Scaling in a post-growth era: Learning from Social Agricultural Cooperatives

It has become normative in organization and management studies literature to consider scaling as a synonym for organizational growth. Scaling is typically understood scaling-up. This article demonstrates that, the context of post-growth organizations, involves more complex set dynamics. Directing scholarly attention Italian Social Agricultural Cooperatives (i.e. organizations that hold different rationale modus operandi from capitalist enterprise), this research contributes on impact by identifying nine routes: growth (vertical horizontal); downscaling; policies; multiplication; culture; societal aggregation; diffusion. scaling: (1) requires synergistic interaction strategies; (2) focuses impacting (3) does not necessarily require growth; (4) relational process, embedded socio-ecological systems. The typology presented empowers aware available routes, unlocking their transformative potential supporting transition towards future, which goal economics pursuit human ecological flourishing.