Annika Skoglund, Karin Berglund and David Redmalm

Project summary

n the wake of the economic crisis, researchers and practitioners have repeatedly called for more responsible businesses. The Hungarian ICT company Prezi is a prime example of how companies today are assuming greater responsibility, even by addressing challenging social and political issues. Prezi actively promotes openness towards sexual minorities and works to foster anti-racism in relation to the Roma population.

 

However, we know very little about how companies’ core activities are transformed when they seek to address social and political problems. Prezi provides a rich case for developing our understanding of this process, particularly as the company is inspired by a neoliberal approach to governance that seeks an effective distribution of responsibilities between businesses, the state and citizens. How, then, are Prezi’s internal core activities and its efforts to foster creativity connected to broader social and political issues? And how can this be understood as a form of “alternative entrepreneurship”?

 

We address these questions using video ethnography, filming and producing documentaries about the company’s employees and its interactions with other businesses and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). We will also explore theories of “alternative entrepreneurship” – forms of entrepreneurship that seek not only economic profitability but also social and political well-being.