Social Supermarkets have become increasingly common around the world. These are food stores that sell food waste at a greatly reduced price to low-income people. The concept makes clear claims of sustainable business and also offers work training for unemployed. In recent years, the store concept has been spread to several new countries, including Sweden. Today, there is only one store in Sweden, located in Stockholm, which is operated by an organization called Stadsmissionen. Unfortunately, the need is massive. Many people are poor and hungry, and the queue is long before store opening. There are now plans for expansion, which is necessary if the demand for cheap food is to be met. This essay will explore the concept more deeply and the purpose of the thesis is to contribute with knowledge of users' experiences of Social Supermarkets. Finally, politicians from Vänsterpartiet, Kristdemokraterna and Moderaterna were also connected and asked whether the store is suitable or not in contemporary Sweden and future society. The opinions have been drawn apart, ranging from positive views with the store and shame about the situation. Vänsterpartiet sees it as an awful development while Kristdemokraterna and Moderaterna want to stimulate the concept even more. Most customers think that it helps them tremendously and the store manager now wants to build up more stores and better food waste co-operations. In the end, the study of Social Supermarkets, carried out from several different perspectives, eventually became a matter of ethics and morality.

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Funding strategy has often been the determinant factor in the level of success for social entrepreneurships. The strategy could be a preference for internally generated revenue, externally generated revenue or a combination of the two. Interestingly, scarcity of resources has always been ‘a clog in the wheel’ of meaningful execution of projects irrespective of the funding model a social entrepreneur chooses. Through a review of existing literatures, this paper weighs the implications of choosing either externally generated revenue or internally generated revenue; specifically contextualizing the study to US. More so, it attempts to find out which of the two models would ensure optimum productivity, given that scarcity of resources would hamper the chances of effectively running the two models simultaneously. To arrive at a ‘plausible’ response, principles of resource valuation become vital in determining the costs and benefits associated with each model of funding. Consequently, the findings show that though both internally and externally generated revenue are sine qua non to an effective and efficient production of social values, internally generated revenue ensures better optimum production than externally generated revenue.

Thesis focus on funding possibilities of social enterprises in Czech Republic, different ways of funding from various sources and the ability of enterprises to reach these resources. Work has theoretical and empirical character. The theoretical part comes with overview of the history of social enterprises in Europe and in the Czech Republic, their development and legislative framework. Part of the work is devoted to theories of civic sector organizations, on the basis of which I am trying to point out the factors that might have an impact on financing social enterprises. Social enterprises tend to have other sources of funding than those that are available for commercial business. In connection with these sources, the common term to describe it, is multi-source or hybrid financing. Empirical part is preceded by an analysis of hybrid financial instruments that are available in the Czech Republic and which are designed specifically for social enterprises. Empirical part is composed of analysis of financial reports from selected social enterprises and demonstrates the true structure of financial resources for the studied period. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Associations as social economy enterprises are the main focus of this thesis. The theoretical part of the thesis presents the area of social economy and social entrepreneurship, both worldwide and in the context of the Czech Republic. The Czech legal framework for the area of social economy and its associations, as well as local specifics are also described. The discussion follows the principles delineated by Kim Alter. In the empirical part of the thesis, nine case studies of Czech associations - social economy enterprises are analysed with the use of publicly accessible documents. Using these case studies, the analysis shows how each case fulfils the principles of social economy enterprise. The author uses Alter's typology to ascertain, what type of social economy enterprise each of the cases represent: an embedded, integrated or external social enterprise.

This bachelor thesis evaluates how high-engagement investors contribute to the development and growth of for-profit social enterprises by providing both funding and non-financial advisory services focused on organisational capacity-building. Case studies on three social enterprises describe the structure of funding deals, what considerations affected these due to the high social character of the ventures, and inquire into the relationship between social enterprise and their investors to evaluate how the investors provide value for their investees beyond capital. The investor types involved include commercial venture capital funds, angel investors, accelerator programs and venture philanthropy funds; a sort of social impact investment fund which combines the high- engagement mentoring of venture capital funds with lower expectations on financial returns in exchange for higher demands on social impact. The findings indicate that high-engagement investors in general provide a wide range of services to the social enterprises studied, where strategic advisory services and networks introductions are identified as key enablers for development. Aligning philosophies on the combination of business and social impact is also identified as critical for a constructive relationship between investor and investee. The perceived value of venture philanthropy funding diverges between the cases; while filling an empty space in the social enterprise capital market, some findings question their capabilities and investment model. Apart from the initial research questions on how high-engagement investors add value to social enterprises, the study raises further questions on social enterprise funding in general and the issues that obstructs these organisations from introducing innovation and growth to underdeveloped markets.

This thesis addresses food insecurity from an Indigenous fisheries lens and presents a conceptual model by integrating three different but inter-related domains (ecological, cultural, and business) that impact Indigenous food security. Under the broader umbrella of fisheries and food security, the thesis addresses four objectives: (i) to investigate the co-existence of commercial and subsistence fisheries, (ii) to assess food security among commercial and subsistence fishing households, (iii) to explore the meaning of traditional food by engaging Indigenous youth with an objective to revitalize culture, and (iv) to examine the role of the fisherman’s co-operative as a social enterprise to address community economic development. The study was conducted over a period of 14 months (from September 2013 to December 2014) in Norway House Cree Nation, northern Manitoba, Canada. Community members are engaged in both subsistence and commercial fishing. The two kinds of fisheries co-exist, and potential problems of overlap are handled by temporal separation; spatial separation; formal mechanism of monitoring of net ownership; and informal communication for conflict resolution consistent with Cree values. The study found that extensive sharing of fish and other traditional foods by commercial fishers reached almost half of the total population in the community and contributed to improving food security. I used a participatory research approach to engage Indigenous youth to explore the meaning of traditional food. Participants produced a collaborative artwork on the theme of “what traditional food means to you?” This art work functioned as a boundary object, initiating discussion about food security planning in the community. Norway House Fisherman’s Co-op operates as a social enterprise mainly because of fish sharing and its role in business diversification for community economic development. The Chief and Band Council requested an exploration of ways to add value to their existing commercial fisheries. Based on the findings, further development can rely on: (i) better use of existing fish resources, such as the by-catch, (ii) fishing related economic development, such as value-added fish products, and (iii) use of options regarding regulatory bodies, such as eco-certification. / February 2017

