Organizing and orchestrating microfinance initiatives: a contextual inquiry

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to understand how microfinance initiatives (MFIs) are organized and orchestrated to serve internal and external stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach - A qualitative case study of three international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)–CARE, Oxfam and Grameen Foundation–provided insights into how they each organize and orchestrate MFIs. We used Pettigrew's (1987, 1990) contextual inquiry framework to guide our data collection and analysis of 20 interviews to understand how capacity building, technology adaptation and outcome measurement interact with content, context and process. Findings - We found that CARE's classical model exemplifies decades of successful MFI service delivery, serving as a benchmark for other NGOs. Oxfam's adaptive model builds on CARE's model to leverage MFIs as platforms for achieving multisectoral outcomes. Finally, Grameen Foundation's innovative model builds on both CARE's classical and Oxfam's adaptive models, using human-centered design and scalable business practices. We also found overlaps between the three models, demonstrating the continuous adaptation of MFI models based on changing contexts, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Research limitations/implications - Our research focused on three NGOs headquartered in the USA, involving interviews with staff members having microfinance expertise. We offer analytical generalizability while emphasizing that any change in cultural context, institutional setting or operational conditions may produce different outcomes. Originality/value - We provide exemplary and comparative insights into key issues related to organizing and orchestrating MFIs for NGO practitioners, scholars and policymakers who wish to understand prevailing service delivery models. Finally, we demonstrate the contextual inquiry framework as a viable approach to learn how NGOs organize and orchestrate MFIs through content, context and process.