Alliances that Build Alliances:

McKinsey is a worldwide consulting firm that operates in 43 countries, while Fundación Compromiso (Commitment Foundation, FC) is a highly professionalized nonprofit organization that provides training, counsel and technical assistance to other nonprofits, effectively helping them to improve their management and enhance their impact. The Ashoka Association, an organization supporting social entrepreneurs throughout the world that had an international partnership with McKinsey, served as a liaison between both FC and McKinsey.

This case describes the role played by FC’s founder, Carolina Biquard, and Ashoka’s network. Through Ashoka’s intervention, McKinsey used its core competencies to provide technical assistance to FC. This collaboration specifically focused on evaluating one of FC’s major programs and devising its long-term growth strategy.

The case unfolds when, once McKinsey completed its technical support assignment, Argentina’s social, political and economic scenario changes dramatically, sharply curtailing FC’s possibilities to pursue the strategic plan crafted with McKinsey’s support and forcing FC to revisit its growth strategy.

The issues presented in the case prove useful to analyze the role of social entrepreneurs and their leadership in NGOs. This case can be used in courses dealing with topics referred to entrepreneurship and studying corporate strategies to relate to communities and cross-sector alliances.