The roles of social enterprises in a Swedish labour market integration programme – opportunities and challenges for social innovation

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Kraff ◽  
Eva Maria Jernsand
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Labour Market Integration ◽  
Work Integration ◽  
Set Up

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the roles of work integration social enterprises (WISEs) in the Swedish establishment programme for newly arrived refugees, and how its set-up affects WISEs preconditions for social innovation. Design/methodology/approach The paper builds on a longitudinal and qualitative action research study of a WISE and its work in organising a course for labour market integration, in the context of the Swedish establishment programme. The authors were actively involved in the study as embedded researchers. Findings The exploration identifies a number of roles that WISEs take on in the establishment programme. It illustrates how WISEs hybrid character places participants at the centre of the innovation process, where their opinions and knowledge are considered crucial, and how this positively affects their ability to gain skills and confidence. However, the study also makes visible how issues of coordination between stakeholders in the programme lead to mismatches between course content and participant profiles, colliding activities and sporadic participation. In short, the bureaucracy embedded in labour market integration systems erodes the preconditions of WISEs to foster social innovation. Originality/value The embeddedness of the authors provides in-depth knowledge regarding how complex state systems affect WISEs in practice. Importantly, it also gives insights into the experiences of refugees, a group that is often mentioned in the literature on WISEs, although mainly in passing.

The role of social enterprises in facilitating labour market integration for people with disabilities: A convenient deflection from policy mainstreaming?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
CHERYL HIU-KWAN CHUI ◽  
CHEE HON CHAN ◽  
YANTO CHANDRA
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Labour Market Integration ◽  
Job Opportunities ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
Work Integration ◽  
Disability Employment

Abstract Policymakers have increasingly embraced social enterprises as a vehicle to create job opportunities for the disadvantaged. However, there is limited research on social enterprises in the context of disability in relation to labour market integration. Drawing on the perspectives of representatives of work integration social enterprises and people with disabilities employed in these enterprises (n=21), this study examines whether and how work integration social enterprises promote inclusion for people with disabilities, and also explores the role of WISEs in enabling people with disabilities to transition into open employment. Thematic analysis revealed three key emergent themes: Cocooned inclusion but not transition; Reinforced normative demarcation; and WISEs as a deflection from institutionalizing proactive disability policy measures. This article argues that, although WISEs were able to provide job opportunities for people with disabilities, their purported function in enabling disabled people to transition into open employment remains constrained by factors beyond their control including prevailing norms and the absence of proactive disability employment measures. This article cautions against the over-romanticisation of WISEs as the primary means to ensure the rights of people with disabilities to participate in the labour market. Implications on disability employment policies in relation to social enterprises are discussed.

scholarly journals Exploring eudaimonia through meaningful work narratives within work integration social enterprises

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Bilbija ◽  
Jack Stout Rendall
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Meaningful Work ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Professional Workers ◽  
Professional Employees ◽  
Work Integration ◽  
New Evidence

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide new evidence on the different dimensions of well-being that can occur in work integration social enterprises (WISEs). This study aims to call for a future discussion on the role of meaningful work (MW) and its impact upon well-being beyond satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach Explorative interviews were undertaken with professional workers and beneficiaries within a Spanish WISE. These interviews aimed to uncover similarities and differences across aspects of what makes work meaningful to them as workers. Both eudaimonic and hedonic dimensions of well-being were used to analyse the data. Findings Different groups of employees show that professional employees (those working in the WISE, not because of their disadvantages in the labour market) create their narratives based on MW experiences (eudaimonic well-being), whereas beneficiaries (those working in the WISE because of their disadvantages in the labour market) often describe how satisfied they are at work (hedonic). Originality/value The concept of MW within WISEs to achieve well-being for both beneficiaries and professional workers could be enhanced through discussion of the different types of well-being that are being realised in such settings. Engaging with the concept of “eudaimonia” helps the authors to achieve this aim.

