Understanding organizational porosity : A case study of a public enterprise in Subsaharan Africa

This paper examines how African enterprises can be considered as places of connection between the formal and informal economies. It presents results from a survey carried out in a public enterprise in the DR Congo that made it possible to highlight two major characteristics: - The African enterprise can be considered as offering two opportunities to its members. It gives, on the one hand, the opportunity for employees to be linked with the formal economy that offers a minimal social security, even if it is, sometimes, precarious. On the other hand, it becomes the place of informal economy. That is a place for the individual strategies that meet the needs for survival and gives a solution to the incapacity of the enterprise to suitably fill its engagements towards its employees. - The second characteristic is the necessity of adopting a new vision in the way of analyzing the African enterprise.