Fire prevention is a critical component in achieving social welfare and prosperity. The lack of worldwide fire prevention leads to an increasing number of fires, as well as to a greater number of fire-related deaths, injuries, and fire-related property damage. Traditionally, fire prevention has been the responsibility of individual governments, while fire prevention duties are usually carried out by local fire departments. Such an approach is very common and is observed globally. Until now, the above response has been successful. For example, due to fire prevention measures applied in the 1990s, the number of fires caused by open flames (such as candles) was significantly reduced. Since 2014, the number of fires in some Western countries (e.g., the US and the UK) shows an increasing trend. In March 2019,11, people have died in fires across Connecticut (O’Neill 2019). From 2017 to 2018, the number of people who died in fires in Mississippi grew by more than 40 percent (Moore 2019). Among the main reasons for this growth are new combustible materials, reduced fire prevention funds, and more dynamic lifestyles. Lack of fire prevention consequently increases fire risks, and, as a result, health inequalities. According to Whitehead and Dahlgren (2007), health inequalities are health differences that are avoidable, unjust, unfair, and unacceptable. The question arises: do current fire prevention services allow sufficient support for people to be safe from fire, specifically in domestic environments? Can social enterprises play a role and how do they fit into the fire prevention supply chain. The purpose of this research is to gain an understanding of social enterprises and their influence on supply chains, in general, and specifically for fire prevention supply chains. This phenomenon is evaluated through the lenses of social capital theory and institutional theory. Research (Rothstein and Stolle 2008) has shown the effects that social capital has on institutions, or simply how can it be used as a strategic resource (Gulati and Gargiulo 1999). Institutional and Social Capital Theories set the foundation of how social enterprises transform and contribute to sustainable supply chains, plus how they solve social problems, specifically fire safety (Patuelli and Savioli 2016). According to Wallace and Wallace (1997), social capital provides a collective resource that can be mobilized by individuals to enable communities to develop resilience against severe threats to public health, such as social exclusion or even unemployment. By identifying three dimensions of sustainable development: techno-economic, ecological and social (Clift 2003; Hutchins and Sutherland 2008; Yakovleva and Sarkis 2010), there are various social capital diffusion mechanisms for building sustainability within supply chains through social enterprise involvement. Transforming supply chains by building social legitimacy and by altering institutional norms, are examples of providing competitive advantages to supply chains and supply chain partners of social enterprises. This research seeks to understand social enterprises and entrepreneurship capabilities transform institutions to strengthen supply chain sustainability. Ideally, these institutions should provide solutions to the problem of decreased awareness of sustainable fire prevention, as well as available resources for fire prevention. This research focus is primarily on social sustainability and safety through fire prevention. The importance of this study lies in our contributions to help diffuse socially sustainable solutions and practices across supply chains. In this case, similar to other social concerns, the problem of fire prevention is a critical one within supply chains and society. Understanding the role of social enterprise to help diffuse these norms and practices help to understand general supply chain sustainability concerns for competitive and social reasons. Methodologically, a qualitative, exploratory method was applied. To analyze the data collected for this research, we used a Thematic Analysis. Three supply chains with social enterprises as a focal firm were investigated. This research contributes by furthering the theory of sustainable supply chains with the involvement of social enterprise; or hybrid organizations - that have both a social and a strategic financial outlook. The research involves the utilization of Thematic Analysis, and semi-structured interviews of three fire prevention-focused supply chains. This study is the first that investigates fire prevention from the perspective of supply chains and social enterprises. The results will inform other types of sustainability and social enterprises, which include humanitarian, environmental, educational, and poverty-based foci.