Exploring the social innovation process in a large market based social enterprise

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 1399-1414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martine Vézina ◽  
Majdi Ben Selma ◽  
Marie Claire Malo
Keyword(s):  
Social Transformation ◽  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Investment Fund ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Large Market ◽  
The Social

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the organising of social innovation in a large market-based social enterprises from the perspective of dynamic capabilities and social transformation.Design/methodology/approachThis paper analyses the process by which Desjardins Group launched the Desjardins Environment Fund as the first investment fund in North America to integrate environmental screening. It uses longitudinal single case analysis and a theoretical framework based on Teece’s three dynamic capabilities.FindingsResults show that dynamic capabilities can be conceived as stages in the process of social innovation. Sensing refers to the capability to identify a societal demand for social transformation. Seizing capability is about shaping societal demand into a commercial offer. Reconfiguring concerns organisational innovation to integrate actual and new knowledge through innovative routines. Microprocesses of both path dependency and path building are in action at each of the three stages.Practical implicationsThis paper shows that managing dynamic capabilities is central to social innovation in the context of a large social business and provides genuine managerial input via an analysis of the microprocesses at work in the social innovation process.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the operationalization of Teece’s dynamic capabilities model. In mobilising a framework in the field of management of innovation, it contributes to the understanding of the process of social innovation and develops the organisational mechanism for multiscalarity of social innovation as a condition for social transformation.

A tool to systematise discrimination in labour market integration

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 567-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Naegele ◽  
Wouter De Tavernier ◽  
Moritz Hess ◽  
Frerich Frerichs
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Analytical Process ◽  
Labour Market Integration ◽  
Five Phases

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the discourse on labour market discrimination by introducing an analytical process model that offers a template for the systematic analysis of discrimination within the process of labour market integration. Its usage and contribution to the field is exemplified by applying the proposed model to the case of ageism in labour market integration. Design/methodology/approach Five phases and four actors are distinguished that, added together, compose the proposed analytical process model. In the following, the model is used as an analytical framework for a mapping review, aimed at identifying and critically evaluating the vast and extensive literature on ageism in the process of labour market integration. Findings The paper concludes that ageism occurs in all five phases of the integration process, pinpointing potential areas for policy interventions. Furthermore, the authors conclude that the existing literature on ageism in labour market integration is fragmented, with some elements and/or actors within the process so far having received little attention. Originality/value The analytical process model developed in this paper provides the scientific community with a tool to systematise the literature, detect underlying mechanisms and uncover existing research gaps, not only for the case of ageism presented here, but for a vast variety of other –isms. In addition, policy makers, trade unions and employers can use the model to better target and tailor anti-discrimination measures in labour market integration.

Classifying difference in organizing, or how to create monsters

2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 614-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Diedrich
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Organizational Life ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Labour Market Integration ◽  
Validation Procedure ◽  
Empirical Context ◽  
New Perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the operation of classification mechanisms in organizational life, and how they construct the skills and knowledge of initially marginalized client groups. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on an ethnographically inspired case study of a Swedish labour market procedure, which was designed to validate the skills and knowledge of non-western immigrant job-seekers. Qualitative data were generated through observations, in-depth interviews and document analysis. Findings – The study found that, contrary to policy-makers’ intentions, the validation procedure ended up dissociating the non-western job-seekers’ heterogeneous experiences, skills and knowledge from the organizing processes of the labour market, displacing them beyond the boundaries of legitimate knowledge, and reproducing their marginalized position on the labour market. As non-western skills and knowledge were found unclassifiable according to the validation procedure, they were deemed too different and monstrous. Research limitations/implications – The research approach and the specific institutional context of Swedish immigration and labour market policy means that the research results are not readily generalizable to other empirical contexts. Therefore, studies outside of Sweden are needed to generate knowledge about similar policies in other countries. Practical implications – The classification of skills and knowledge and the organizing of difference does not primarily require new tools and methods, but a whole new perspective, which recognizes the multiplicity and heterogeneity of unusual skills and knowledge as an important part of labour market integration. Originality/value – The paper examines the monstrous aspects of classification mechanisms within the empirical context of labour market integration efforts, which is hitherto underexplored in the literature on the management of difference and diversity.

scholarly journals Social Enterprises of Immigrants: A Panacea for the Finnish Labour Market?

