This article examines the links between a collective project and management tools within the entrepreneurial dynamics that have resulted in the formation and development of an association of organic fruit and vegetable producers. Mainly theoretical in nature, the article focuses on two closely related fields of research: those of management tools and the theory of project-based business—a theory that has already been put forward and discussed within the field of entrepreneurship, and more specifically in that of the emergence of organizations. We ask the following: How does a collective emerge, form, and structure itself using management tools? Our research provides a detailed understanding of the role of such tools in developing entrepreneurial projects. Management tools are clearly what enable a collective project to keep going in the long term. Our research also provides a better understanding of the processes involved in discovering and taking advantage of entrepreneurial opportunities in the world of farming, particularly within the so-called alternative movement.
- project
- collective
- tool
- regulation
- entrepreneurship