The Abrasol case: an analysis of the managerial problematic affecting a waste-picker organization in Brazil

Details

Supervisors

Desmet, Carlos ; Martins, Miguel

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion

Abstract

The following work has been carried out under the structure of a case study. The organization that has been selected is a social enterprise called “Abrasol” operating in one of the favelas of the city of Vitoria in Brazil working within the solid waste management business. The organization collects, sorts and commercialises recycled materials impacting on the local community on many different levels - economic, social, ecological and educational - and it is therefore vital for the neighbourhood. Currently the business has featured some management challenges that are undermining its impact in the society it serves. Starting from the hypothesis that the organization is generating and capturing only a small part of the value that it potentially could, the aim of the work is to identify the problematic affecting the business and their origins in order to then propose a new strategy that could allow Abrasol to generate more value for the community and therefore capture more of it. After a deep analysis of the internal and external environment affecting the organisation, a solution is provided. A change in the business plan of the organisation result to be the best option for Abrasion to be sustainable and be able to scale up.