Finding your feet in constrained markets: How bottom of pyramid social enterprises adjust to scale-up-technology-enabled healthcare delivery

2021 ◽  
Vol 173 ◽  
pp. 121184
Author(s):  
Atanu Chaudhuri ◽  
Thim Prætorius ◽  
Gopalakrishnan Narayanamurthy ◽  
Peter Hasle ◽  
Vijay Pereira
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias WAELLI ◽  
Etienne Minvielle ◽  
Maria Ximena Acero ◽  
Khouloud Ba ◽  
Benoit Lalloué

Abstract Background A patient-centred approach is increasingly the mandate for healthcare delivery, especially with the growing emergence of chronic conditions. A relevant but often overlooked obstacle to delivering person-centred care is the identification and consideration of all demands based on individual experience, not only disease-based requirements. Mindful of this approach, there is a need to explore how patient demands are expressed and considered in healthcare delivery systems. This study aims to: (i) understand how different types of demands expressed by patients are taken into account in the current delivery systems operated by Health Care Organisations (HCOs); (ii) explore the often overlooked content of specific non-clinical demands (i.e. demands related to interactions between disease treatments and everyday life). Method We adopted a mixed method in two cancer centres, representing exemplary cases of organisational transformation: (i) circulation of a questionnaire to assess the importance that breast cancer patients attach to every clinical (C) and non-clinical (NC) demand identified in an exploratory inquiry, and the extent to which each demand has been taken into account based on individual experiences; (ii) a qualitative analysis based on semi-structured interviews exploring the content of specific NC demands. Results Further to the way in which the questionnaires were answered (573 answers/680 questionnaires printed) and the semi-structured interviews (36) with cancer patients, results show that NC demands are deemed by patients to be almost as important as C demands (C = 6.53/7 VS. NC = 6.13), but are perceived to be considered to a lesser extent in terms of pathway management (NC = 4.02 VS C = 5.65), with a significant variation depending on the type of non-clinical demands expressed. Five types of NC demands can be identified: demands relating to daily life, alternative medicine, structure of the treatment pathway, administrative and logistic assistance and demands relating to new technologies. Conclusions This study shows that HCOs should be able to consider non-clinical demands in addition to those referring to clinical needs. These demands require revision of the healthcare professionals’ mandate and transition from a supply-orientated system towards a demand-driven approach throughout the care pathway. Other sectors have developed hospitality management, mass customisation and personalisation to scale up approaches that could serve as inspiring examples.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 788-808 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Denny-Smith ◽  
Martin Loosemore

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the barriers to entry for Indigenous businesses into the Australian construction industry. Design/methodology/approach A national survey was conducted with 33 Indigenous businesses operating in the Australian construction industry. Findings The findings show that Indigenous enterprises face similar challenges to many small non-Indigenous enterprises wishing to enter the industry. These include adjusting to unique construction industry cultures and practices, breaking into existing business networks and building social capital and being under-cut by industry incumbents and competitors when tendering for projects. These barriers are similar to those faced by other non-Indigenous social enterprises, although Indigenous enterprises do appear to experience relatively greater difficulty in starting-up their businesses and in securing sufficient capital, finance and assistance to enable them to scale-up and tender for normal work packages at a competitive price. Research limitations/implications The results are limited to Australian Indigenous businesses. The survey does not allow a comparison of non-Indigenous and Indigenous businesses, although comparison of results with existing non-Indigenous research into small to medium-sized firms in construction does allow some tentative insights. These need to be explored further. Practical implications These results indicate that there are significant barriers to be addressed within the Australian construction industry if government indigenous procurement policies are to achieve their stated aims of increasing the number of Indigenous firms in the industry. The results also have important implications for Indigenous businesses and for non-Indigenous firms operating in the Australian construction industry. Social implications This is an important gap in knowledge to address if countries like Australia are to redress the significant inequalities in income and health suffered by Indigenous populations. Originality/value In countries like Australia, with significant Indigenous populations, governments are seeking to address persistent disadvantage by using new social procurement initiatives to create quasi construction markets for Indigenous enterprises to participate in the construction industry. While there is an emerging body of research into the barriers facing mainstream small to medium-sized enterprises and, to a lesser extent, social enterprises in construction, the barriers to entry facing Indigenous construction enterprises have been largely ignored.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Nooraslinda Abdul Aris ◽  
Rohana Othman ◽  
Safawi Abdul Rahman ◽  
Marziana Madah Marzuki ◽  
Wan Mohd Yusof Wan Chik

Numerous ethical breaches have made cooperatives, and their management endures pressure to improve their image and ethical performance. One of the ways identified is by adopting ethical codes. Codes are regarded as instruments to enhance social responsibility that contain open guidelines describing desirable behavior and closed guidelines prohibiting certain behaviors. Codes clarify the norms and values organizations seek to uphold. Regarded as social enterprises, cooperatives are compelled to scale up their operations for sustainability reasons towards positive contribution to the national economy. Past research on ethical codes affecting behavior, attitude and performance has yielded mixed results. In addition, there are very few studies devoted to cooperatives. This paper presents the results of scientific literature, highlighting how ethical codes and sustainability may progressively improve the cooperatives’ image and reputation in the eyes of the stakeholders.     Keywords: ethical codes, social responsibility, sustainability, cooperative


