<p>The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn more about the experiences of social work practitioners who are employed in the for-profit sector. Data were collected through individual interviews with four registered social workers. Findings showed that social worker’s experiences of practice within for-profit or private practice settings falls into six main categories. ‘Social work identity’, which includes a comparison of social work and other professions, professional values and ethics, and professional practice issues. ‘Valued characteristics’, which includes past and current work experience, goals for practice, service provision, and job flexibility. The category of ‘fee for service’ examines charging fees in exchange for social work services, salary and compensation, funding, and advertising. ‘Challenges’ of social work practice in the for-profit sector includes experiencing financial pressure, client no-shows, and navigating the “balancing act” of providing services while earning an income. ‘Supervision’, which addresses issues of debriefing. The final category, ‘social work education’, explores the current post-secondary social work program and includes recommendations from participants on improving the curriculum and preparing graduates for working within the field. A central issue for social workers within the for-profit sector is the misconceptions that exist regarding their work. The conclusion is that unlike private practice, social work practice within non-profit and for-profit agencies has a number of similarities. The social work profession offers a multitude of career options for practitioners; different social workers fill different roles, according to their proficiencies, experience, and expertise.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

This study examined the extent of research and teaching on higher education programs in the United States that focuses on for-profit higher education. This descriptive study used a 30-item questionnaire to gather the information reported here. This survey instrument was sent to the entire population of interest. This population was made up of all of the programs in higher education that are listed in the ASHE Higher Education Program Directory, which is produced by the Association for the Study of Higher Education. The results of this research show that little research and teaching is being done that has a primary focus on for-profit higher education. Recommendations on how to address this are provided.

A presente Dissertação consiste numa análise teórica e empírica do oferecimento do ensino superior por instituições privadas com fins lucrativos no Brasil, especialmente pelas instituições que fazem parte do grupo Anhanguera, controlado pela Anhanguera Educacional Participações S.A. (Anhanguera ou Companhia), com o objetivo de verificar se o agente privado é capaz de oferecer a educação conforme as normas constitucionais brasileiras e em que medida a lógica econômica é compatível ou não com este direito humano. A análise teórica envolveu o estudo (i) da educação como direito humano, bem público e serviço público, examinando (a) o direito à educação na doutrina dos direitos humanos, (b) a disciplina constitucional do direito à educação no Brasil e (c) as especificidades da educação superior; (ii) da evolução histórica e jurídica da educação superior no Brasil a partir da Constituição de 1988, examinando a evolução da legislação e das políticas públicas nesse período e o impacto dessas medidas para o crescimento do setor privado no ensino superior brasileiro, e abordando o processo de profissionalização e internacionalização do setor na última década, que teve como marco a abertura de capital da Anhanguera em 2007; e (iii) da educação como um serviço prestado mediante o desempenho de uma atividade empresária, examinando as características da atividade empresária, a lógica empresarial e as dificuldades do agente privado em lidar com atividades produtoras de externalidades sociais. A análise empírica envolveu o estudo do caso da Anhanguera, companhia aberta listada no Novo Mercado da BM&FBOVESPA, controladora de um grupo educacional que atua principalmente no ensino superior. A Anhanguera foi a primeira empresa educacional brasileira a abrir seu capital na BM&FBOVESPA e, em 31/12/2011, representava o segundo maior grupo educacional do mundo e o maior do Brasil em termos de valor de mercado e em número de alunos. A análise do caso da Anhanguera foi feita a partir do levantamento, triagem e análise da documentação sobre a Companhia disponível para acesso público em sites de órgãos oficiais, e teve por objetivo encontrar respostas para uma série de questões relacionadas direta ou indiretamente aos temas constantes nos itens (i) a (iii) acima e ao objetivo da Dissertação de analisar a compatibilidade entre a lógica econômica e o ensino superior a partir do estudo desse caso concreto. A conclusão da pesquisa foi que a educação quando sujeita à lógica econômica transforma-se numa mercadoria, que será oferecida dentro de uma estrutura empresarial, visando redução de custos e maximização dos lucros para distribuição aos acionistas. No caso da Anhanguera, que se volta para o atendimento das classes média e baixa da população, é oferecido um ensino superior de massa para formação técnica, de baixa qualidade, com valores reduzidos de mensalidade. Nesse contexto, a Anhanguera oferece uma educação limitada, que não atende ao conteúdo normativo do direito à educação. / This Dissertation consists of a theoretical and empirical analysis of the offering of higher education by private for-profit institutions in Brazil, especially by institutions that are part of the Anhanguera Group, controlled by Anhanguera Educacional Participações S.A. (Anhanguera or Company), with the purpose of verifying if the private agent is able to offer education in accordance with the Brazilian constitutional rules and to what extent the economic logic is compatible or not with this human right. The theoretical analysis involved the study of (i) education as human right, public good and public service, examining (a) the right to education in human rights doctrine, (b) the constitutional rules concerning the right to education in Brazil and (c) the specificities of higher education, (ii) the historical and legal evolution of higher education in Brazil as from the 1988 Constitution, examining the evolution of legislation and public policies in this period and the impact of these measures for the growth of the private sector in Brazilian higher education, and approaching the process of professionalization and internationalization of the sector in the last decade, which had as landmark the going public of Anhanguera in 2007, and (iii) education as a service rendered through the performance of a corporate activity, examining the characteristics of the corporate activity, the business logic and the difficulties of the private agent in dealing with activities that produce social externalities. The empirical analysis involved the study of Anhangueras case, a publicly-held company listed on the Novo Mercado of BM&FBOVESPA, holding of an educational group that operates mainly in higher education. Anhanguera was the first Brazilian educational company to go public in BM&FBOVESPA and, on 12/31/2011, represented the second largest educational group in the world and largest in Brazil in terms of market value and number of students. The analysis of Anhangueras case was carried out through survey, selection and analysis of documents regarding the Company that were available for public access on websites of official bodies, and had the purpose of finding answers to a number of questions directly or indirectly related to the topics listed in items (i) to (iii) above and to the purpose of the Dissertation of analyzing the compatibility between economic logic and higher education from the study of this particular case. The researchs conclusion was that education, when subjected to economic logic, becomes a commodity that will be offered within a corporate structure, aiming to reduce costs and maximize profits for distribution to shareholders. In the case of Anhanguera, which turns itself to serve the middle and lower classes of the population, the result is a low quality higher education mass service oriented for technical education and rendered against the payment of reduced tuition fees. In this context, Anhanguera offers a limited education, which does not meet the normative content of the right to education.