2021 ◽  
pp. 227797792110146
Author(s):  
Nafisa Yeasmin ◽  
Timo Koivurova
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Alternative Form ◽  
Positive Interaction ◽  
Disadvantaged Groups ◽  
Sustainable Operation

Research questions: The objectives of this study are to identify the need for Social Enterprises (SEs) as an alternative form of working in the Finnish labour market, what alternative forms of co-operation between such types of SEs could be and how larger local companies can support the sustainable operation of these small SEs by employing immigrants and the long-term unemployed. Theory: This article draws on the corporate social responsibility CSR theory of traditional enterprises to better explain the factors that can facilitate co-operation between SEs and private enterprises, thereby reaching the sustainable operation of SEs that are run by socially disadvantaged groups of people in Lapland. Phenomenon studied: SE is a new phenomenon in Lapland. There are a few SEs in the region that are struggling to maintain their existence in a sustainable manner. It is harder for the members of such SEs to run businesses or to work and to become successful in Lapland; however, obtaining employment or running a proprietorship is not an alternative (Yeasmin, 2016) for these disadvantaged people. Case context: The article contributes to the studies on the economic integration and labour market sustainability of immigrants and long-term job seekers, and particularly to the socio-economic integration of the long-term unemployed by focusing on the necessity-driven social entrepreneurship networking model in a sparsely populated region, that being the region of Lapland in Northern Finland. Findings: The disadvantaged groups need access to the labour market in Lapland, and social alliances between various partners (e.g., private, public and SE) under different social circumstances (e.g., CSR) can generate alternative options for co-operation to sustain the existence of such SEs in Lapland. An analysis explores future recommendations for co-operation that might sustain SE’s existence and development and might also increase long-term prospects for targeted SEs. Discussion: Lapland-based SEs operated by immigrants or the long-term unemployed are issues and themes that do not fall within the responsibility of any single authority or any single sector. Successfully running SEs demands positive interaction and social innovation strategies among many social partners. Networking with a variety of public stakeholder groups alongside the private sector needs to see an investment of social resources for mapping the phenomena on the topic of social economy, which is a social innovation process that might enable such SEs to have successful outcomes in Lapland.

Institutional aspects of competence-based integration of retired military officers into the civilian labour market

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vidmantas Tūtlys ◽  
Jonathan Winterton ◽  
Odeta Liesionienė
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Military Officers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Labour Market Integration ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Systemic Factors ◽  
Institutional Aspects ◽  
The Military

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight systemic factors of competence-based integration of retired military officers into the civilian labour market in terms of the perspective of the institutions and institutional settings of competence involved in the formation and deployment. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 25 retired military officers in Lithuania. Findings The main institutional problems and challenges of the competence-based labour market integration of retired military officers involve are concentrated in the fields of deployment of skills in the military service, and as well as in the adjustment of acquired skills to the requirements of the civilian labour market. Research limitations/implications The main limitation of the research is the absence of perspectives and attitudes of other stakeholders such as policy makers, employers and providers of education and training. Practical implications Research identified expectations of retired military officers concerning improvement of training and labour market integration services. Originality/value The paper is focused on the institutional aspects of competence-based labour market integration of the retired military officers from their perspective.

