Social impact and performance measurement systems in an Italian social enterprise: a participatory action research project

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ericka Costa ◽  
Michele Andreaus
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Measurement Systems ◽  
Nonprofit Organisations ◽  
Performance Measurement Systems ◽  
And Performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the multidimensional nature of social and nonprofit organisations' accountability and performance measurement systems (PMSs). It further considers how these systems help in defining outcome performance indicators downward to beneficiariesDesign/methodology/approachThe paper discusses participatory action research (PAR) within an Italian social enterprise. In order to increase dialogue, participation and engagement, the researchers adopted focus groups as a preferred method of investigation and conducted a broad documental analysis from July 2016 to March 2018. The paper discusses the gathered data in light of the social impact value chain as well as the multiple-constituency approach.FindingsThe findings support the idea that social and nonprofit organisations lack the expertise and resources to evaluate outcomes and impact; however, through PAR, the organisation defined their desired outcomes and ascertained which internal output measures were most likely to be correlated with these outcomes. Moreover, the findings highlight that nonprofits develop outcome measurements less frequently because they have more control over their immediate activities and outputs.Practical implicationsThis research suggests the need to reinforce lateral and downward accountability based on mission and mission-based activities in order to make the performance management system of social and nonprofit organisation linked to the organisational strategies.Originality/valueThis paper innovates methodologically in two directions: 1) it adopts action research as a qualitative method, allowing the researcher to generate solutions to collectively-identified problems and 2) the paper's arguments are strongly supported by rich empirical exploration that occurred over a period of 20 months in an Italian social enterprise.

scholarly journals Participatory action and dual lens research

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 283-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Robertson ◽  
Jason Barrow ◽  
Magdalena Wajrak ◽  
Noel Nannup ◽  
Caroline Bishop ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Aboriginal Populations ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Cultural Renaissance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the idea that, in the last few decades, collaborative inquiry methods have evolved along a similar trajectory to dual lens research. Dual lens research, known in various contexts as both ways, two-eyed seeing Old Ways New Ways, and Koodjal Jinnung (looking both ways), is designed to generate new knowledge by exploring a theme through Aboriginal and contemporary western lenses. Participatory action research and a dual lens approach are considered in a number of projects with a particular focus on the issues such work can raise including conceptual challenges posed by fundamental differences between knowledge sets. Design/methodology/approach The authors hypothesize that a dual lens approach will become a branch of participatory action research, as such, a robust description needs to be developed and its ethical implications are considered. Existing work in this direction, including principles and processes, are collated and discussed. Findings Dual lens research as a branch of participatory action research is of great significance in countries with Aboriginal populations that are undergoing a cultural renaissance. As dual lens practitioners, the authors are finding their research outputs have a high positive impact on both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations and make a genuine contribution to reconciliation by finding ways of going forward together. Originality/value This paper joins a growing body of research that supports resonances between Aboriginal and “western” research methods.

On the news today: challenging homelessness through participatory action research

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-25
Author(s):  
Bruno De Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Social Issue ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Homeless People ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Media

Purpose How can people with lived experience of homelessness actively participate in contesting their marginalisation? The purpose of this paper is to suggest that involving people who are homeless in participatory action research (PAR) is one such strategy. This paper shows that such an approach can have a significant impact on empowering people with direct of experience of homelessness to challenge prevailing social discourses, particularly in terms of the way in which the local media presents homelessness as a social issue. Design/methodology/approach A PAR approach informed the design, development and dissemination of the study on which this paper is based. Analytically, it is underpinned by Foucauldian discourse analysis (FDA). FDA, with its focus on power relations in society, is noted to be particularly useful for analysing local media representations of homeless people. Findings The research reported here found that academic practitioners and homeless people can work together to challenge media discourses, which serve to marginalise people affected by homelessness. Research limitations/implications The research reported here served to challenge some of the ways in homeless people are victimized and stigmatized. Practical implications The research reported here has the potential to inform future research concerned with understanding media presentations of homeless people. It can be seen as a model for how people affected by a particularly pernicious social issue can contribute to research in ways that go beyond researching for the sake of research. Originality/value The research reported here provides evidence of the emancipatory value of research that seeks to bring academic practitioners and homeless people together in a partnership to challenge vital social issues such as the power of the local media to frame understandings of homelessness.

scholarly journals Action research and participatory democracy in social enterprise

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janne Gleerup ◽  
Lars Hulgaard ◽  
Simon Teasdale
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Participatory Democracy ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Problems ◽  
Intrinsic Characteristic

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce the reader to the Nordic tradition of Critical Utopian Action Research (CUAR) and to demonstrate how CUAR might reinvigorate participatory democracy as an intrinsic characteristic of social enterprise. This leads us to sketch out the beginnings of how researchers might work with communities to help realise their democratic impulses through social enterprise. Design/methodology/approach This paper aims to synthesise the participatory action research literature, particularly CUAR, with literature on social enterprise and democracy to demonstrate how the two approaches might fruitfully be combined. Findings The authors show how CUAR might be utilised by researchers, to articulate new social enterprise organisational responses to local problems or to reinvigorate democracy within existing social enterprises. Originality/value This exploratory paper marks (we believe) the first attempt to bring together social enterprise and CUAR.

