Artesanias de Colombia (AC) mainly a public organization with 3% private ownership, founded with a mission to promote and foster the Colombian handicrafts in local and international market. So that it could create the opportunities for artisans who are mainly indigenous with a low income.
Paola Munoz, appointed in 2007 as General Manager of Artesanias de Colombia, had to redefine the existing strategy of the company which would enhance the production and sales of Colombian handicrafts. She evaluated the limitations of current strategy implemented by her predecessor to come up with a more productive strategy.
The primarily focus of the previous strategy was on product development only, that is to promote the new designs and to position a differentiation of the handicrafts products among the high income population. However, before implementing her own strategy, Paola wanted to share her strategy with her employees to know about the pros and cons of reorienting this new strategy.
The focus of the new strategy was not only the product development, but also to increase the training and support towards the artisans, especially in the areas of broad significance i.e. administrative, economic and organizational. In most of the OECD countries the government and its agencies represent around 40% and 50% of the economy revenue, and AC is also among them.
This case requires two solutions (1) to formulate a strategy for a not-for-profit organization, but somehow specifically in this case it requires a hybrid strategy because the organization also own 3% private ownership, (a) focus to form a strategy that is social and business oriented (b) promote value creation in the sector with a wide range of producers, comprise of around 350,000 artisans, and (2) to bring into focus the strategic management tools and concepts with relevance and limitations.
However, this case not only include the perspective from strategic management but also from the perspective of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) course that demonstrate the challenges of a hybrid organization that have the mission of social development of the country with some profit margin for its private owners.
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