key: cord-0064551-0qgxys3x authors: Martins, Vanessa; Ferreira, Marisa; Braga, Vitor title: The role of the fourth sector in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic date: 2021-03-10 journal: nan DOI: 10.1002/jsc.2402 sha: fce2b16115904f0fa412300286270ffb56cc4c9b doc_id: 64551 cord_uid: 0qgxys3x The fourth sector, which is composed of “for‐benefit” enterprises, can play a fundamental and positive role for the community, particularly in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic. It supports public organizations and protects disadvantaged populations. Further research is suggested on the cross‐sectoral collaboration based on non‐profit motivations during the pandemic. economic conditions. Although cross-sectoral collaboration has been (yet incipiently) explored in the literature, the CS context has not been the scenario for exploring the collaboration across sectors with such different perspectives and objectives. The isolation of a certain place challenges society's existing paradigms, requiring adapted and new entrepreneurial strategies. Thus, an opportunity arises to study the fourth sector's role in a concrete context of a pandemic, given the greater collaboration between society to mitigate the COVID-19 virus, the fourth sector's concern to support the most disadvantaged population and the lack of regulation in this area. This study aims to analyze the role of the fourth sector, specifically the role of hybrid organizations and collaboration across sectors in the context of a pandemic, from the perspective of non-profit organizations. Our case explores how entrepreneurial activities were put forward to contribute to the population's needs and how the private initiative responded to SC's particular context. The literature review allows a deepening of theoretical knowledge in the fourth sector, although this subject is still little explored in the literature. However, the most innovative impact refers to the context in which the cross-sectoral collaboration takes place. To our knowledge, the entrepreneurial strategies and motivations in such context have not been explored thus far. The discussions on civil society classification, considering its organization model, led to the definition of three traditional sectors (public, private, and non-profit) with different objectives, needs, and interventions. A so-called fourth sector was recently defined along three distinct strands. The first strand focuses on the informal volunteering by individuals who support other individuals on a given problem without acting within an organizational context (Carson, 1999; Reed & Selbee, 2001) . The second strand focuses on self-organized civic activism in an area of civil society with an activity that is structured outside the non-profit sector (Pasi & Faehnle, 2017) . The third strand focuses on the emergence of hybrid organizations, the object of study in the present article. Hybrid organizations are characterized by the aspiration to generate social impact and profit simultaneously (Haigh, John, Sophie, & Kickul, 2015) . They present value systems and logics of action of the different sectors and elaborate on their management models based on the resolution/improvement of a social problem (Gidron, 2017) . The management model also assumes that certain commercial activities are consistent with a defined objective (Rask et al., 2020) . Authors argue that hybridity combines characteristics of organizations belonging to the second and third sectors. Hybrid organizations can generate revenue and attract capital in different ways, and present both management models (Schmitz & Glänzel, 2016) . These organizations' purpose is to generate social impact by meeting the society's challenges without neglecting their financial sustainability (Battilana & Lee, 2014; Battilana, Lee, Walker, & Dorsey, 2012; Hoffman, Badiane, & Haigh, 2012 ). The management model governing these organizations is still based on the guidelines defined by the other sectors of the economy, given the insufficient political regulation for the fourth sector (Fourth Sector Group, 2016) . This model is called the "for-benefit model," and is defined by the organizational objective of positively contributing to the society and the environment, in addition to generating profits for shareholders (Sabeti, 2011) . Organizations that follow this model have the same management structure as traditional businesses, including directors' appointment, creating a board, and permission to have shareholder-owners (Fourth Sector Group, 2016; Sabeti, 2011) . However, unlike traditional business organizations, operations must consider the profit margin and the impact of corporate decisions on the social, environmental, and/or cultural goals set. Likewise, shareholders must consider the organizations' growth and its success in the com- Table 1 . In addition to the above, the fourth sector collaborates with all sectors of society when they come together to face a need that one sector alone is unable to overcome (Bryson et al., 2015; Sinuany-Stern & Sherman, 2014) . This cross-sectoral collaboration summons the creation of powerful alliances with other different sectors (public, private, and non-profit), which, working together, potentially conceive markets and redefine activities. At the same time, simultaneously seek to resolve the most relevant problems of humanity regarding poverty, inequality, hunger, disease, pollution, and other issues related to the environment (Selsky & Parker, 2005) . In recent decades, these partnerships have evolved and have been fostered by the fourth sector when all sectors are involved in a common goal that could not be achieved with collaborations between two sectors (Seitanidi, 2009 ). In recent years, there has been explosive growth in the crosssector collaboration, that is, the fourth sector, given the many possibilities