A performance tool for policy-makers to monitor the dual objective of social enterprises

Author(s):  
Matthias Staessens ◽  
Pieter Jan Kerstens ◽  
Johan Bruneel ◽  
Laurens Cherchye
2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (01n02) ◽  
pp. 115-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
YANTO CHANDRA ◽  
SHANG LIANG

Empowerment is one of the most important social value creation activities performed by social enterprises (SEs). Despite the burgeoning research on SEs, there is limited research on the meaning and aspects of empowerment from the SE perspective, or the so-called SE-as-Empowerment research. In light of this research gap, we employed the Gioia’s methodology and data triangulation to analyze a renowned Hong Kong’s SE that focuses on youth empowerment. This study contributes to the SE-as-Empowerment literature by revealing five types of empowerment — building social awareness, meaningful participation, social connections, building entrepreneurial skills, and power sharing between youths and adults — which can be broadly categorized into social-capacity empowerment and entrepreneurial-capacity empowerment. This study makes novel contributions to the SE-as-Empowerment literature by proposing new concepts including multi-directional (internally and externally oriented) aspect of empowerment, the pluralistic notion of agency, and power sharing between youths and adults as important elements of youth empowerment in SE. Finally, we discuss the implications of this study for the SE practitioners, educators, and policy makers and propose avenues for future research.


There is a wealth of reporting and evidence from research that small third sector social enterprises have a vital role to play not just in relation to service delivery, but also contribute to nurturing positive relationships, supporting vulnerable, disadvantaged groups and building stronger communities (Maher, 2015a; Seanor & Meaton, 2007; Smallbone & Lyon, 2004). Most small third sector social enterprises are set up because they have identified a gap in the market. Often, this has meant that there is either a public-service or private-market failure. In order to help these enterprises grow, policy makers need to tailor policy and support aiming to build capacity of these organisations in terms of the scale and volume of their activities; to enhance their contribution at local, regional and national levels. Organisations should advance their business management and procurement skills to enable the creation of sustainable income. This chapter makes recommendations for both policy and practices to help the development, growth, and sustainability of small third sector social enterprises and concludes by making suggestions for future research opportunities.


1999 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Warner

SummaryObjective – Starting from research on environmental factors that influence schizophrenia, the author speculates on innovations that could reduce the occurrence of the illness, improve its course and enhance the quality of life of sufferers and their relatives. Results – Ranging from education about obstetric risks to a stigma-reducing campaign, the suggestions could be of interest, not only to clinicians, but also to advocates, policy-makers and communications specialists. Conclusions – Several of the suggestions, which would be innovative in the United States, are already established features of Italian mental health care. These features include social enterprises, family support payments and a disability pension system without severe disincentives to work.


Author(s):  
Mariangela Lavanga ◽  
Martina Drosner

AbstractRecent attempts have been made by scholars and policy makers to include culture in the sustainability discourse. However, there is a general lack of empirical studies that provide enough insights to understand why culture matters for sustainability. By taking the case of De Ceuvel—a planned workplace for creative and social enterprises in a heavy polluted area in Amsterdam, this chapter aims at answering the question why do cultural and creative entrepreneurs engage in sustainability and in particular in a circular economy model.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 855-883
Author(s):  
Boban Melović ◽  
Ivan Radević ◽  
Tamara Backović-Vulić ◽  
Miro Haček

Main aim of the paper is to investigate the correlation between social entrepreneurship and development of local self-governments, in order to effectively and efficiently steer the potential of this form of entrepreneurship towards greater inclusion of socially vulnerable groups and improved development of local self-governments. Authors have developed a conceptual model that investigates the effects of social entrepreneurship on self-government development, as well as the impacts of self-government development on the perception and attitudes towards this type of entrepreneurship. The research results show that the respondents think that activities of social entrepreneurship have a positive influence on the development of local self-government; they also believe that main barriers to stronger development of social entrepreneurship in local self-governments are vague status of social enterprises, poor access to funding and a general lack of entrepreneurial spirit. The results provide an important contribution to policy makers to identify and understand the link between the development of social entrepreneurship and local self-governments.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Jenner

