Social value analysis: the case of Pompeu Fabra University

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 233-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Ayuso ◽  
Pablo Sánchez ◽  
José Luis Retolaza ◽  
Mònica Figueras-Maz

Purpose This paper aims to explore how to quantify the social value generated by higher education from a social accounting perspective. The proposed approach is integrated social value (ISV) analysis, a social accounting model that considers both the economic value and the social value created by an organisation for its stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach The ISV analysis has been applied to Pompeu Fabra University, following a participatory action research process with representatives of the university and its stakeholders. Findings The final ISV includes not only the social value created through the university’s economic activity – captured by economic and financial accounting indicators – but also the specific social value created for the different stakeholders by means of non-market relationships, which were monetised through the use of indicators and financial proxies. Research limitations/implications Like other social accounting methodologies, ISV analysis suffers from some limitations regarding data availability and economic pricing, that partly will be resolved with maturation of the methodology and increasing standardisation. Practical implications By using appropriate proxies, the non-market value of the university can be monetised and integrated with university’s market value. The social value results become a valuable tool for developing useful indicators for internal management and external communication. Social implications The process of measuring the social value created by universities provides a way to meet the rising demands for greater accountability and transparency and facilitates engagement with stakeholders on how these institutions are contributing to a sustainable society. Originality/value ISV is a recently proposed social accounting model that combines an organisation’s economic and social results into a single concept of value creation and thus contributes to advance the field of social accounting.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Ayuso ◽  
Xavier Carbonell ◽  
Laia Serradell

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess higher education institutions’ (HEIs) social sustainability by applying Integrated Social Value (ISV) analysis to eight universities belonging to the Catalan Association of Public Universities in Spain. Design/methodology/approach ISV analysis is a social accounting methodology that considers both the economic value and the social value created for all the organisation’s stakeholders through a participatory and systematic process. Findings The authors have shown that ISV analysis can be effective to assess the impacts on social sustainability of HEIs. The monetised results facilitate understanding about the valued impacts and allow integration with the universities’ financial data. Research limitations/implications The research advances the under-researched topic of social sustainability assessment in higher education. Practical implications Quantifying universities’ social impacts in monetary terms may help to transform conventional financial accounting and improve HEIs’ internal strategy and management according to sustainability principles. Social implications The process of measuring the social value created by universities provides a way to meet the rising demands for greater accountability and transparency and facilitates engagement with stakeholders on how these institutions are contributing to sustainable development. Originality/value ISV analysis represents an innovative approach to assess how HEIs create benefits for its internal and external stakeholders and contribute to solutions to social challenges.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leandro da Silva Nascimento ◽  
Júlio César da Costa Júnior ◽  
Viviane Santos Salazar ◽  
Adriana Fumi Chim-Miki

PurposeCoopetition is a well-studied phenomenon in traditional enterprises. However, it lacks deepening in the social sphere, specifically on hybrid organizations (social and commercial goals). This paper analyzes the configuration of coopetition strategies in social enterprises and how these strategies can improve social value devolution.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a multicase study with Brazilian social enterprises and a social incubator. Semistructured interviews with founders of the social enterprises and the president of the incubator were the primary sources of evidence, supported by observations and secondary data.FindingsThe authors identified four main findings: (1) the social incubator induces coopetition among social enterprises; (2) coopetition is necessary to improve market performance; (3) coopetition is a natural strategy resulting from the activity of the social enterprise; (4) the behavior and context of social enterprises generate a new framework for coopetition formation. This framework comprises three stages of value: a social cooperation level to co-creation of value; second, a social competition level to the appropriation of value; and the third coopetition-balanced level to social value devolution.Originality/valueThe authors advance knowledge on coopetition in an exciting, underexplored context, social entrepreneurship. The authors highlight that the coopetition nature and outcome in social enterprises have specificities compared to traditional businesses. The authors also improve the understanding of social value devolution based on simultaneous cooperation and competition among small social enterprises, allowing theoretical and practical implications. Thus, they advance the recurring discussion in coopetition literature beyond the generation and appropriation of value.