that such partnerships offer (Austin & Seitanidi, 2014) . The fourth sector has the requirements to minimize the consequences of the pandemic. Overall, the present study shows that the fourth sector can impact the sustainable development objectives and their respective targets and create a triple positive impact (economic, social, and environmental) during and after the COVID-19 era (Grynspan & Mataix, 2020) . Based on the literature review, the following propositions are formulated to determine the role of the fourth sector in the context of a pandemic: Proposition 1 The fourth sector has a differentiating and positive role in pandemic mitigation and control in third sector organizations (Grynspan & Mataix, 2020) . Proposition 2 The contributions of the fourth sector met the needs and expectations of third sector organizations. Proposition 3 There has been a collaboration between all sectors of society to mitigate and control the pandemic. The methodology used in this research is that of the exploratory case study. The aim is to develop the theory by exploring a given phenomenon and its respective context (Dooley, 2002) . Exploratory studies aim to define questions and hypotheses for further research, Resource pressure The imminent risk that organizations suffer when the interest in maintaining their financial sustainability overlaps their social, environmental and/or cultural mission, deviating from their purpose. (Battilana, 2018; Park, 2020) providing support for theorization (Yin, 2009 ). The study's methodological objective is to respond to the literature review's propositions by collecting and analyzing data provided by third and fourth sector organizations during the pandemic period. Given its exploratory nature of the study, secondary data from different sources were collected. Most of the data sources were national and local news. Our approach was mostly descriptive, exploring the nature and mechanisms of cooperation, the fourth sector's emergence under a pandemic, and unexpected context. The COVID-19 pandemic experienced worldwide has had a significant impact on all sectors of society. In particular, the municipality of Ovar showed an exponential increase in the number of cases and was forced to remain isolated from the other neighboring municipalities, with entry and exit prohibited for approximately 1 month. During the health fence, trade, restaurants, and industry were forced to close their doors. The government had dictated that only organizations producing essential goods and services and those in the third sector, given their social mission, were allowed to remain in operation. With the closure, Private Institutions of Social Solidarity (IPSS) of the municipality decided that, in order not to put the residents at risk, they would stay with a team of technicians, nurses and collaborators 24 hr a day in the institution, thus avoiding the flow of entries and exits. In the following week, Ovar became the country's ghost council, with the whole community fulfilling the social isolation that the state had implemented. In the following days, the cases continued to increase in the municipality. The virus had reached two organizations of the third sec- The Ramada Group stresses that "although it was prevented from working due to the calamity, it could not fail to support the community with the essential steel for the visors." The Ramada Group also describes that, despite this overwhelming scenario, the municipality and people of Ovar managed to unite more than ever and brought mutual help and community solidarity, an evident characteristic of the fourth sector. Without the collaboration of all the sectors, it would not have been possible to carry out the visors and ensure that they all reached those most in need. When the fourth sector is allowed to support the community, the benefits are evident. Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Ovar shows that this support was pivotal in equipping its collaborators when the material was scarce and allowed for some tranquility and security. This project has grown exponentially over time and has produced a total of 200,000 visors. Other companies were associated with this project at a national level, essentially for distribution and logistics. It was thus possible to equip other organizations outside the municipality and provide more protective equipment. The need to equip professionals was astronomical with the organizations of the third sector of the municipality. However, they highlighted another great need, the separation of residents with COVID-19 from the others. In short, there was an urgent need for the assistance and collaboration of the entire resident community in the period of the health fence. This study found collaboration among all sectors and the participation of hybrid organizations from the municipality to pursue the common goal of mitigating the COVID-19. This article has allowed us to deepen the fourth sector's concepts. In light of the literature, it can be claimed that this sector has different strands and definitions. It was found that the fourth sector is capable of producing a triple positive impact, economic, social, and environmental and that it is crucial to mitigate the pandemic and support the community in the COVID-19 era and beyond. The propositions under analysis were intended to prove these facts and reinforce the social importance of this sector. Concerning the gaps that have been highlighted, there is a lack of regulations and laws to determine their organization. The fourth sector is critical for pursuing community goals and calling for specific guidelines and government support. Its effectiveness and importance for third sector organizations, especially those dealing with the crisis and pandemic situations, is in the focus of future research. 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