Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: A, page: 4250. Adviser: Kent Monroe. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-90) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p> Volunteers provide valuable human resource assets in many areas of society and are critical to the success of non-profit organizations. The Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) has been used for over ten years and has received the most attention from researchers who cite the theoretical basis, the predictive nature, and the general purpose application of the inventory as major strengths. However, there are several shortcoming of the instrument which limits its value to organizations that use volunteers. Several researchers have suggested that additional functions should be included in the VFI. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify missing functions that should be part of this inventory in order to improve its effectiveness as a tool for identifying volunteer motivations. The problem was that the VFL is an incomplete survey of functions for volunteer motivations, which limits its usefulness to practitioners and researchers. This research study was a qualitative multiple case study analysis which included interviews with volunteers, informant feedback, and focus group review of the coding of excerpts. A total of twelve volunteers from three volunteer organizations were purposefully selected for maximum variation. Questions were field tested with four experts and the researcher conducted face-to-face interviews with each participant. Informant feedback was used to verify the transcription and the analysis of the results, and a focus group performed a sorting procedure to verify the results. The analysis supported use of the six functions included in the VFI, and found considerable support for the concepts of civic responsibility and debt or obligation as functions that provide motivation for volunteerism. There were a notable number of comments by the participants that aligned with these two functions, and were validated through the triangulation methods of participant feedback and the focus group. Based on this study, the researcher concludes that civic responsibility and debt or obligation are functions that should be included in the VFI. The researcher recommends that additional studies should be conducted to develop a modified VFI including these functions. This includes creating and validating questions for the two additional functions, and a testing and validating a revised inventory.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-05, Section: B, page: 3310. Adviser: Brent W. Roberts. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-75) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

In this thesis, different ways to evaluate social business are compared and discussed.The relatively new concept “social business” is used to describe a private sector enterprise, the purpose of which is not primarily to maximise profit but to achieve a social mission. However, in doing so, it needs to be sustainable in financial terms, and this means that sufficient profitability is a necessary condition. (Environmental sustainability is another important prerequisite, which is not discussed in depth here).Assessing the success of a social business, it is therefore necessary to evaluate both the social impact and the financial viability. This means, on one hand, using appropriate evaluation methods that have mainly been developed for the public sector and the civil society. Such methods are based on unequal power relations requiring accountability – a concept not normally used in the private sector, where funding is based on a voluntary exchange of money for goods or services. On the other hand, not all traditional methods for assessing performance in a private sector company are suitable for determining financial sustainability in a social business. Nevertheless, existing methods should be used where appropriate.Among the findings are:- the importance of the local context and particular features, which makes comparisons between different social businesses difficult, and which necessitates adaptions of assessment methods- that several financial indicators, used for for-profit business, may also be useful for social business (especially those related to revenue trends and liquidity). However such indicators are based on accounting (history) rather than a forward-looking analysis of the business environment, and may not be fully comparable.- that the main purpose of impact evaluation is the need to improve operations, but also to enhance legitimacy among stake-holders and – to some extent – regulators and prospective investors. Stake-holder involvement is therefore normally an advantage.- that methods that build on monetising outcomes and impacts (for example Social Return on Investment) are normally less appropriate than models that use non-monetary forms for publishing evaluation results, eg. anecdotal analyses- that with the exception of evaluations done by the academia to increase knowledge, available resources will normally not be sufficient to carry out fully fledged external evaluations using methods to establish a counterfactual situation.The development of social business also challenges traditional economic assumptions of the profit maximising individual through introducing such concepts as solidarity, social capital and citizenship. The fact that in several ways, social business crosses the borderline between on one hand the private sector and on the other hand public sector and civil society makes it necessary for representatives from many different academic fields to cooperate closely in future research: economics, business administration, political and social scientists etc.