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine social enterprise sustainability by comparing recent international research with prior findings seeking to identify the important factors that facilitate social enterprise development. Design/methodology/approach The research used a concurrent, convergent mixed methods approach on a sample of 93 social enterprise leaders using surveys and face-to-face interviews. The participants were sourced from a cross-section of social enterprise organisational types from urban and regional locations in Australia and Scotland. Findings The findings support prior research, identifying resourcing, organisational capabilities, collaborative networks and legitimacy as influential in the success of social enterprises. However, the research contributes new knowledge by revealing an overarching growth orientation as the dominant factor in the strategic management for sustainability of these ventures. This growth orientation is generally associated with the intent to achieve profitability. Thus, social enterprise managers view a commercially focused growth orientation as an overarching strategic factor that underpins organisational sustainability. Originality/value The paper delivers new insights into the strategic orientation of social ventures of benefit to policy makers and practitioners alike. The findings are significant for policy makers providing perspectives into how governmental assistance can be targeted to develop sustainable social enterprises, particularly the need to support the growth of these ventures. Similarly, practitioners are alerted to the strategic imperatives of incorporating a commercially focused growth orientation and the latent potential that exists in the networks of social enterprise.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 800-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth RT White ◽  
Anthony Samuel ◽  
David Pickernell ◽  
Dan Taylor ◽  
Rachel Mason-Jones

Social Enterprises have grown in number and scope in response to reductions in state-provided welfare and increasing ambition to improve social conditions. While a range of issues have been identified in the literature as affecting the ability of Social Enterprises to successfully conduct their activities, there is currently a dearth of research into the relative influence of these factors. This study explores and ranks the challenges faced by social entrepreneurs in South Wales. Based on a Delphi study with 21 social entrepreneurs, government policy-developers and scholars, it presents a hierarchy of 14 factors, useful instruments for informing social entrepreneurs and policy-makers about the way social enterprises are managed, and how national and local policy should be developed. As part of this, the study also identifies four novel factors that affect the sustainability of social enterprises: ‘Professionalisation of Marketing’, ‘Perception of Validity’, ‘Leadership’ and ‘Situatedness’.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 541-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Anastasiadis

AbstractAt a time of rising unemployment and strained labor market policy budgets, Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) are currently facing difficult circumstances in Austria. If, and how, WISEs can continue to create and deliver quality services for their users (while meeting public authority’s demands) is a topic of vigorous debate at the national level. In an endeavor to gain insight into the current situation, the focus of this paper is to explain the historical emergence of WISEs in the context of the Austrian welfare state. The analysis combines empirical data on key characteristics of ECO-WISEs – a major subgroup of WISEs with an ecological orientation – with an analysis of the institutionalization process of these WISEs, based on the outcome of a series of semi-structured interviews with key experts in the field. The discussion begins by describing their development in the 1980s, growth in the 1990s and concludes with the marketization and reorientation process experienced by these WISEs from 2000 onwards. The paper concludes with a discussion of the victories and challenges faced by these WISEs and highlights the important role that ECO-WISEs have assumed in recognizing and responding to societal needs, developing innovative services, and in meeting the requirements of policy makers.


The governance of the modern corporation is broadly understood as the mechanisms, relations, and processes for balancing the interests of stakeholders. It spells out the rules and procedures for decision-making, accountability and transparency, and distributional rights. Corporate governance thus provides the framework in which corporate objectives are set, the means of attaining them, the kind of performance monitoring required, and by whom. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis and large-scale corporate failures, the issue of corporate governance has repeatedly received the attention of policy-makers and the wider public. Extending the study of corporate governance beyond that of listed corporations sheds new light on the overall performance of corporations in market economies. These include small and medium-sized corporations, non-profit organisations and philanthropic foundations, public corporations and public–private partnerships, social enterprises and cooperatives, international organisations, and corporations in cyberspace. A decade after the massive failures in the governance of financial corporations, and with continued governance failures in other parts of the economy since then, this volume takes stock and asks: what has been the performance of corporate governance regimes, and have regulatory changes and corporate governance codes made a difference? What are the strengths and weaknesses of current corporate governance systems and codes? How do corporate forms differ in their governance performance, and what have been the experiences across countries? And, finally, what implications for understanding governance behaviour and for policy-makers and regulators come to mind?


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