Author(s):  
Kosy Timothy Nwosu ◽  
Gerry Gatawa

Social capital is formed from individual abilities through the social investment that contributes to value creation where individuals feel a sense of membership and commitment through their social interactions and relationships. This study aims to explore the application of social capital to women's organizations. It further explores the net social value of women's organizations and the women members to determine social capital's role as a means for value creation. At these ends, the mixed method was employed by combining qualitative and quantitative data gathering approaches. The study used key informant interviews among 11 women's organizations in Baguio City and Benguet, where a total of 284 women members were interviewed. The result of the talks was subjected to semantic analysis and net present social value analysis. The results reveal that women's organizations reflect the dimensions of social capital and bring a significant contribution to members' lives. The findings imply that women members are duly recognized in their organizations, and each member expects to receive a positive value of the social benefit. Hence, women's organizations are the embodiment of social capital that contributes to women's value creation and empowers their members to maximize their capacities.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Friedrich

Although social capital has been often debated in the last 20 years, there is a widely accepted definition missing and the approaches to measuring its size are not very well-developed. Therefore, the definitions of social capital are stated and analysed, whether they are appropriately designed also for measurement purposes. We end up with a division between capital consisting of real capital as fixed and working capital and financial capital on the one hand, and capitals, which are referring to human capital and social capital in a narrow sense on the other hand. The last two are named here as social capital. The stock of the first kind of capital can be expressed as net capital when the liabilities are deducted is booked to the final social balance, as well as the remainder of the stock accounts. The stock of the second one can be identified as social assets reduced by social liabilities. Non-commercial values of economic activities are gathered in social accounting. With social accounting there are several approaches, however most of them are not developed to such an extent that the social capital can be determined through an adequate ex-post analysis. A welfare economic oriented approach comprising a bookkeeping system helps to determine social capital. Based on the willingness to pay approach a commercial bookkeeping system and an additional social bookkeeping were designed where the respective “private” and additional social capital were verified. Both together show the total social capital related to an economic subject. The result is illustrated by such a social accounting for the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of the University of Tartu for 2006. The author discusses the limits and possibilities of this kind of social capital determination.


Author(s):  
Xhimi Hysa ◽  
Vusal Gambarov ◽  
Besjon Zenelaj

On-campus retailing is a spread practice, but academia has almost underestimated its potential. Nevertheless, not every type of retail activity adds value to customers and society. When the proposed value is society-driven and sensitive to consumers' wellbeing, customers' engagement increases. One business model, through which it is possible to exploit the benefits of on-campus retailing by adding social value, is the Yunus Social Business. This is a case-based study aiming to describe, through the Social Business Model Canvas, the founding of an organic shop within a university that is supplied by administrative staff of the university that are at the same time also local farmers. Further, the shop aims to resell organic food to university staff and students. The case study is theoretically enriched by traditional Porterian frameworks and new service frameworks such as the service-dominant logic by emphasizing the role of value proposition, value co-creation, and value-in-context.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-268
Author(s):  
Alex Opoku ◽  
Peter Guthrie

Purpose The social housing sector is under increasing pressure to do more with less and provide value for money as part of the UK Government’s public debt reduction strategy. This study aims to explore the current practices towards unlocking social value in the housing sector through the adoption of the Social Value Act 2012. The Social Value Act seeks to ensure that public sector procurement deliver added value in terms of social, economic and environmental outcomes. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts quantitative research methodology through a survey with 100 housing professionals charged with the delivery of social value outcomes in the social housing sector in England. Findings The results of the study reveal that there is a low level of understanding of the Social Value Act 2012 among the professionals in the social housing sector. Once again, most organisations in the social housing sector do not have social value strategies or policies and rarely consider social value outcomes during procurement. However, employment skills and training and crime and antisocial behaviour reduction are the most social value priority outcomes/needs identified with organisations currently promoting social value in the social housing sector. Social implications The issue of social value has importance towards the wider society, and the study provides an insight into current practices towards the realisation of social value outcomes in the housing sector. Originality/value The Social Value Act 2012 came into force in January 2013, and little has been written on the impact of the Act on the social housing sector in England. This study identifies current practices in the social housing sector towards the delivery of social value outcomes in the day-to-day business operations.