<p> For global companies to continue to grow, members must work and/or lead virtually. The purpose of my research was based on a two-dimensional model for measuring successful projects among virtual team members: effective communication and cultural intelligence (CQ) for team members working in a global pharmaceutical company. The main focus was on project management team members who work on global virtual teams and their team managers who lead global virtual teams. Currently, there is very limited empirical research that focuses on the relationship between cultural intelligence, effective communication within virtual teams, and successful projects. The researcher used triangulation mixed methods to explore the interrelationship among all three elements. It was hypothesized that all three elements are interrelated. Surveys on all three elements were used to assess both global leaders and project management team members who manage and lead projects virtually, working in collaboration with their global counterparts. Based on both the quantitative and qualitative results of the data, as well as the result of this interrelationship, further training on openness and global identity, adjustment to the current strategy, and education of all project management team members could then be recommended. If no difference in the collaboration level is found based on a high level of CQ, then additional opportunities for CQ would be recommended to the organization leadership. </p>

Background: Social entrepreneurship started to appear in the academic research in the end of 1990´s and has since then been well discussed by researchers. They have come up with numerous of different definitions and meanings of the term, but agree that the goal for these kinds of entrepreneurs is to create social value. Purpose: Our objective with this study is to create an understanding of where social entrepreneurs acquire the necessary resources to start their social business. Research question: How do social entrepreneurs acquire the necessary resources to start their social business in Rio de Janeiro? Methodology: The study adopted a qualitative research method and semi-structured interviews have been done in order to gather data. An abductive approach has been used where the authors has gone back and forth between the theory and the empirical findings. Research findings: The social entrepreneurs that we interviewed used the following ways to acquire resources to start their social business: Social venture capitalists, social capital, human capital, cultural capital and volunteers.

O recente surgimento dos negócios com impacto socioambiental, que visam gerar resultados positivos do ponto de vista social e/ou ambiental, impulsionou o debate acadêmico no campo do empreendedorismo social. Simultaneamente, novas formas de viabilizar financeiramente esses empreendimentos emergiram, fomentando o nascimento dos investimentos de impacto. Com isso, um novo ecossistema desponta, constituído por atores que cumprem papéis complementares no fomento, apoio e acompanhamento dos negócios com impacto socioambiental. Apesar do avanço científico acerca desse fenômeno ser notável, existe uma lacuna a respeito do conjunto de competências que compõem o perfil do empreendedor social à frente desse tipo de empreendimento. Desenhou-se, então, um estudo qualitativo de caráter descritivo-exploratório, com o objetivo de levantar, junto a investidores em negócios de impacto, suas expectativas em relação ao perfil desses empreendedores. A partir da revisão bibliográfica realizada para este estudo, dezoito organizações foram identificadas como investidoras de impacto, das quais quinze aceitaram o convite para contribuir com a pesquisa, por meio de entrevistas individuais, semiestruturadas. Como resultado, as competências mais citadas espontaneamente pelos entrevistados foram, em ordem decrescente: desenvolvimento e manutenção de relacionamentos; gestão administrativa; adaptabilidade; mapeamento de oportunidades e tendências; orientação para aprendizado e inovação; persuasão; e gestão de riscos. Entretanto, as conclusões da pesquisa demonstram que as competências não costumam ser empregadas como critérios para a decisão do investimento em si. Alguns mecanismos são utilizados para compreender o perfil do empreendedor como um todo, tais como: questionários individuais, visitas ao local do empreendimento para observar a dinâmica do empreendedor com sua equipe e clientes, e