Search results
21 – 30 of 191Microfoundational research increasingly strives to examine the interlinkages between various higher- and lower-level structures. To better capture microfounded change processes, I…
Abstract
Microfoundational research increasingly strives to examine the interlinkages between various higher- and lower-level structures. To better capture microfounded change processes, I develop the multi-dimensional concept of institutional entrepreneurs’ skills that defines actors’ abilities to enhance institutional change. By a systematic literature review on institutional entrepreneurship, I identify seven institutional entrepreneurs’ skill dimensions: (i) analytical skills, (ii) empathic skills, (iii) framing skills, (iv) translational skills, (v) organizational skills, (vi) tactical skills, and (vii) timing skills. The established concept provides opportunities for future microfoundational research by examining the formation and the application of the seven skill dimensions.
Details
Keywords
Heather Douglas, Buriata Eti-Tofinga and Gurmeet Singh
This paper aims to examine the contributions of hybrid organisations to wellbeing in small Pacific island countries.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the contributions of hybrid organisations to wellbeing in small Pacific island countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The concept and different forms of hybrid organisations are examined, and then the operation and contributions to wellbeing of three Fijian hybrid organisations are considered.
Findings
Hybrid organisations in this region operate with a commitment to the common good and an ethic of care. Fijian hybrid organisations improve social and economic wellbeing for individuals, families and communities by providing employment, schools and training facilities, financial and support services, sustainable agriculture projects and facilitating networking. These services improve individual and community social and economic wellbeing, build resilience, add to personal and family security, offer opportunities for the future, advance leadership skills and sustain the environment. Commercial activities that support these organisations in their wellbeing endeavours include product sales, service fees, project levies and investment income.
Research limitations/implications
Generalisability beyond the Pacific region is not assured, as this review only examines hybrid organisations in small Pacific island countries.
Practical implications
Hybrid organisations offer an alternative pathway to achieve a sustainable enterprise economy, an approach that is more culturally relevant for the Pacific region. Policies to nurture the development of these organisations, and research into the startup, operation, impact and effectiveness of different hybrid organisation models would help to improve wellbeing in this region. International charities and aid agencies could advance the wellbeing of people living in this region by supporting the development of hybrid organisations. External agencies seeking to support hybrid organisation development are advised to consider providing funding through a regional agency rather than engaging directly with national governments.
Social implications
Developing a robust hybrid organisation sector will improve social and economic wellbeing for people living in small island nations.
Originality/value
As one of the first studies to examine wellbeing and hybrid organisations, this review adds to hybrid business theory by its consideration of small Pacific island countries. The authors add to existing understandings of how hybrid organisations contribute to social and economic wellbeing for individuals, families and communities. The review identifies each form hybrid organisational form adopts. Each has a central commitment to generating social and economic value but different revenue sources. The review adds valuable new knowledge to the limited scholarship of this region by identifying the philosophical foundations and contributions to wellbeing of these hybrid organisations. A future research agenda and policy development process is proposed to improve wellbeing and advance hybrid organisations in the region.
Details
Keywords
Nisha Solanki, Rohit Yadav and Mohit Yadav
Social entrepreneurship is an area that has been extensively researched from a variety of angles and across a broad range of academic disciplines. Parallel to this, practitioners…
Abstract
Social entrepreneurship is an area that has been extensively researched from a variety of angles and across a broad range of academic disciplines. Parallel to this, practitioners have applied social entrepreneurship ideas to a variety of industries and at varying degrees of complexity. The purpose of this study is to understand how the social capital of an entrepreneur drives the growth of social enterprises by contributing to the social entrepreneur skills. A systematic assessment of available literature was carried out based on searches of major academic databases (Web of Science, EBSCO and CAPES Portal de Periódicos), with an initial list of 3,106 publications being narrowed down to 472 articles that were subjected to content analysis after being narrowed down. Further, a theoretical proposal and research propositions were developed, highlighting the relationship between social capital and the activities of social entrepreneurs, as well as their relationships with the collective actors and institutions that make up social entrepreneurship in its totality. The conclusion of the chapter is that the interface between social entrepreneurship and social capital is a latent field for research. Further contributions of the chapter are a theoretical model to help researchers consolidate their efforts by identifying three key themes identified by intensive literature: creation of social capital by the social entrepreneur, relationships between institutions and the formation of groups and social capital as a formation of groups. In these words, a future agenda for discussing these topics is outlined for discussion.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to present an evocative story “Resisting the Ban” which illustrates the ethical and pragmatic issues that nurses face when contending with smoking ban…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an evocative story “Resisting the Ban” which illustrates the ethical and pragmatic issues that nurses face when contending with smoking ban policies in inpatient psychiatric settings.
Design/methodology/approach
The creative story “Resisting the Ban” was developed based on an organisational auto-ethnographic approach. The story was crafted through employing creative writing techniques and through framing and critiquing memories via several theoretical frames.