Monitoring and regulating corporate identities using the balanced scorecard

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jai Kim ◽  
Caroline Hatcher
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measurement ◽  
Balanced Scorecard ◽  
Identity Management ◽  
Corporate Identity ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Balanced Scorecard ◽  
Measurement Systems ◽  
Performance Measurement Systems ◽  
And Performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a parallel review of the role and processes of monitoring and regulation of corporate identities, examining both the communication and the performance measurement literature.Design/methodology/approachTwo questions are posed: Is it possible to effectively monitor and regulate corporate identities as a management control process? and, What is the relationship between corporate identity and performance measurement?FindingsCorporate identity management is positioned as a strategically complex task embracing the shaping of a range of dimensions of organisational life. The performance measurement literature likewise now emphasises organisational ability to incorporate both financial and “soft” non‐financial performance measures. Consequently, the balanced scorecard has the potential to play multiple roles in monitoring and regulating the key dimensions of corporate identities. These shifts in direction in both fields suggest that performance measurement systems, as self‐producing and self‐referencing systems, have the potential to become both organic and powerful as organisational symbols and communication tools. Through this process of understanding and mobilising the interaction of both approaches to management, it may be possible to create a less obtrusive and more subtle way to control the nature of the organisation.Originality/valueThis paper attempts the theoretical and practical fusion of disciplinary knowledge around corporate identities and performance measurement systems, potentially making a significant contribution to understanding, shaping and managing organisational identities.

Quality management effects on operating theater's productivity: a participatory action research

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Mohammad Mosadeghrad ◽  
Mahnaz Afshari
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Quality Management ◽  
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Hospital Setting ◽  
Management Model ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Management Model

PurposeThe operating theater (OT) is resource-intensive, costly and assuring its productivity is a high priority. This study aimed to examine a quality management model's effects on a hospital's OT productivity.Design/methodology/approachThe participatory action research approach was used for the intervention. A multidisciplinary quality improvement team was formed. The team improved OT operational processes using an eight-step quality management model. OT’s key performance indicators such as surgical cases, surgical cancellation, bill deductions, successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation, patients' complaints and employees' job satisfaction were collected before the intervention and compared with those of after intervention to determine the efficacy of the quality management model.FindingsApplying a quality management strategy increased surgical patients' number by 14.96%, reduced surgery operations cancellation by 14.6 %, and decreased bill deduction by 44.9%. Besides, successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation increased by 21.17%, patients' complaints reduced by 61.5% and, finally, staff satisfaction increased by 15.6 %. Improved OT productivity resulted in improved financial performance. As a result, the OT revenue has risen by 68.8%.Originality/valueThis study highlights that implementing the right quality management model properly enhances hospitals' productivity. It also offers suggestions on how to implement a quality management model successfully in a hospital setting.

Time rationalities

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 456-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terhi Chakhovich
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measurement ◽  
Listed Company ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Measurement Systems ◽  
Performance Targets ◽  
The Past ◽  
Future Performance ◽  
Performance Measurement Systems ◽  
And Performance

Purpose The temporality of performance measurement systems has been claimed to affect actors’ time orientation, such as that of listed company managers. The purpose of this paper is to explore this view. Design/methodology/approach The study uses constructivist data gathered from executives in one listed and one non-listed company. Findings The study shows that the research on performance measurement is based on a linear-quantitative view on time that assumes that humans orient towards the future from one point, the present; this view excludes other time-related constructs, particularly the past, and highlights a choice between the short term and the long term, idealising the long term. It is shown that the performance measurement of non-listed company executives is constructed through past-based, present-based and future-based rationalities: executives acknowledge the past as a basis for present and future performance, present actions as shaping future performance and future plans and performance targets as bases for present actions. Listed company executives’ performance measurement is constructed predominantly through the present-based time rationality. Research limitations/implications “The orientation from the present” and the “short” and “long terms” could be enhanced with time rationalities. Practical implications The evaluation periods within performance measurement systems do not determine the time orientations of the actors subjected to those systems; time rationalities could be considered when designing such systems. Originality/value The paper provides a novel view on performance measurement and time.

scholarly journals Participatory action research: tools for disaster resilience education

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4/5) ◽  
pp. 402-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Annette Meyer ◽  
Marccus Hendricks ◽  
Galen D. Newman ◽  
Jaimie Hicks Masterson ◽  
John T. Cooper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Participatory Research ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Planning Processes