This paper investigated trends in social entrepreneurship within non-profit organisations (NPOs). It was inspired by a survey conducted by Trialogue, a non-profit research organisation that surveys corporate social investment in South Africa. The survey showed a significant number of Non-profit organisations (69%) are moving toward developing social enterprise due to issues of sustainability. The research sought to ascertain what are the causes for the trend. The method of sampling used was non-probability, purposeful sampling to select 12 organisations from the available population. An exploratory qualitative study was conducted via face-to-face interviews with 12 organisations and 14 respondents. The transcripts of each were manually reviewed line-by-line for common themes to compare and generate results. The study was undertaken to better understand what motivated NPOs to social entrepreneurship and how they identified and exploited opportunities; distributed revenues and what form of relationship was created with the parent organization. The study reviewed theoretical models and selected a best-fit model of the Opportunity Creation Process which had to be modified to suit the trends in thought that arose from the study. The findings showed that funding challenges of the parent NPO and limited access to funds were key features likely to illustrate when an NPO will move into social entrepreneurship. The research concludes with evidence demonstrating that NPOs are not always willing participants in the social enterprise game, but are forced to discover opportunities to prove to funders that they are seeking means to be sustainable, with varying degrees of success. The form of social enterprise they select is often determined by the centrality of the NPOs mission to that of the social enterprise. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Social Entrepreneurship is a fairly new but increasingly popular way of creating social value and at the same time an opportunity to build sustainable organisations. The concept covers diversw forms of organisations that use innovative approaches to solve social issues through business means. This thesis shows how such organisations work through the example of the social enterprise Pragulic, which employs homeless as city guides. The aim of this thesis is to describe the operations of the enterprise from different perspectives (social-economical and political). Furthermore, it aims to discover which factors influence operations of the enterprise, what constitute a social impact on stakeholders and with which approach it corresponds the best. The first part of the thesis introduces the historical context and terms which are linked with social entrepreneurship. It describes the most significant areas, reflects the regional diversity and shape a new methodology for research on social enterprises. The Empirical part combines methods such as autoethnography which reflect personal experience of a founder, semi-structured interviews with guides, and analysis of documents, which are link to the organization's work. Key words: Social Entrepreneurship, Pragulic, homeless, innovation

Fire prevention is a critical component in achieving social welfare and prosperity. The lack of worldwide fire prevention leads to an increasing number of fires, as well as to a greater number of fire-related deaths, injuries, and fire-related property damage. Traditionally, fire prevention has been the responsibility of individual governments, while fire prevention duties are usually carried out by local fire departments. Such an approach is very common and is observed globally. Until now, the above response has been successful. For example, due to fire prevention measures applied in the 1990s, the number of fires caused by open flames (such as candles) was significantly reduced. Since 2014, the number of fires in some Western countries (e.g., the US and the UK) shows an increasing trend. In March 2019,11, people have died in fires across Connecticut (O’Neill 2019). From 2017 to 2018, the number of people who died in fires in Mississippi grew by more than 40 percent (Moore 2019). Among the main reasons for this growth are new combustible materials, reduced fire prevention funds, and more dynamic lifestyles. Lack of fire prevention consequently increases fire risks, and, as a result, health inequalities. According to Whitehead and Dahlgren (2007), health inequalities are health differences that are avoidable, unjust, unfair, and unacceptable. The question arises: do current fire prevention services allow sufficient support for people to be safe from fire, specifically in domestic environments? Can social enterprises play a role and how do they fit into the fire prevention supply chain. The purpose of this research is to gain an understanding of social enterprises and their influence on supply chains, in general, and specifically for fire prevention supply chains. This phenomenon is evaluated through the lenses of social capital theory and institutional theory. Research (Rothstein and Stolle 2008) has shown the effects that social capital has on institutions, or simply how can it be used as a strategic resource (Gulati and Gargiulo 1999). Institutional and Social Capital Theories set the foundation of how social enterprises transform and contribute to sustainable supply chains, plus how they solve social problems, specifically fire safety (Patuelli and Savioli 2016). According to Wallace and Wallace (1997), social capital provides a collective resource that can be mobilized by individuals to enable communities to develop resilience against severe threats to public health, such as social exclusion or even unemployment. By identifying three dimensions of sustainable development: techno-economic, ecological and social (Clift 2003; Hutchins and Sutherland 2008; Yakovleva and Sarkis 2010), there are various social capital diffusion mechanisms for building sustainability within supply chains through social enterprise involvement. Transforming supply chains by building social legitimacy and by altering institutional norms, are examples of providing competitive advantages to supply chains and supply chain partners of social enterprises. This research seeks to understand social enterprises and entrepreneurship capabilities transform institutions to strengthen supply chain sustainability. Ideally, these institutions should provide solutions to the problem of decreased awareness of sustainable fire prevention, as well as available resources for fire prevention. This research focus is primarily on social sustainability and safety through fire prevention. The importance of this study lies in our contributions to help diffuse socially sustainable solutions and practices across supply chains. In this case, similar to other social concerns, the problem of fire prevention is a critical one within supply chains and society. Understanding the role of social enterprise to help diffuse these norms and practices help to understand general supply chain sustainability concerns for competitive and social reasons. Methodologically, a qualitative, exploratory method was applied. To analyze the data collected for this research, we used a Thematic Analysis. Three supply chains with social enterprises as a focal firm were investigated. This research contributes by furthering the theory of sustainable supply chains with the involvement of social enterprise; or hybrid organizations - that have both a social and a strategic financial outlook. The research involves the utilization of Thematic Analysis, and semi-structured interviews of three fire prevention-focused supply chains. This study is the first that investigates fire prevention from the perspective of supply chains and social enterprises. The results will inform other types of sustainability and social enterprises, which include humanitarian, environmental, educational, and poverty-based foci.