referências cruzadas com membros da rede do empreendedor. Aproximadamente metade dos entrevistados citou espontaneamente a importância dos investimentos de impacto para o crescimento e evolução dos negócios investidos, especialmente por oferecerem uma contribuição estratégica e gerencial, além do aporte financeiro. De uma maneira geral, os investidores entrevistados salientaram a intenção de colaborar com os empreendedores, criando uma atmosfera positiva para a construção de um relacionamento de longo prazo. Por meio de análise comparativa entre as entrevistas realizadas, identificou-se que os investidores possuem uma visão homogênea em relação ao perfil dos empreendedores sociais e dos empreendedores tradicionais, pois não foram apontadas diferenças significativas entre eles. Para dez dos entrevistados, o único elemento diferenciador é a intenção que os empreendedores de negócios com impacto socioambiental têm de resolver questões sociais ou ambientais. As contribuições desta pesquisa estão relacionadas, portanto, à evolução do campo acadêmico e prático dos negócios socioambientais no Brasil. Com esse estudo, foi possível identificar e descrever o conjunto de competências esperadas no perfil do empreendedor social, a partir da perspectiva dos investidores. Investigações similares não foram identificadas na literatura até o momento, reforçando a necessidade, então, de novas pesquisas na área. / The recent emergence of social businesses, which aims at generating positive results from a social and/or environmental perspective, has fostered the academic debate in the social entrepreneurship field. Concurrently, new ways of financially enabling these businesses have emerged, boosting the growth of impact investing. Hence, a new ecosystem arises, composed by agents that play complementary roles in promoting, supporting and monitoring of social impact businesses. Despite the significant scientific progress on this phenomenon, there is a gap concerning the set of competencies that composes the profile of social entrepreneurs leading these enterprises. Thus, a qualitative research of both descriptive and explanatory nature was designed with the intent of raising, along with investors of social businesses, their expectation regarding the profile of these entrepreneurs. From the literature review done for this study, eighteen organizations were identified as impact investors, of which fifteen accepted the request to contribute with individual and semi-structured interviews. As a result, the most spontaneously cited competencies among the interviewees were, in descending order: the development and maintenance of relationships; the administrative management; adaptability; the mapping of opportunities and tendencies; orientation towards learning and innovation; persuasion; and risk management. Nevertheless, the results of this research show that these competencies are not used as criteria to decide on the social investing. Some of the tools used to understand the profile of entrepreneurs, as a whole, are: individual surveys, on-site visits to observe the dynamic of the entrepreneur with his team and clients, and checking references with the entrepreneurs\' network members. Nearly half of the interviewees voluntarily cited the importance of impact investing to the growth and development of the businesses that received these investments, especially because they were offered both strategic and administrative contribution, not to mention the capital injection. In general, the interviewed investors have emphasized the intention to collaborate with the entrepreneurs, by creating a positive atmosphere in order to build a long term relationship. By comparing and analyzing the interviews, we identified that investors have a homogenous mindset regarding the profile of both social entrepreneurs and traditional entrepreneurs, as no major disparities were attributed among them. Their intention of coming to terms with both social and environmental matters is the only element in ten out of the fifteen interviewed entrepreneurs of social businesses. In this sense, this research contribution is related to the progress for both academic and pragmatic fields of social businesses in Brazil. This study enables identifying and describing the expected set of competencies of a social entrepreneur, from the investor\'s perspective. Similar examinations have not been identified so far, reinforcing the need for further research in this field.