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 712-718

<p>Re-Tek UK and its partners, Enscape Consulting and the University of West of Scotland commenced trials for the collection and recovery of critical raw materials from waste electrical and electronic (WEEE) products in July 2016. Sponsored by the EU LIFE funded project ‘Critical Raw Material Closed Loop Recovery’ coordinated by WRAP with EARN, ERP UK Ltd, KTN Ltd and Wuppertal Institute as beneficiaries. The trials are aimed at boosting the recovery of critical raw materials (CRMs) from household waste electrical and electronic products (WEEE) and Information Communications Technology (ICT) in particular, after functioning equipment is separated out for re-use. The new collection models provided residents with the opportunity to drop-off unwanted electrical and electronic appliances at a time and place that suits them, through a collaborative approach which encourages local authorities, educational establishments, businesses, and Social Enterprises, etc to act as hub sites. Hubs were designed to minimize product damage and encourage drop-off, rather than hoarding. Extraction methods developed after the collection phase of the trial looked at the opportunity to recover cobalt, gold and silver from ICT products, with the potential to inform how a more sustainable supply chain could be developed in Scotland. The elements studied were selected to demonstrate financial opportunity (gold/silver) and a strategic priority material (cobalt) for long term supply. These are based on bioleaching and electrochemical recovery using novel carbon based electrode systems, and chemical processing methods using extraction techniques with an assessment of pilot performance and scale up challenges. Our report is on the state of progress towards practical solutions to WEEE and CRM recovery.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 818-848 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raghda El Ebrashi

Purpose Building on the resource-based view of the firm the purpose of this paper is to study the intangible resources available for social ventures, and presents a typology of growth strategies based on the intangible resources possessed by those enterprises. Design/methodology/approach This research applies a multiple case study technique for ten social enterprises in Egypt listed on Ashoka and Schwab Foundation websites. The research employs a purposive sampling technique. Data triangulation is used based on reports, websites, and interviews with social entrepreneurs and employees. Findings The study has three main findings: describing the intangible resources needed by social ventures to grow; detailing the growth strategies adopted by social ventures and corresponding funding mechanisms; explaining how intangible resources affect the selection of growth strategies, and how these interact with the context to produce expected outcomes. Overall, a typology for growth strategies of social ventures is presented. Research limitations/implications This paper is an original attempt to advance research on social enterprises in relation to the RBV and the domain of venture growth and impact scale-up. Practical implications This research is beneficial for social ventures and venture philanthropists who wish to learn about the specific resources important for venture growth, and understand the suitable strategies and context for organizational growth and impact scale-up. Originality/value This research is one of the few attempts to study and explain the types of intangible resources in social ventures and the role of different resource bundles in deciding social venture growth strategy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4(J)) ◽  
pp. 135-151
Author(s):  
Kenneth Tindimwebwa ◽  
Asmerom Kidane ◽  
Silas Joel

The study estimates the efficiency of public health centre II (HCII) facilities in Southwestern Uganda. Specifically, it determines the level of technical efficiency (TE), scale efficiency (SE) and estimates the economic savings required to make inefficient public health facilities efficient. An output-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is employed in the estimation of TE and SE. It was found out that 73 % of the HCIIs were technically inefficient while 27% were technically efficient. Mean TE stood at 72.3% implying that an average HCII could potentially improve its efficiency by increasing its outputs by 27.7%. In addition, 77% of the facilities were SE implying that they obtained the most productive scale size given the input-output combination. 23% of the facilities were scaled inefficient implying that they have more input waste attributable to their size. There is great potential for economic savings shown by different magnitudes of input reductions and output augmentations required to make inefficient facilities efficient. The study has important policy implications. The health sector should embark on rigorous periodic research and development to enhance healthcare delivery efficiently. Since the health units are small, there is a need  to augment their scale sizes and improve on their management practices so as to enhance their overall productivity and efficiency. Stakeholders should scale up efforts to attract, align skills with needs and improve retention and motivation of the health workforce. Holistic investment in resource inputs is essential. A comprehensive monitoring and evaluation plan with key verifiable indicators to monitor the overall health sector performance is required.  


