No / Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a mechanism for aligning company policies and practices within the socio-economic, cultural and environmental challenges facing society and, in particular, communities. Though the majority of empirical research on CSR has been conducted in Western companies, there is growing interest in CSR in transitional and developing economies, as well as Western firms working in developing countries.

Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprises are an emerging trend. An increasing number of individuals are finding ways to address a social issue through their entrepreneurial skills. As well as increasing number of corporations and investing organizations are looking for ventures that address a social issue to fulfil their social responsibility. Thus, it is increasingly becoming important for the social entrepreneurs to measure and report their impacts to society in an accurate way. This research seeks to find out the challenges faced by social entrepreneurs while setting up social impact measurements in their ventures and the solutions adopted by them. Through a series of semi‐structured interviews with successful social entrepreneurs, this research collects qualitative data that increases the knowledge in this area and contributes in a better understanding of the challenges faced by social entrepreneurs. This research found that Theory Of Change is the most commonly used method and is preferred by practitioners as it is easy to implement. The research summarises the efforts it takes to implement the measurements, recommends best practices or advice to make impact measurement easier and useful. Also, a framework is developed that can be used in setting up measurements in a social venture.

This report is the third produced by the University of Wisconsin -Parkside's Applied Urban Field School research team regarding the potential effects on Indian cultural resources by the Intermountain Power Project electrical transmission lines. This report focuses on is concerned with the Native American cultural resources found within the revised section of the transmission line corridor.

This is the second of three reports produced for the Intermountain Power Project Native American cultural heritage resource study conducted by Richard Stoffle and members of the University of Wisconsin -Parkside Applied Urban Field School for Applied Conservation Technology, Inc. This report focuses on Southern Paiute cultural resources within the Nevada section of the Intermountain Power Project. This report analyzes what value members of Native American groups historically present in southern Nevada place upon cultural resources that may be adversely affected by construction of the proposed transmission line and associated structures. It does so by describing specific concerns expressed by contemporary Native Americans, and by presenting an ethnohistorical analysis of how intergroup relations and forced Native American demographic and cultural changes have contributed to shaping contemporary values, perceptions and attitudes. The project also conveys Native American recommendations for mitigating adverse impacts of the proposed construction upon their cultural heritage.

This is the first of three reports produced for the Intermountain Power Project Native American cultural heritage resource study conducted by Richard Stoffle and members of the University of Wisconsin -Parkside Applied Urban Field School for Applied Conservation Technology, Inc. This report focuses on Southern Paiute cultural resources within theUtah section of the Intermountain Power Project. This report analyzes what value members of Native American groups historically present in Utah place upon cultural resources that may be adversely affected by construction of the proposed transmission line and associated structures. It does so by describing specific concerns expressed by contemporary Native Americans, and by presenting an ethnohistorical analysis of how intergroup relations and forced Native American demographic and cultural changes have contributed to shaping contemporary values, perceptions and attitudes. The project also conveys Native American recommendations for mitigating adverse impacts of the proposed construction upon their cultural heritage.

This study was conducted by Cultural Systems Research, Incorporated (CSRI) for Applied Conservation Technology, Incorporated (ACT). This study has been conducted to determine which Native American groups traditionally used the area through which the Intermountain Power Agency (IPA) proposes to construct the California portion of the Intermountain -Adelanto Bipole Transmission Line, a component of the Intermountain Power Project (IPP); to determine what value these groups place on cultural resources which might be disturbed by the construction of the transmission line and associated structures; and to convey their recommendations for the mitigation of these impacts. The results of the study are intended to enable the IPA to comply with requirements of various state and federal agencies with respect to this component of the IPP. The study area for this project was an area measuring 100 feet (30 m) on either side of the center line of the right -of -way for the proposed transmission line that was proposed to run from the California- Nevada border to the vicinity of Victorville, California. The Native American groups who traditionally used the area through which the proposed IPP right -of -way would pass include the Southern Paiute, the Mojave, the Vanyume /Serrano, and the Kawaiisu. Members of various other groups have travelled through the area, and used it from time to time.