Findings
The story illustrates how smoking ban policies have created pragmatic and ethical issues on wards. The work practices of nurses have changed as have their relationships with patients. The liberties of involuntary patients have also been infringed.
Research limitations/implications
This approach can illuminate links between acts of resistance and issues associated with public policies.
Practical implications
The effects of smoking bans need to be considered more carefully particularly in relation to their effects on workers and patients. The social meaning of the smoking bans needs closer investigation. Policy needs to be recrafted so that it better addresses the liberties of involuntary patients. Also ward nurses need to be able to carry out their roles in a manner which is consistent with their values.
Social implications
Public policies, such as smoking bans, can produce negative consequences maligning relationships, practices and cultures. Critical auto-ethnography provides a means of understanding issues that have resulted from problematic policies.
Originality/value
Scholarly work conducted on the relationship between everyday resistance in workplaces and public policies is rare. This study offers new “insider” insights into the negative effects of a smoking ban policy in psychiatric inpatient settings.
Details
Keywords
Hilka Pelizza Vier Machado, Sergio Augusto Vallim Gaiotto and Monica Cristina Rovaris Machado
This research aimed to describe the phenomenon of the growth of enterprises in the vision of social entrepreneurs.
Abstract
Purpose
This research aimed to describe the phenomenon of the growth of enterprises in the vision of social entrepreneurs.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a qualitative study developed joining eight social entrepreneurs in four organizations, two cooperatives and two associations. Data were obtained in semi structured interviews. Data were analyzed with interpretativist and the classical content analysis.
Findings
The main findings indicated the growth phenomenon presented in five categories: growth intentions, growth meanings, support of other organizations and participation in networks, strategies and difficulties. The results of the research have shown that the growth for the social entrepreneurs is a collective phenomenon, characterized by search of economic value and empowerment.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of the research was study only two types of organizations, one garbage cooperative and two association.
Practical implications
The results can help managers of social incubators and stakeholders because it was evidenced the efforts and difficulties that social entrepreneurs face to survive and to search growth.
Social implications
Our findings may contribute to the formulation of public policies oriented to social entrepreneurs.
Originality/value
This paper presents the first theoretical contribution about the growth in a specific context, the context of social entrepreneurs.
Details
Keywords
Marc Lenglet and Philippe Rozin
This chapter bridges two theoretical concerns: making sense of emancipatory processes within institutional work on the one hand and providing a more nuanced understanding of…
Abstract
This chapter bridges two theoretical concerns: making sense of emancipatory processes within institutional work on the one hand and providing a more nuanced understanding of actorhood on the other hand. The authors develop the notion of ‘institutional co-appropriation work’ to characterise an emancipatory process whereby an institutionalised actor in a subaltern position manages to emancipate by appropriating some founding features of the elites position. The authors build on a case study focussing on the ‘Everest brawl’, an altercation high up on the mountain that revealed a critical evolution of sherpa actorhood. The authors analyse the struggles in the Nepalese mountaineering industry and show how sherpa actorhood is currently being reconfigured by the action of a few individuals willing to be recognised for their climbing abilities, and not their role as porters. This case epitomises the emergence of two distinct phenomena, explaining the magnitude of the event: the emergence of an empowered ‘new sherpa’ revealing heterogeneity of sherpa actorhood, in contrast to the accepted representations and the institutional work blurring the underlying rules and institutionalised roles of the mountaineering industry in Nepal. The implications for institutional work literature are twofold. First, the study of emancipatory processes benefits from more nuanced cases, where the actor in the subaltern position does not simply try to remove the dominant actor. Second, the notion of ‘actor’ within this stream of literature should not be taken-for-granted as is often the case.
Details
Keywords
THE development of undergraduate teaching in Aeronautical Engineering at Manchester University has followed a different pattern from that in most other Universities in this…
Abstract
THE development of undergraduate teaching in Aeronautical Engineering at Manchester University has followed a different pattern from that in most other Universities in this country. Although Osborne Reynolds carried out his famous experiments in the Engineering Department at Manchester, the teaching of Aeronautical Engineering grew out of Mathematics rather than out of Engineering. For a large proportion of the past 80 years the Chair of Applied Mathematics has been held by men eminent in the field of Fluid Mechanics: Lamb, Goldstein and Lighthill must surely be names well‐known to every aeronautical engineer. It was due to the initiative of Professor S. Goldstein that a separate Department of Fluid Mechanics was set up in 1946 under the direction of Mr W. A. Mair. At first it was natural that the emphasis should be on experimental work to complement the theoretical work carried out in the Mathematics Department. Later, however, although close relations with the Mathematics Department were still maintained, the Mechanics of Fluids Department developed into a separate entity making both theoretical and experimental contributions to fundamental knowledge.
