On My Desk: The Cult(ure) of the Entrepreneur – PA TIMES Online

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Grant E. Rissler
September 6, 2024

The back-to-school rush for faculty includes building/refreshing syllabi for fall semester courses.  A selection of free-access Administrative Theory & Praxis journal articles are a helpful resource—Sandberg’s 2016 article examining the potential tradeoffs between innovation and preservation that come with an increased focus on entrepreneurship in nonprofits is now on my syllabus. Check out the list for the fall or future semesters.      

As an assistant professor in my first semester of full-time teaching, I’m deeply grateful for any resource that makes the task of new course preps easier while also pointing the way to high quality readings that will help students think creatively and critically about a course topic. I’m fortunate to inherit well- constructed versions of the courses from fellow faculty who taught them in prior semesters, but refreshing and updating syllabi remains important. 

Of course, in a world of subscription pay walls, finding a good article, and having it be easily available to students is not always a given. Even well-financed university libraries cannot maintain a subscription to every journal in a field. That makes quite welcome a recent initiative by the Public Administration Theory Network to sponsor a free access collection of articles from the journal Administrative Theory & Praxis that may be useful for first year graduate seminars in Public Administration and other related fields (see Table 1). 

One course I’m teaching this fall is the first in the required sequence for our Non-Profit Studies masters/certificate program at the University of Richmond, so Sandberg’s 2016 article examining the potential tradeoffs between innovation and preservation that come with an uncritical focus on entrepreneurship in nonprofits jumped out at me from the list above. I’ll be using it to help students weigh one of many polarities (two good things that are in tension) that must be managed by leaders in nonprofit work and public administration.

Insights on the “Cult(ure) of the Entrepreneur”

In the article Sandberg notes the trend in nonprofits toward a market frame of reference (what Sandberg terms “marketization”). This means an increasing focus on competition within a nonprofit sector, highlights values of innovation, efficiency, acting strategically in relation to possible competitors and prioritizing the long-term success of the individual organization. Sandberg argues that this discourse that celebrates entrepreneurs as figures able to make nonprofits more successful within a market frame of reference often leaves aside some of the costs that come with such a focus—what Jones & Spicer, in their book “Unmasking the Entrepreneur,” have called the “dirty aspects” of the entrepreneur. (Sandberg notes that economist Joseph Schumpeter’s writings on “creative destruction,” held up Entrepreneurs as a paragon of economic innovation, but also pointed to such costs—that institutions and firms are destroyed in the process.) For nonprofit organizations, Sandberg argues, entrepreneurs can play an important role, but utilizing a discourse that uncritically celebrates innovation and being an entrepreneur can shift the culture of the organization in ways that crowd out some of the other roles nonprofits were formed to embody—safekeepers who conserve past social breakthroughs; explorers who evaluate the past and possible futures; advocates who ally with and amplify disadvantaged voices to influence future changes. Losing appreciation for these roles and values can move non-profits away from collaborations that support broader social goods such as collective deliberation participatory decision-making. In sum, Sandberg argues for a clear-eyed evaluation of the tradeoffs that may come with embracing an uncritical (cult)ure of the Entrepreneur.   

Relevance to Public Administrators      

Scholars of public administration also express concerns of how an exclusive neo-liberal discourse that prioritizes values of economic markets to the exclusion of others. Likewise, “innovation” has also become a buzzword in PA circles broadly, not just the nonprofit sector. Sandberg’s insights are broadly useful to this broader PA field. 

More specifically though, especially with the increasing provision of public services by nonprofits through government-funded contracts or grants, asking how public administrators contribute to the (cult)ure of entrepreneurs is also important. Are public grants and contracts extended to nonprofit organizations decided too heavily on marketized values or are the other roles of nonprofits also ascribed value in the original decision-making and post-award evaluations of government-nonprofit partnerships?

Conclusion

For faculty building or refreshing syllabi for fall semester courses, free-access collections like the one highlighted from Administrative Theory & Praxis are a helpful resource. If you’re aware of other similar resources and compilations, drop a note in the comments section!

Author: Grant Rissler is Assistant Professor of Organizational Studies at the School of Professional and Continuing Studies, University of Richmond (VA).  He serves on the editorial board of Administrative Theory & Praxis (ATP) and focuses his research on social equity and peacebuilding with particular interest in local government responsiveness to immigrants.  The “On My Desk” series of columns, beginning in July 2024, intentionally highlights the insights of one or more articles published in ATP in relation to a current debate or event.  Grant can be reached at [email protected].

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