Author(s):  
Wafa Said Mosleh ◽  
Henry Larsen

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present researcher's reflexive writing about emergent events in research collaborations as a way of responding to the process-figurational sociology of Norbert Elias in the practice of organizational ethnography.Design/methodology/approachDrawing parallels between Norbert Elias' figurative account of social life and auto-ethnographic methodology, this paper re-articulates the entanglement of social researchers in organizational ethnographic work. Auto-ethnographic narration is explored as means to inquire from within the emerging relational complexity constituted by organizational dynamics. Writing about emergent events in the research process becomes a way of inquiring into the social figurations between the involved stakeholders; thus nurturing sense-making and increasing the awareness and sensitivity of the researcher to her own entanglement with the relational complexity of the organization under study.FindingsIn the paper, we argue that the writing of auto-ethnographic narratives of emergent field encounters is a process of inquiry that continuously depicts the temporal development of the relational complexity in organizations. Viewing that from the perspective of Elias' concept of figuration, we find a common commitment to the processual nature of research processes, which insists on moving beyond objectifying empirical insights.Originality/valueThis paper encourages awareness of the interdependency between ourselves as social researchers and field actors as we engage with the field. It moves beyond simplifying the ethnographic research agenda to that of “studying” and “describing” organizations. It offers unique insights into the organizational context, and increased sensitivity toward the social entanglement of the experiences that we, ourselves, as researchers are part of.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-488
Author(s):  
Markus Furendal

If there is a duty of justice to contribute to society, which asks individuals to produce a specific amount of goods and services that can be redistributed, we need a decision-procedure to know when we have done our part. This paper analyses and critically assesses the commonly suggested decision-procedure of relying on market prices to measure the value of one’s contribution. It is usually assumed that a high salary indicates that one’s talents are put to good use, but this presupposes both that market prices of labour are correct reflections of supply and demand, and that market prices are correct reflections of social value. I criticise both assumptions and argue that the social value of a contribution cannot simply be a function of its market value, but is also influenced by the principles of justice that support the duty to contribute. Further, the market solution is incapable of valuing contributions that lack market prices, like non-marketised care labour. The market solution thus fails as a decision-procedure under other than special circumstances. This does not mean, however, that we need to give up the idea of a duty to contribute.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 515-529
Author(s):  
Luciana Londero Brandli ◽  
Amanda Lange Salvia ◽  
Leila Dal Moro ◽  
Vanessa Tibola da Rocha ◽  
Janaina Mazutti ◽  
...  

Purpose This paper aims to highlight the contribution of ecological fairs to the promotion of sustainability in university campuses, based on a case study carried out at the University of Passo Fundo, located in Southern Brazil. Design/methodology/approach Producers and consumers of the ecological fairs were interviewed to analyse how the social, economic and environmental spheres of sustainable development are impacted by these fairs. In total, 24 interviews were conducted. Findings The results showed how fairs positively impact the academic and local community while bringing sustainability into university campuses. Research limitations/implications The main limitations of this study were the number of interviews and the short period during when the study was conducted. Practical implications This case study demonstrated how the promotion of ecological fairs on a university campus plays an important role in the implementation and practice of sustainability and can serve as an example for other institutions that intend to work on similar projects. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature by providing a discussion on how ecological fairs represent a good addition in the process of universities to become more sustainable and which aspects of each sustainability sphere are involved.


2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
John van Breda ◽  
Josephine Musango ◽  
Alan Brent

Purpose – This paper aims to improve the understanding of individual transdisciplinary PhD research in a developing country context, focusing on three individual PhD case studies in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach – Multiple-case method was used, and three completed transdisciplinary PhD research efforts undertaken at the Stellenbosch University were selected. They were coordinated through the TsamaHub, an inter-faculty platform at the University which organises educational modules for transdisciplinary research. Using actual research experiences and reflections of the three individual PhDs, the paper evaluates their work in terms of ontological, epistemological, methodological and methodical/methods aspects. Findings – The central challenge to individual PhD researchers is engagement with non-academic actors to enable joint problem formulation, analysis and transformation. To overcome this, the paper suggests that developing individual epistemic relationships to build “transdisciplinary epistemic communities” should be considered for inclusion as an intentional aspect of transdisciplinary research design. Research limitations/implications – “Transdisciplinary epistemic communities” is still a concept in its infancy and needs more work before it may be theoretically and practically useful. Practical implications – Continuously guiding the individual transdisciplinary research process in a reflexive, recursive, transparent and equal manner is absolutely critical because transdisciplinary research cannot be done successfully if dominated by overly methods-driven approaches. Originality/value – The discourse around transdisciplinary methodology has major implications for the design of individual PhD research. The paper provides recommendations to enhance the theory and practice of individual transdisciplinary PhD research.


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