The validity of the traditional arts in contemporary society is often questioned by the wider public. This dissertation argues that one of the ways in which the arts attain value is through their function as political activism. In order to do so, it investigates the characteristics of resistance art. This is followed by a discussion of contemporary opera. While this genre is a minority interest when compared to popular music forms, it is, nevertheless, a form of resistance art that has the potential to fulfill a social and political function. The dissertation focuses on two case studies: John Adam's The Death of Klinghoffer (1990) and Paul Ruders's The Handmaid's Tale (2000), and concludes that contemporary opera can be relevant and effective socio-political critique. / Thesis (M.Mus.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

<div>In the last half century, much research effort has gone into identifying the causes and effects of societal burdens. Industrial activity may arguably be the most widely responsible cause, but the effects, or social impacts (SIs), resulting from industrial activity are typically considered externalities and not evaluated alongside economic performance of industries. It is clear however that people are fundamental to the progress and development of economies. Understanding how people are affected by economies, and in particular industrial economic activity, starts with recognizing that impacts on people can no longer be considered externalities. The coordinating lack of understanding of social performance, i.e., how stakeholder needs are impacted by industrial production, limits the capacity of decision makers to make fully informed choices. A </div><div>multidisciplinary perspective is needed to address this gap in understanding. The new approach, economic input-output social impact assessment, integrates economic production with social impacts and is further demonstrated to provide a measurable path forward to evaluate the social performance of industries. It is shown that changes in industrial activity, e.g., growth, in the U.S. will have a directly related and predictable change in social impact.</div>

NPOs and their funders are increasingly drawn to the Social Return on Investment (SROI) method to evaluate the social impact of programs, organizations or organization networks. While many claims about the benefits of SROI have been expressed, various points of criticism have also been raised. On the basis of both current research and our own experience in conducting SROI analyses, we develop a comprehensive assessment of this method, which is structured along two dimensions: the observer's paradigmatic perspective, on the one hand, and positive or negative valuation, on the other. We identify two major merits: SROI analysis can provide legitimacy to NPOs or their funders, and it can assist in allocating resources. We identify limitations from three perspectives: From an interpretative-sociological perspective, criticism of commensuration and utilitarianism calls the method as a whole into question. From a technical-instrumental perspective, there are a number of difficulties that could however be overcome as the method matures. From an intermediary perspective, a number of limitations become apparent that, while inherent to SROI analysis, are no reason for abandoning it, as long as they are thoroughly understood. We conclude by providing suggestions for the responsible use of SROI analysis.

Na crescente produção acadêmica sobre negócios de impacto social no Brasil, é possível verificar uma lacuna: não se encontram em número significativo estudos que analisem as interações entre negócios de impacto social e o setor público, embora ao mesmo tempo seja possível observar, na prática recente, diversos casos em que essa interação tem se dado. Ao mesmo tempo, ao se analisar a literatura de parcerias intersetoriais, constata-se que são muitos os estudos que analisam parecerias envolvendo de um lado o setor público e de outro o setor privado e/ou ONGs, mas não encontramos estudos que se aprofundem em parcerias entre o setor público e negócios de impacto social. Partindo dessas constatações, esta pesquisa busca jogar luz sobre este fenômeno recente e ainda não profundamente estudado: as relações de parceria que têm surgido entre negócios de impacto social e o setor público no país. Adota-se como método um estudo de casos de tipo instrumental (STAKE, 2006), enfocando três ocorrências recentes desse tipo de interação. Retomando conceitos da literatura de parcerias intersetoriais, a análise destaca os processos de formação e implementação deste tipo específico de parcerias, seus principais resultados e desafios, e identifica temáticas a serem aprofundadas a partir das descobertas deste estudo / In the growing academic production on social impact businesses in Brazil, it is possible to verify a gap: there are not significant numbers of studies that analyze the interactions between social impact businesses and the public sector, although at the same time it is possible to observe, in recent practice, several cases in which this interaction has taken place. At the same time, when analyzing the literature on cross-sector partnerships, it is observed that many studies analyze partnerships involving both the public sector and the private sector and / or NGOs, but we do not find studies that go deeper into partnerships between the public sector and social impact businesses. Based on these findings, this research seeks to shed light on this recent and not yet deeply studied phenomenon: the partnership relationships that have arisen between social impact businesses and the public sector in the country. A case-study of instrumental type (STAKE, 2006) is adopted as a method, focusing on three recent occurrences of this type of interaction. The analysis highlights the processes of formation and implementation of this specific type of partnerships, their main results and challenges, and identifies themes to be explored from the findings of this study