This study contributes an original, practice-based analysis of knowledge brokering in inter-organisational communities of practice in the not-for-profit sector. Defining characteristics of the not-for-profit sector include its social values, principles and practices. Existing literature understates or overlooks the significance of values and principles that are manifested in and enlivened through every day social practices and practitioner encounters. The study contributes by presenting knowledge brokering as a knowledge sharing intervention which integrates people, processes, values and principles into practice. Knowledge brokering and other practice interventions in the not-for-profit sector have to align with its social mission, if they are to be compatible and effective. This is especially so in multi-agency partnerships and inter-organisational communities of practice where collaboration and co-existence rather than assimilation are the primary objectives. This study finds that values-compatible knowledge brokering interventions, boundary bridging, co-creation, common artefacts and knowledge sharing, enable inter-organisational communities of practice to evolve without sacrificing individual autonomy. Foundational knowledge brokering literature emphasises the structural position of the knowledge broker, their knowledge superiority and the benefits they accrue by operating on the periphery of a social network. The study contributes by arguing that knowledge brokering processes and roles can be examined through an alternative practice lens with the knowledge broker as an internal co-practitioner located within a network. The study was carried out in a new, time-limited multi-agency partnership project in the not-for-profit sector. The partnership constituted an inter-organisational community of practice comprising advice, information and support agencies that had agreed to work collaboratively to improve local services. The author was employed as the project s Knowledge Management Officer and carried out the study over a two year period using an insider action research approach. As an insider practitioner-researcher, the author contributed to the project s objectives, worked collaboratively with practitioners and gathered rich data. Action and research occurred simultaneously and the iterative processes enabled the cumulative learning to inform, develop and analyse the practice. The combination of using insider action research approach, an examination of knowledge brokering as a practice intervention and a multi-agency, not-for-profit setting, makes this a unique practice-based study untapping knowledge management lessons from the not-for-profit sector.

Organizations spend significant amounts of money to address low job satisfaction. As much as 16.5% of an organization's pretax income is lost due to employee withdrawal behaviors, with 27% of that amount associated with turnover. Building on the quality of working life theory, this single-site case study took place at a for-profit university located in the Midwest United States to understand the role that work-life balance programs play in employee job satisfaction. The population consisted of 6 front-line admissions managers, as that population was appropriate for understanding the work-life balance strategies college officials use to improve the job satisfaction of admissions representatives. The data collection process consisted of semistructured interviews, a review of observational field notes, and a review of employee surveys. Based on methodological triangulation of the data sources and analysis of the data, 3 emergent themes were identified. Participants indicated that both autonomy and flexibility contributed to employee job satisfaction, which the quality of working life theory and existing research on the subject supports. Participants also indicated that the manager-employee relationship was fundamental to improving job satisfaction, which was a finding outside of the scope of the conceptual framework used in the study. Social change implications include improving policy makers and business leaders' understanding of the role that work-life balance plays in job satisfaction. Employees will also find the results of this study informative when attempting to understand how work-life balance programs may contribute to the level of satisfaction they experience with their jobs.