Employment patterns and family satisfaction in Europe

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 394-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Böhnke ◽  
Isabel Valdés Cifuentes
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Family Satisfaction ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Labour Market Integration ◽  
Country Comparison ◽  
Cross Country

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between labour market integration and family satisfaction in a cross-country comparison perspective and takes important intervening factors into consideration such as the social policy and flexibility strategy as well as the cultural context of 27 European countries. Design/methodology/approach The authors rely on data from the European Quality of Life Survey 2012 and conduct multi-level analyses using both the one-step random intercept Model with cross-level interactions as well as a two-step hierarchical model. The country-specific framework is addressed with indicators for the level of social security, for external flexibility labour market characteristics, and for the predominant family solidarity norm of a country. Findings The paper provides empirical support for the thesis of social disruption according to insecure labour market attachment. This link is weakened in countries where flexible labour market conditions are accompanied by strong efforts on state-provided social security. High family support norms can only partially compensate a lack of social protection covered by the state. Research limitations/implications The paper reveals the increasing social vulnerability of people who are not or not completely integrated into the labour market. These risks cannot be convincingly weakened by social security measures. To know more about these mechanisms, the link between labour market integration and the quality of family life should be studied in more detail in a cross-country comparative perspective to develop ideas and give advice on reducing the potential insecurity of flexible employment. Originality/value The paper complements previous research by providing empirical findings about the link between insecure labour market attachment and the integration into family networks in a cross-country comparison perspective.

The social innovation process: exploring the specificities in a developing context

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Luiz Morais-da-Silva ◽  
Andréa Paula Segatto ◽  
Gelciomar Simão Justen ◽  
Indira Gandhi Bezerra-de-Sousa ◽  
Eduardo De-Carli
Keyword(s):  
Social Innovation ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Five Phases ◽  
Over Time

PurposeSocial innovation has been attracting attention in the literature and the practice field due to its intention to create social value. However, the social innovation process is still poorly studied and is marked by several disagreements in the existing models, often built from data coming from developed countries. So, the focus of this study is to answer the following research question: how is the social innovation process configured in a developing context?Design/methodology/approachThe study investigated three cases of Brazilian social innovation processes through a qualitative approach. The authors also use the institutional levels perspectives to analyse the cases.FindingsThe main findings indicate that the social innovation process comprises five phases and occurs between the micro, meso and macro institutional levels. Besides, the social innovation process relies on the participation of different partners, in a non-sequential process, with the possibility of returning from one stage to another and is evaluated continuously over time.Practical implicationsThis study may be useful for social entrepreneurs and their teams in organisations that generate social innovations (such as social enterprises) to understand how well-established initiatives have organised themselves over time. Public policymakers may also use the insights provided to create more favourable environments to create new social innovation initiatives and expand the existing ones.Originality/valueThe characteristics of the social innovation process revealed in this study contributes to the advancement of the area, mainly because it considers the perspective of institutional levels and is based on data from a developing country.

In and against the neoliberal state? The precarious siting of work integration social enterprises (WISEs) as counter-movement in Montreal, Quebec

2020 ◽  
pp. 0308518X2094806
Author(s):  
Norma M Rantisi ◽  
Deborah Leslie
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Immigrant Women ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
The Social ◽  
Work Integration

In an era of workfare, characterized by the rise of ‘work first’ policies, new actors are emerging in the field of labour market integration. This paper explores the role of one labour market intermediary- Petites-Mains. Petites-Mains is a Work Integration Social Enterprise (WISE), which emerged to promote the social and economic inclusion of immigrant women in Montreal. We discuss the challenges the organization confronts in balancing its hybrid economic/social mandate and countering the negative effects of the market. While WISEs in Quebec have their origins in community or religious associations and their emergence can be traced to the decline of the welfare state, over time they have become increasingly dependent on state funding (especially support from the provincial government). The increasingly neoliberal orientation of provincial governments threatens the social mandates of the WISEs. These changes are affecting the potential of WISEs to assist marginalized immigrant women. We discuss some of the ways WISEs respond to the challenges they confront, leveraging networks at a variety of scales, and in doing so, we challenge conventional accounts of the role of civil society organizations.

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