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
mathias waelli ◽  
Etienne Minvielle ◽  
Maria Ximena Acero ◽  
Khouloud Ben Aribi ◽  
Benoit Lalloue

Abstract BackgroundA patient-centred approach is increasingly the mandate for healthcare delivery, especially with the growing emergence of chronic conditions. A relevant but often overlooked obstacle to delivering person-centred care is the identification and consideration of all demands based on individual experience, not only disease-based requirements. Mindful of this approach, there is a need to explore how patient demands are expressed and considered in healthcare delivery systems. This study aims to: (i) understand how different types of demands expressed by patients are taken into account in the current delivery systems operated by Health Care Organisations (HCOs); (ii) explore the often overlooked content of specific non-clinical demands (i.e. demands related to interactions between disease treatments and everyday life). MethodWe adopted a mixed method in two cancer centres, representing exemplary cases of organisational transformation: (i) circulation of a questionnaire to assess the importance that patients attach to every clinical (C) and non-clinical (NC) demand identified in an exploratory inquiry, and the extent to which each demand has been taken into account based on individual experiences; (ii) a qualitative analysis based on semi-structured interviews exploring the content of specific NC demands.ResultsFurther to the way in which the questionnaires were answered (573 answers/680 questionnaires printed) and the semi-structured interviews (36) with cancer patients, results show that NC demands are deemed by patients to be almost as important as C demands (C = 6.53/7 VS. NC = 6.13), but are perceived to be considered to less of an extent in terms of pathway management (NC = 4.02 VS C = 5.65), with a significant variation depending on the type of non-clinical demands expressed. Five types of NC demands can be identified: demands relating to daily life, alternative medicine, structure of the treatment pathway, administrative and logistic assistance and demands relating to new technologies.ConclusionsThis study shows that HCOs should be able to consider non-clinical demands in addition to those referring to clinical needs. These demands require revision of the healthcare professionals’ mandate and transition from a supply-orientated system towards a demand-driven approach throughout the care pathway. Other sectors have developed hospitality management, mass customisation and personalisation to scale up approaches that could serve as inspiring examples.


Author(s):  
Brian English

The rapid increase in slum populations in India has far outpaced the impact of interventions to date. Market-based solutions have started gaining the attention of governments, international aid groups, NGOs and entrepreneurs as they look for new ways to scale up their impact and sustain their interventions. Thousands of new social enterprises that seek to provide social benefits, and sustain largely on business revenues, have sprung up in response. Their rapid proliferation has attracted the attention of impact investors looking to create the next microfinance industry. This chapter profiles two case studies of market-based solutions in India that provide some important lessons for others fostering similar initiatives.


Author(s):  
Fiorenza Lipparini ◽  
Joshua Phillips

Europe is facing unprecedented challenges, from globalisation to migratory flows, changing family structures, ageing populations, inequality and social exclusion, unemployment, and so on. To meet these challenges, we need to modernise EU social protection systems by expanding the social investment dimension of social spending, while taking advantage of technological advancements and multi-stakeholder partnerships to drive change in the welfare system. Within this context, this chapter focuses on the role of Information Communication Technology (ICT) enabled social enterprises for promoting social investment. First, we outline the social enterprise landscape in Europe, going beyond fuzzy concepts to highlight the key characteristics of social enterprises that make them important for social change. Second, we outline key ways in which social enterprises are using ICT in their activities to achieve varied socio-economic goals: from using social media to scale up, to improving organisational management, and expanding service offerings in healthcare, education, the labour market, and other social fields. Our analysis is based on findings from our study on the role of social enterprises in delivering ICT enabled social innovation initiatives promoting social investment approaches, carried out by the authors in the framework of the European Commission’s ICT-Enabled Social Innovation (IESI) project. (See https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/iesi.) We find that ICT-enabled social enterprises are particularly important for social investment, given their ability to combine technological and social innovation, and their focus on meeting community-specific needs that can be scaled up. We encourage research and policy commitments to further test and validate how social enterprises can catalyse public-private partnerships for the delivery of public goods to safeguard our Social Europe.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Anwarul Azim Majumder

The World Health Statistics 2011 compiles the health and related data of its member states including a summary of the progress made towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and associated targets. This analysis examined data for Bangladesh and compares with the other ten member states of the WHO South-East Asia region. From the analysis, it is evident that considerable progress is being made to improve the health of the people of Bangladesh. Nevertheless, there remain many areas of concern over health development and provision of healthcare delivery and financing. In Bangladesh, annual population growth rate and adolescent fertility rate are higher than regional averages. Life expectancy and mortality rates are not impressive in comparison to other regional countries. Overall burden of cause-specific mortality and morbidity is higher; however reported cases of selected infectious diseases are lower than regional average. In terms of health service coverage, in one hand some real concerns were noted (e.g. poor antenatal coverage and availability of skilled health personnel etc.) and on the other hand some achievements were accomplished (e.g. vaccination of measles, DTP3 etc.). Increasing number of underweight children and smoking among male adults are also the key areas of concerns. Bangladesh ranks in the bottom quartile of healthcare spending in the region; the percentage of GDP allocation for health is 3.3% which is far below the level needed to scale up essential health interventions. The country has also relatively few healthcare personnel and hospital beds, and health inequality is observed in the provision of health care delivery which is most prominent in lower socio-economic groups. With regards to health-related MDGs, except child mortality, other target may not be met. Findings from these cross-national comparisons can inform national policy, highlight areas where Bangladesh could improve, and yield benchmarks for improved healthcare performance.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/seajph.v1i1.13206 South East Asia Journal of Public Health 2011:1(1)


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