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The purpose of this paper is to inform funders and potential funders alike of the likely outcomes of their financial contributions. Additionally, the authors reported on the assessment of the underlying logic model or theoretical underpinnings of what the authors will term the “Habitat Model.”

This study utilized a one-shot case study design to obtain data. In a one-shot case study the experimental group is exposed to the independent variable (X), then observations of the dependent variable (O) were made. No observations were made before the independent variable was introduced. A one-shot case study design was necessary as this is the first impact study conducted by BAHFH because of the changes within BAHFH over the years as well as the lack of consistent archival data on families and operations.

Most of the feedback obtained from stakeholders was positive. Many of the demographic variables showed significant improvement in partner family life style since moving into a Habitat house.

The findings of this study provide evidence of positive economic, social, and psychological impacts on families participating in BAHFH homeownership and on their communities. It also showed substantial economic impacts on the communities served. Furthermore, this study showed that other stakeholders in the process were substantially and positively impacted. Finally, this study pointed to a number of things that BAHFH needed to change such as homeowner education, financial counseling, and the opening of a local ReStore.

The current study provides data that provide evidence of positive economic, social, and psychological impacts on families participating in BAHFH homeownership opportunities.

Founder’s syndrome is when one individual holds disproportionate power and influence in an organization. It is not limited to the founder of an organization and can be found particularly in dominant and charismatic organizational leaders. While the nonprofit leader in this case was not a founder, he was highly charismatic and was granted as much authority as a founder. He became reluctant to share power, even when it was clear he needed help to build the capacity of the organization. The board of directors did not feel it necessary to check the executive director’s power because he had been so successful in growing the organization up to a point. When it was discovered he was having an inappropriate affair with a subordinate employee, however, the board did ask him to resign. Yet it allowed him to name his successor, and accepted the executive director’s nomination of the employee with whom he had an affair. Board and staff of nonprofit organizations have obligations to act in good faith in the governance of the organization and to enforce the duties of care and obligation. This requires transparent communication. Without two-way symmetrical communication maintained throughout the organization, this executive director abused the power granted him for his own gain.

The purpose of this research is to show that initiatives to adequately address poverty reduction through the provision of housing units in rural communities in Ghana have come from both local and offshore resources. However, very little has been done to assess the impacts of these initiatives so that best practices can inform public policy to enhance the quality and quantity of rural housing in Ghana. This paper explores the impact of one such initiative, namely the Habitat for Humanity International Ghana's (HHIG) intervention in the rural housing subsector.

To understand and appreciate HHIG's intervention, field data collection and community interfaces were organised. Extensive use was made of the case study approach or narratology. Under this approach, six of the 29 local HHIG affiliates were studied using an exploratory approach for in depth probing.

This study shows that the provision of housing units through HHIG's initiative has had a positive impact on poverty reduction through an enhanced housing environment, formation of micro enterprises, enhanced access to social services, skills transfer and improved security.

As an object of consumption, the introduction of housing into rural economies in Ghana can have tremendous significant and positive impacts; implying that it can be used as an entry point in efforts aimed at reducing rural poverty in Sub Saharan Africa.

The study is the first of its kind to reveal HHIG's immense contribution towards the creation of more liveable housing environments in rural Ghana and its link with poverty reduction.

Volunteer-based organizations are dependent on volunteers to meet the goals of the organization. Identifying and training volunteers as leaders of the organization is one way to increase positive social change in their community. However, there is limited literature investigating the outcomes of providing leadership training to volunteers. This case study determined participants’ perceptions of a volunteer leadership training experience compared to observations of the actual leadership training. A focus group revealed three themes that were both supported and refuted by observations of the training: (a) the need for refreshers and follow-up trainings, a disconnect between understanding leadership concepts and applying them in the volunteer scenario, and the transfer of for-profit skills and experience to the non-profit setting.

Across the global community the eradication of slums has been identified as a key project as part of the broader goal to eradicate poverty. Entrepreneurial efforts are viewed as a key means of ‘lifting’ people from poverty. Through a focus on Nigeria, this chapter examines slum upgrading programmes. The primary aim is to identify the opportunities and barriers facing inhabitants of informal settlements to realising entrepreneurial synergies that can occur in particular places.

A case study examination of the Kpirikpiri informal settlement in Ebonyi State, Nigeria was conducted that utilised a mixed-method approach. The research passed through three key phases. The first phase comprised a literature survey and review. The second phase involved a household survey to gather some baseline socio-economic and physical data that helped to fill the void of basic data. A total of 142 respondents participated in the survey, representing 10% of the total number of households in the area. The third phase involved the collection of qualitative data through focus group discussions and individual interviews.

Slum dwellers have skills and formal education equivalent to those in the Global North. Nevertheless, Nigerians tend to view entrepreneurial activities as secondary to other forms of employment, especially positions in the public sector. Paradoxically, slum dwellers place little trust in state authorities. Security of tenure is a major barrier to expanding entrepreneurial activities, as many landlords are reluctant to permit tenants to operate home-based enterprises, which is often a neglected element of place-based development strategies.

The chapter demonstrates the need for basic socio-economic datasets alongside user perspectives to shape the efficacy of development initiatives. In the case of Kpirikpiri, slum improvement programmes may have benefited from parallel educational programmes that expound the virtues of entrepreneurialism and concomitant training schemes, improved governance open to local social networks, less emphasis on physical upgrading of some forms of infrastructure and greater attention towards improving security of tenure as a path towards generating more home-based enterprises.

The entrepreneurial potential of the inhabitants of informal settlements is under-acknowledged in ‘upgrading’ interventions and also underplayed in the research literature. The chapter draws some much needed critical attention to the opportunities and barriers facing inhabitants of informal settlements, which helps to challenge some dominant transnational policy assumptions.

This case study examines the application of a known leadership theory, Transformational Leadership, within the student organization at a large U.S. university, during a time period when the organization was undergoing significant leadership turnover and impending dissolution of the club. By applying principles of Transformational Leadership, the organization’s President was able to foster a cohesive team of organization officers, to grow the organization membership population, and to achieve organization goals. As this phenomenon under study is highly context-dependent, the case study approach will better demonstrate the theory’s effects within these specific circumstances than will an esoteric, quantitative research approach. Let the findings from this case be an example for other student organizations and leadership teams to generate results with a leadership theory.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of an academic service learning course in a foreign university branch campus in Malaysia, and its outcomes in terms of student learning. Drawing on the transformative learning theory and case study research, it discusses three forms of learning that characterise the students’ experience, namely, instrumental, dialogic and self-reflective.

A case study of the Social Innovation Internship course at the Sarawak campus of Swinburne University of Technology was conducted. The case study draws on self-reported data gathered from the logbook entries of 60 students who enrolled in the course in 2015.

Thematic analysis of the data indicates that instrumental, dialogic and self-reflective learning are reflected in the students’ descriptions of learning about the community partners, the challenges in running a social enterprise, managing diversity and discovering the values and beliefs that shape one’s perceptions and identity.

The findings from the study add to the growing body of research on the impact of academic service learning on various stakeholders as well as on managing course activities in order to fulfil learning objectives. The case study confirms that service learning is an appropriate model for university-community engagement that generates mutually beneficial outcomes for the partners. In particular, it demonstrates how the service learning experience provides students with the opportunities to engage in instrumental, dialogic and self-reflective learning.