The Diploma thesis examines social economy area, social entrepreneurship in particular, with focus on integration of disadvantaged groups on Czech Republic labor market. The main objective of the thesis is to identify strengths and weaknesses of the social entrepreneurship and work integration concept with emphasis on legislation, financing and historical and cultural influence as well as suitability of the environment for further progress. Particular attention is given to evaluation of purposiveness of creating work opportunities for disadvantaged groups by social enterprise. The thesis also examines social entrepreneurship environment in selected European countries to find inspiration for improvement or to identify areas to be aware of and avoid them. The analytical part of the theses is focused on Czech Republic, using information data gathered form subject matter experts, or based on information provided by social enterprise representatives. The thesis is concluded with a SWOT analysis delivering complex overview of Czech social enterprise and its prospective opportunities or potential impediments.

In simultaneously pursuing commercial and social goals, specialist microfinance organisations (MFOs) are leading examples of social enterprises working in development. Yet evidence of the feasibility of such ‘double bottom line’ management is limited. The thesis takes a comparative case study approach to investigating the dynamics of a social enterprise model of microfinance, with particular emphasis on its role in promoting employment related goals. Case study material consists primarily of the experience of two Central Asian MFOs that participated in an action research project ‘Microfinance for Decent Work’ implemented by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Data was obtained through participant observation, staff interviews, client level surveys, and it also includes reflective practice arising from my participation in the ILO project as a consultant to both MFOs between 2008 and 2012. The findings are mixed. One of the MFOs was more strongly internally motivated to achieve social goals, and was more successful in implementing social performance management initiatives. The other was motivated more by the goal to demonstrate social performance to external stakeholders, and was less responsive to the evidence generated. The thesis also illustrates both path dependence in the evolution of social performance management, and the limited capacity of external agencies such as the ILO to influence the institutionalisation of development management within MFOs.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T20:20:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_final.pdf: 2815536 bytes, checksum: 3de3b2f497137c075824b31f2505d95a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-11-04 / The practice of cultural marketing has been presented as an alternative for the society into a context of which the retraction of the State occurred as a great supplier of social demands. It is important to establish a distinction between the company, which really practices it as an exercise of social responsibility and that, which takes advantage of more than one marketing action, aiming to create a value for the institutional trademark. In this study, it was observed that it is not enough to invest in cultural actions when the other activities of the company have many harmful effects to the society, resulting in the invalidation of the benefits generated by this pseudopractice. Thus, the approach of companies with cultural activities may not be disassociated of concepts of social responsibility and organizational ethic. The comprehensive practice of the cultural marketing may have a positive influence on the three following aspects: social, economic and marketing. Therefore, to invest in cultural marketing must be part of a long-term strategy of less immediatist action companies with concerns beyond the profit of this practice or with interests related to fiscal investment incentives given by the government to those who invest in cultural activities. In accordance with this study, the society (mainly, the consumers inserted on it) has a fundamental role to lead the practice of social responsibility based on the investment of cultural actions. In our research another factor could be observed as the union of efforts of the three sectors of the society represented by the state, enterprises and civil society aiming to emphasize the impact of the developed actions. Finally, it was observed that the cultural marketing does not guarantee that the society could differentiate the company aiming social actions from those using the concept of marketing practices / A prática do marketing cultural tem se apresentado como alternativa para a sociedade em um contexto de retração do papel do Estado, como grande provedor das demandas sociais. É importante estabelecer a distinção da empresa que realmente a pratica como exercício de responsabilidade social de quem se aproveita apenas para mais uma ação mercadológica com o objetivo de criar valor à marca institucional. No estudo, percebeu-se que não basta investir em ações culturais se as demais atividades da empresa têm efeitos tão prejudiciais à sociedade que acabam anulando os benefícios gerados por essa pseudoprática. Assim, a aproximação das empresas das atividades culturais não pode estar desassociada dos conceitos de responsabilidade social e ética organizacional. Praticar o marketing cultural de forma ampla influenciará positivamente no tocante a três aspectos: social, econômico e mercadológico. Sendo assim, investir em marketing cultural deve ser parte de uma estratégia de longo prazo de empresas menos imediatistas, com preocupações que estão, para além do lucro do exercício ou por interesses relacionados aos incentivos fiscais concedidos pelo governo, para quem investe em atividades culturais. Conforme o estudo, a sociedade (sobretudo, os consumidores nela inseridos) exercem uma função fundamental para levar a prática de responsabilidade social pautada no investimento em ações culturais. Na pesquisa, outro fator identificado foi a união de esforços dos três setores da sociedade representados pelo Estado, empresas e sociedade civil com o objetivo de maximizar o impacto das ações desenvolvidas. Finalmente, observa-se que a forma do marketing cultural não garante que a sociedade diferencie quem investe com objetivos sociais de quem apenas faz uso do conceito para práticas mercadológicas