How doctoral students view their institution's ability to resolve problems may be directly related to their overall satisfaction of the institution. Challenges such as barriers to communication could have a negative effect on the students' ability to be retained by the institution. Policies to address issues relating to retention; high default rates on student loans and student services are increasing and more constraining. While the literature indicates the formation of federal policies to monitor recruitment practices of for-profit online institutions, it is not known to what extent these policies have influenced the quality of postrecruitment services. Using the theoretical framework of Vincent Tinto's model of student retention, this qualitative phenomenological study analyzes the quality of these postrecruitment policies related to enrollment, financial, and problem resolution from the perspective of students. Data were collected from 20 current and former doctoral students of online programs at for-profit institutions through inteviews. These interview data were transcribed, and then subjected to open coding and thematic analysis. Findings indicate that participants perceive that their institutions were prepared to resolve problems; however, communication issues were prevalent largely because of the asynchronous nature of email communication or differences in time zones. Based on these findings, the recommendation is for institutions to consider reevaluating methods of communication with students. Social change can be obtained by utilizing the students' experiences to facilitate improvements in the for-profit sector to minimize the opportunity for snowball effects such as retention challenges.

Among the entire continent in the world, Africa is the one with plenty valuable resources and many business opportunities. But African themselves, don’t have enough cash to auto-finance their project or to exploit such resources. With the existing financial crisis in Europeans countries, the slowdown of economic into several part of the world and the higher probability of gain from return on investment opportunity in Africa, many European and Asian choose to go to Africa for their business development. Unlikely, the result in terms of economic and social growth is still negative for many African countries. Taking into consideration the fact that many foreign business enterprises which were attracted by Africa business opportunities went to bankrupt after invested a lot of money, and the necessary need of African countries economic development, we propose to launch a consulting firm to bring our modest contribution. Since we have well knowledge of Africa social, political and geographical structure, moreover our knowledge of Asian’s and European’s way of doing business, and our experience of developing and running successful foreign business entities in Africa, we decided to setup our organization. We believe that our organization will be very helpful and a benefic tool for both foreign investors and African countries. Our organization is a not-for-profit organization, which aims to help foreign investors who plan to go to Africa for business purpose, to avoid them to do wrong investments and lose their money and to help African countries to get into social and economic growth. To sustain our organization, will be charging African governments for each valuable investor will bring to them, our clients for consultancy services through personal contact and later on a dedicated Website click and pay services.

This essay argues that social entrepreneurship is the most efficient means to generate lasting social change and permanently reduce poverty. Using the support of scholarly research, interviews with experts in the field, and my own qualitative observations, I conclude that traditional aid models that are economically dependent on outside funding, as well as those that simply provide monetary and product contributions in order to sustain the poor or marginalized communities they serve are inherently structured in a way that prevents them from resolving social ills. Despite the influx of aid organizations over past decades, chronic poverty and other serious social problems persist, and have not been significantly impacted on a global scale. Traditional aid models merely treat the fundamental issues that perpetuate global poverty. Ironically, these methods of aid actually sustain the inherent problems. Social entrepreneurship is one of the only models that has successfully initiated wide scale social development through promoting the economic independence and self-sustainability of the communities influenced by their initiatives. It has proven to incorporate the necessary tactics that, if implemented internationally and on a wide scale, has the potential to permanently and significantly impact global poverty.

This essay aims to examine Martha Nussbaum's proposal for a classical defense of reform in liberal education and her critique of utility thinking in higher education. I want to explore how Nussbaum uses history to create an ethical alternative that cultivates both moral and intellectual virtues, which she considers to be crucial for the survival of democracy. In examining Nussbaum's use of Aristotle, I focus on her work as a proposal for institutional implementation of an Aristotelian epistemology and the cultivation of the individual as an ethical political subject. This study highlights the epistemological, educational and political ideas that form the basis of Nussbaum's ideals. I intend, however, to go beyond a contextualizing reading and thus establish a dialogue with a radical intersubjectivity to respond to Nussbaum's ambitions to recognize human vulnerabilities as assets for reason. From this perspective, I problematise Nussbaum's aspirations for reform and argue that she maintains a loyalty to an ideal that stands in contrast to the possibilities for epistemological and thus ethical political change.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the potential of internal marketing within non profit organisations. Method: Qualitative case study of an NPO with the part of primary research based on fives interviews of workers.T heoretical framework: The framework consists of theories and models on internal marketing. Internal marketing is studied from the point of view of its tools of implementation, its purposes and also its limits. Conclusion: Internal marketing is revealed as a high potential for NPOs. However, this concept, developed for the profit area, requires some adaptations to fit well to NPOs.