Previous research has found that people who use anabolic androgenic steroids (hereafter ‘steroids’) typically describe these drugs as safe. However, research exploring the inside…
Abstract
Previous research has found that people who use anabolic androgenic steroids (hereafter ‘steroids’) typically describe these drugs as safe. However, research exploring the inside perspective on steroid risk has focussed on steroids in general, and failed to examine how particular steroids are viewed and experienced. During my online ethnographic research in bodybuilding communities, I found discussion of one particular steroid said to cause significant physical, psychological, social and sexual harm: trenbolone. Trenbolone is a veterinary drug used to increase muscle in beef cattle that has been found to have neurodegenerative and genotoxic effects on animals. It has been used by bodybuilders since the 1980s, and recent research has found it to be one of the most popular steroids used by bodybuilders. If trenbolone is described by bodybuilders as causing significant harm, why do so many bodybuilders use it? This chapter attempts to answer this question through a description of bodybuilder folk models of trenbolone risk. Using a social life of drugs approach it describes: (1) the effects of trenbolone; (2) how these effects are given meaning as either harms or benefits, and then weighed against each other; (3) how the risks of trenbolone are reduced through harm reduction strategies and (4) the role of online communities in negotiations of trenbolone risk. Trenbolone was found to occupy a mythical status in bodybuilding communities, in part because of the conflicted relationship bodybuilders have with the drug. This conflicted relationship illustrates the inherent ambivalence of drugs, which are always both remedy and poison.
Details
Keywords
Olu Oludele Akinloye Akinboade, Trevor Taft, Johann Friedrich Weber, Obareng Baldwin Manoko and Victor Sannyboy Molobi
This paper aims to understand social entrepreneurship (SE) business model design to create values whilst undertaking public service delivery within the complex environments of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to understand social entrepreneurship (SE) business model design to create values whilst undertaking public service delivery within the complex environments of local governments in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
Face-to-face semi-structured interview was conducted with 15 purposively selected social entrepreneurs in Gauteng and Western Cape provinces. The interview guide consisted of main themes and follow-up questions. Themes included SEs’ general history, the social business model; challenges faced and how these were overcome; scaling and growth/survival strategies. These enabled the evaluation of SEs in terms of identifying key criteria of affordability, availability, awareness and acceptability, which SEs must achieve to operate successfully in low-income markets. Social enterprise owners/managers within the electricity distribution, water reticulation and waste management services sectors were surveyed.
Findings
Most respondents focus on building a network of trust with stakeholders, through communication mechanisms that emphasize high-frequency engagements. There is also a strong focus on design-thinking and customer-centric approaches that strengthen value creation. The value creation process used both product value and service value mechanisms and emphasized quality and excellence to provide stakeholder, as well as societal value, within their specific contexts.
Practical implications
This study builds upon other research that emphasizes SEs’ customer-centric approaches to strengthen value creation and on building a network of trust with multiple stakeholders. It contributes to emphasizing the business paradigm shift towards bringing social values to the business practice.
Social implications
Social good, but resource providers are demanding more concrete evidence to help them understand their impact (Struthers, 2013). This is because it is intrinsically difficult for many social organizations to document and communicate their impact in more than an anecdotal way. The research has contributed to the understanding of how SEs can provide evidence of value creation.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the understanding of how business models are designed to create value within the context of the overwhelming complexity of local government services in South Africa.
Details
Keywords
Maria L. Granados, Vlatka Hlupic, Elayne Coakes and Souad Mohamed
The purpose of this paper is to present a detailed analysis of the social enterprises (SE) and social entrepreneurship (SEship) literature that has been published in international…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a detailed analysis of the social enterprises (SE) and social entrepreneurship (SEship) literature that has been published in international journals from 1991 to 2010, determining the intellectual structure of both fields and their maturity as academic fields of study.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a quantitative methodology for literature study, named bibliometric analysis, relevant papers were obtained from three important international databases, and SE and SEship journals. An initial number of 1,343 records were identified and, after applying various filters, a total of 286 papers were studied for bibliometric indicators and epistemological orientation.
Findings
The study identified a significant increase in the scholarly investigation of SE and SEship in recent years, together with greater collaboration and international research. It was demonstrated that some countries are dominating the SE and SEship research area, such as the UK and the USA, whereas institutional and individual research output is spread more equally. Currently, no author or institution dominates the SE and SEship literature. The epistemological orientation suggests that the published literature is largely of a theoretical and descriptive nature in both fields, with only a small number of predictive papers.
Originality/value
This paper provides important contributions. First, it presents an intellectual structure of SE and SEship as a discipline. Second, it determines the current maturity of the field based on its epistemological orientation, concluding that SE and SEship are maturing, with theory development followed by empirical testing and validation generating an increase in consensus on the boundaries of the field.
Details