and modernity, collectivism and individualism, and illustrate the resilience of ICBEs in preserving their Indigenous logics. Hence, this study contributes to the institutional logics literature by introducing symbolic compliance as a strategy for balancing external pressures with Indigenous logics, advances organizational hybridity by showing how ICBEs selectively integrate external practices to preserve cultural identity, and highlights how conflicting logics drive innovation, fostering resilience and sustainability in Indigenous entrepreneurship. Plain English summary.

Keywords: Community entrepreneurship; Community-based enterprise; Indigenous logics; Institutional logics; Conflicts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L26 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11187-025-01077-4 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:65:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s11187-025-01077-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... 29/journal/11187/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s11187-025-01077-4

Access Statistics for this article

Small Business Economics is currently edited by Zoltan J. Acs and David B. Audretsch

More articles in Small Business Economics from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().