This thesis aims to analyze how members of a coworking space create a Sense of Community through the different types of social interactions that occur. Furthermore, it is investigated how the Sense of Community contributes to Word of Mouth. The authors conducted a qualitative case study of Norrsken House where members and managers of the coworking space were interviewed. The results of the study reveal that a Sense of Community is created through various interactions and occurrences. Additionally, it is stated that the creation of a Sense of Community for members is complex, where different experiences trigger different social elements. Even though there are similarities identified among the interviewed members, the evidence shows that the reality of each individual is based on previous experiences. Moreover, the authors show that the perceived Sense of Community could result in both positive and negative Word of Mouth activities between members and peers outside of the community. Based on the results, the authors elucidate how managers can design strategies to make the product offering more attractive.

Social economy is an economic activity with social and economic objectives, which can lead to the development of society and offer a new direction for the welfare state. It combines the principles of prosperity, sustainable development, social inclusion and equal opportunities with entrepreneurship and charitable activities for the benefit of needy and disadvantaged persons. This thesis focuses on the concept of social economy in the Czech Republic and abroad and highlights the social entrepreneurship as an opportunity to address social exclusion and unemployment of disadvantaged members of the society. The practical part contains Qualitative research on the effects of employment on the handicapped persons in social firm "Modrý domeček".

Virtual world is having an increasingly important role for us. Not only it affects our personal lives but also our shopping habits. Today it is more or less a necessity to be present online for many companies. The submitted work is the first exploratory analysis of websites content of social enterprises in the Czech Republic. This sample consists of 128 social enterprises, which were supported by a Call no. 30 "Social economy" of the European Social Fund. Supported organizations gain a considerable amount of funds for thein development. With incoming public finances it is necessary to raise a question of transparency and openness of these organizations. Work describes which information is available through websites of social enterprises, evaluates their level of transparency and monitors whether these organizations recognize themselves as social enterprises. It was examined whether organizations disclose information for which they could be described as a social enterprise organization that is in compliance with the principles created by the Thematic Network for Social Economy (TESSEA) a network, which created the first Czech definition of social enterprise. The results show that most social enterprises have a website. However, although the information sought on websites were more or less basic,...

Narratives in corporate storytelling is a powerful and persuasive tool for validation of Corporate Social Responsibility. To further their social mission, IKEA partner with social entrepreneurs, a collaboration which produce products or services for IKEA while creating incomes for the social entrepreneurs, claimed by IKEA as a win-win. In this thesis, the win-win narrative is analysed with a management theory applied in a critical perspective in conjunction with a narrative method. The aim is to investigate the validity of the win-win narrative produced by IKEA in this partnership to identify to what extent this narrative meets the reality of IKEAs CSR and human rights commitments. Issues investigated are to what end this narrative is produced, what is the dominant narrative, what is not presented and how are the social entrepreneurs represented in the IKEA narrative.

This thesis is positioned within the intersection of social entrepreneurship and artificialintelligence research streams and explores a timely topic and emerging phenomenon. Whileresearch has started paying attention to the role of artificial intelligence in various aspects oforganizational life, we turn our attention to how social entrepreneurs interact with artificialintelligence to achieve their social missions. We conduct a qualitative study and use aninterpretive research paradigm with an inductive approach to enrich the current understandingof the role of artificial intelligence in shaping processes through which social entrepreneursattempt to accomplish their social mission. Our primary data are collected through semi-structured interviews with social entrepreneurs who are located in different countries andemploy artificial intelligence in their daily work. The analysis revealed that social entrepreneursengage in creating new relations or building on existing relations to enable AI in four maindimensions during the social entrepreneurial process: AI implementation and management; AIdesign and development; AI ethics and openness; and community and collaboration. To betterunderstand the role of those dimensions, we discuss those findings in light of a framework thatis developed to further understand the processes through which social mission is achieved. Thefindings contribute to the existing body of literature on both social entrepreneurship and AI,providing a comprehensive understanding of the role of AI in social entrepreneurship, andoffering practical recommendations for social entrepreneurs who want to exploit AI. Further,they demonstrate how and where AI can be a powerful entity for social entrepreneurs inaddressing social and environmental challenges. However, we also shed light on thecomplexities and challenges that are inherent in AI management and showcase that AI is not asilver bullet to address social objectives.

No description available.