Self-organization in the social economy: A success story – not only during the pandemic crisis?

This paper explores how concepts of self-organization or agility fit for the challenges of the social economy. With the help of an empirical study carried out between 2021 and 2022, key factors for the successful development and implementation of agile concepts in social economy organizations are outlined. System-theoretical considerations show why the social economy is ideally suited to work with agile approaches and increased self-organization. These conclusions are reflected by the selfreported practical experiences of social economy managers, who have experience in self organization. A range of factors are crucial for the development of self-organized leadership and management processes in the social economy. In addition, the organizational resilience of self-organized companies is discussed. This appears to be effective during times of crisis and was apparently quite successful at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.