Purpose Participatory action research can improve scientific knowledge and community capacity to address disaster resilience and environmental justice. Evidence from the literature suggests that resident participation enhances assessment of environmental risks, raises awareness and empowers residents to fight for equitable distribution of hazard and climate risk adaptations. Yet, risk assessment and urban planning processes still frequently operate within expertise-driven groups without significant community engagement. Such fragmentation results in part from a lack of appreciation for community expertise in built environment adaptations and educational tools to support resident involvement in the often technical built environment planning processes. Design/methodology/approach A participatory research and place-based education project was developed that enhanced co-learning between residents and researchers while collecting and analyzing local data on flood resilience in the built environment. Five research activities constitute the curriculum of resilience education on stormwater infrastructure: establishment of partnership agreement/memorandum of understanding, participatory GIS to identify flooding issues, water quality testing and health survey, stormwater infrastructure assessment and urban/landscape design. Partners included high school and college students, residents and environmental justice organizations. Findings Outcomes include a stakeholder-approved infrastructure assessment smartphone application, neighborhood maps of drainage issues, a report of water containments and neighborhood-scaled green infrastructure provisions and growth plans. Findings indicate that participatory research positively contributed to resilience knowledge of participants. Originality/value This paper outlines an interdisciplinary pedagogical strategy for resilience planning that engages residents to assess and monitor the performance of stormwater infrastructure and create resilience plans. The paper also discusses challenges and opportunities for similar participatory projects.

Predicting trust in police: the impact of instrumental and expressive concerns in street-identified Black-American men and women

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 917-933
Author(s):  
Darryl L. Chambers ◽  
Yasser A. Payne ◽  
Ivan Sun
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Black Men ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Original Manuscript ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Trust In Police

PurposeWhile the past few decades have witnessed a substantial number of studies on public attitudes toward the police, a relatively thin line of inquiry has focused exclusively on low income urban Black-Americans, and especially street-identified Black populations. The purpose of this paper, however, is to examine trust in police amongst street-identified Black men and women.Design/methodology/approachRelying on a street participatory action research methodological approach, the authors collected survey data (N = 520) from two low-income unban Black neighborhoods, to examine the effects of an instrumental model versus an expressive model on procedural- and outcome-based trust in police.FindingsThe findings suggested a community sample of street-identified Black men and women were able to differentiate between procedural- and outcome-based trust. The instrumental model was better in predicting procedural-based trust in police, while the expressive model accounted better for outcome-based trust in police.Research limitations/implicationsImplications for street participatory action research methodology, future research and policy are also discussed.Originality/valueThis paper is an original manuscript.

The challenges of scientific journalism according to Mexican university professors, newspaper directors and heads of research

2017 ◽  
Vol 118 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 503-517
Author(s):  
Aixchel Cordero-Hidalgo ◽  
Javier Tarango ◽  
Claudia-Patricia Contreras ◽  
José Refugio Romo-González
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Scientific Literacy ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Perspective ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Scientific Journalism

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the challenges of scientific literacy that scientific journalism can promote or suppress as a scientific dissemination activity. To ensure that universities transfer knowledge to society, this vital activity is studied from the perspectives of their stakeholders: professors, researchers, newspaper directors and heads of research areas of two Mexican universities. Design/methodology/approach From a participatory action research perspective that consisted in applying semi-structured interviews, this study was conducted in two public universities in Chihuahua, Mexico. The group of participants constituted of a random sample of 90 Mexican professors, taken from a population of 246 subjects with the status of national researchers (confidence level = 95 per cent; margin of error = 5 per cent; P/Q correlation = 90 / 10 per cent), in addition to six local newspaper executives and eight research managers at participating universities. Findings Evidence suggests that scientific dissemination has a low social impact, its recognition by universities and scientific evaluation institutions is limited, and the act of making scientific content accessible to the general public is highly complex, especially when it comes to content related to the exact sciences. These results are predictable under the complex models that evaluate scientific production, because the measurement indicators that define scientific competitiveness levels prioritize specific scientific products other than dissemination products such as newspaper articles. Research limitations/implications Data were collected from two Mexican public universities under the implication that the behavior identified through data analysis can occur in other similar environments. Although a participatory action research perspective was assumed, and because this research of a projective nature can be a part of a larger research, no particular actions or interventions were planned or executed, apart from the interviews that aimed to collect data that emerged from participants’ own practice and experiences on the issues studied. Further research can consist of developing forward-looking actions that can contribute to the development of scientific literacy, as well as to the exploration and solution of the issues identified through participants’ own practice. Originality/value One of the social roles of universities is to ensure that scientific knowledge reaches all citizens. However, there are not sufficient studies regarding scientific dissemination, especially from the perspective of professors as generators of scientific knowledge, newspaper directors and heads of research areas.

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