A Domain Model for Transparency in Portuguese Cooperatives

Author(s):  
Mariana Curado Malta ◽  
Deolinda Aparício Meira ◽  
Ana Maria Bandeira ◽  
Melanie Santos

The aim of this chapter is to present a domain model that represents the informational needs of transparency (governance structure and accountability dimensions) in Portuguese cooperatives. A domain model is an abstract representation of a reality and a milestone in the development of a metadata application profile (MAP). A community of practice publishes linked open MAP-based data for these data to be interoperable; this means intelligent software/agents can aggregate these data, provide different types of visualizations, infer from the data, and ultimately provide new discoveries. This model was developed having as basis the information obtained from the accomplishment of a focus group, and the analysis of financial reports and websites of seven Portuguese cooperatives. The authors will continue to work on the domain model to include 1) other dimensions that also contribute for transparency in the organizations and 2) other types of entities of the social economy (SE). The final aim is to define a model representing the needs of transparency of all types of European SE entities.

Author(s):  
Mahesh S. Raisinghani ◽  
Chris Klassen ◽  
Lawrence L. Schkade

“The future business culture will be one in which innovation is necessary, learning is constant, organizations need to act collaboratively and work is its own reward…It will not be business. It will not be government. It is the social sector that may yet save the society.” ——Peter F. Drucker


Author(s):  
Xueli Wei ◽  
Lijing Li ◽  
Fan Zhang

Pumping elephantThe COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the lives of people around the world in millions of ways . Due to this severe epidemic, all countries in the world have been affected by all aspects, mainly economic. It is widely discussed that the COVID-19 outbreak has affected the world economy. When considering this dimension, this study aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world economy, socio-economics, and sustainability. In addition, the research focuses on multiple aspects of social well-being during the pandemic, such as employment, poverty, the status of women, food security, and global trade. To this end, the study used time series and cross-sectional analysis of the data. The second-hand data used in this study comes from the websites of major international organizations. From the analysis of secondary data, the conclusion of this article is that the impact of the pandemic is huge. The main finding of the thesis is that the social economy is affected by the pandemic, causing huge losses in terms of economic well-being and social capital.


2021 ◽  
pp. 205015792110050
Author(s):  
Sabrina Sobieraj ◽  
Lee Humphreys

Mobile dating apps like Tinder became very popular among young adults, and, in contrast to mobile dating websites, they were designed to create a more game-like experience. While it is well documented that seeking entertainment is one core motivation for mobile dating app use, the social nature of entertainment has garnered less attention. Therefore, in this paper we draw on research on entertainment in dating apps and the socio-physical contexts of use to identify patterned behaviors of heterosexual users. To do this, we employed a qualitative multi-phase research approach. First, we conducted 20 interviews with mobile dating app users. Based on the findings from that study, we conducted gender-specific focus groups and a discourse analysis to explore the social phenomena identified in phase one. Our findings suggest the fun of mobile dating is not just interacting with potential matches through the apps, but the use of the apps among one’s friends. These “dating games” are entertaining, but importantly mitigate potential social or physical risks of mobile dating. Unsurprisingly, notions of “play” across the interview, focus group, and discourse analyses reflect highly gendered practices surrounding mobile dating apps and different risks associated with such games.


Author(s):  
J S LIPTRAP

Abstract This article explores the European Parliament's July 2018 non-legislative resolution proposing to the European Commission a directive for facilitating social enterprise companies’ cross-border activities. The proposal is first situated within the context of the social economy and how the sector has grown in importance to European integration. The proposal and the European Commission's response are then examined. Although the European Commission was not convinced that Member States would be amenable to the proposal, a consensus may already exist that is sufficient to garner their support. Even if this prediction is wrong, however, it is argued that there are reasons to surmise that the proposal will likely be reassessed and ultimately successful at some future point. Finally, the proposal is viewed with a reflexive harmonisation lens. Through the analysis, regulatory issues are identified, and a solution is then suggested.


Author(s):  
Yuyang Zhao ◽  
Fernando Bacao

Owing to the convenience, reliability and contact-free feature of Mobile payment (M-payment), it has been diffusely adopted in China during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce the direct and indirect contacts in transactions, allowing social distancing to be maintained and facilitating stabilization of the social economy. This paper aims to comprehensively investigate the technological and mental factors affecting users’ adoption intentions of M-payment under the COVID-19 pandemic, to expand the domain of technology adoption under the emergency situation. This study integrated Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) with perceived benefits from Mental Accounting Theory (MAT), and two additional variables (perceived security and trust) to investigate 739 smartphone users’ adoption intentions of M-payment during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. The empirical results showed that users’ technological and mental perceptions conjointly influence their adoption intentions of M-payment during the COVID-19 pandemic, wherein perceived benefits are significantly determined by social influence and trust, corresponding with the situation of pandemic. This study initially integrated UTAUT with MAT to develop the theoretical framework for investigating users’ adoption intentions. Meanwhile, this study originally investigated the antecedents of M-payment adoption under the pandemic situation and indicated that users’ perceptions will be positively influenced when technology’s specific characteristics can benefit a particular situation.


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