Os negócios sociais são um fenômeno em expansão no Brasil e no mundo.Este trabalho teve como objetivo geral investigar e analisar se os negócios sociais utilizam práticas de avaliação e se isso gera processos de aprendizagem organizacional, tomando por objeto de estudo organizações que atuam no Estado de São Paulo. Na pesquisa bibliográfica, diversos conceitos de negócios sociais foram identificados, porém, não foram encontradas visões definitivas sobre como avaliar tais organizações. A literatura sobre aprendizagem organizacional também ofereceu insumos à pesquisa. Para alcançar o objetivo proposto, foi usada metodologia de estudo de casos múltiplos, com coleta de dados por meio de entrevistas e análise documental, que se mostrou adequada devido à necessidade de compreensão do contexto das organizações e ao fato de a literatura sobre o tema ainda estar em estágio exploratório. A escolha dos casos se deu a partir de sugestões de fundos de investimento. Em um primeiro momento, os fundos foram contatados e entrevistados, depois indicaram para a pesquisa negócios sociais com os quais se relacionavam, além de duas organizações de avaliação do campo, totalizando quatorze organizações pesquisadas. Os principais resultados deste estudo são: a) caracterização dos negócios sociais que avaliam: destacou-se uma concentração na área de saúde e o alcance ou intenção da sustentabilidade financeira; b) análise das avaliações: elas são principalmente sobre aspectos tradicionais, como operacional e financeiro e acontecem de maneira informal; c) caracterizar se os processos de avaliação geram aprendizagem: sim, os aprendizados acontecem em vários momentos, mas induzidos também por diversos outros fatores além da avaliação, tais como tentativas e erros; d) principais barreiras e dificuldades para a avaliação: dificuldades técnicas nas avaliações sociais e custo em geral. Os negócios sociais pesquisados utilizam práticas de avaliação, mas isso nem sempre gerou aprendizados reconhecidos pelos respondentes. Uma sugestão de pesquisa seria um estudo de caráter qualitativo que investigasse porque essas avaliações não geram todo o aprendizado que poderiam de acordo com a literatura (FRANCO-SANTOS et al., 2007) e o que precisaria mudar para que isso acontecesse.A contribuição teórica dessa pesquisa é uma maior compreensão dos fenômenos de avaliação e aprendizagem nos negócios sociais. A contribuição empírica consiste na indicação de que talvez seja necessário desenvolver o campo em outros aspectos até ele estar maduro o suficiente para executar e tirar benefícios de avaliações. A contribuição de ensino é o questionamento da avaliação como premissa para aprendizagem e melhorias organizacionais. / Social businesses are a phenomenon in expansion in Brazil and worldwide. This study aims to analyze whether social business working in the state of São Paulo use evaluation practices and, from that, if they experience organizational learning processes. In literature review, different social business concepts have been identified, but there were no definite views on how to evaluate such organizations. The literature on organizational learning and business ecosystem were also reviewed to give input the research. In order to reach the proposed objective, a multiple case study methodology was used, with data collection through interviews and documentary analysis, which was justified by the need to understand the context of organizations and the fact that a literature on the subject is still in an exploratory stage. The cases choice was based on investment fund suggestions. Initially, the funds were contacted and interviewed, then they indicated social business they invested on to be researched, in addition to two field evaluation organizations, totaling fourteen researched organizations. The main results of this study were: a) characterization of the social businesses that evaluate: a concentration in the health area and the reach of the intention of the financial sustainability; b) Analysis of evaluations: they are mainly informal about tradition aspects such as finance and operations; c) To identify if the processes of evaluation generate learning: yes, the learnings take place at several moments, but also induced by several other factors besides the evaluation, such as trial and error; d) Main barriers and difficulties for evaluation: technical difficulties of social evaluations and cost in general. The businesses researched evaluate their performance, but it did not always generated learning recognized by respondents. A research suggestion would be qualitative investigation to discover why assessments did not lead to learning in a better way as literature suggests (FRANCO-SANTOS et al., 2007) and what would need to change for this to happen. The theoretical contribution of the research is an early understanding of the phenomena of evaluation and learning in business. The empirical contribution is the indication that it may be necessary to develop the social business ecosystem in other aspects until it is mature enough to perform and benefit from evaluation. The contribution for teaching is questioning evaluation as a premise for learning organizational and improvements.

A questão habitacional vem se configurando no mundo como um dos temas de maior relevância da atualidade. As projeções indicam que em 2030, 40% da população mundial deverá viver em moradias precárias, e 25% simplesmente não terão onde morar. O Brasil possui hoje um déficit habitacional de 5,546 milhões de domicílios, e cerca de 11 milhões de moradias já construídas sem infraestrutura adequada. Apesar de a grande maioria desse déficit estar concentrado na faixa da população com rendimentos familiares mensais de até três salários mínimos, a política habitacional brasileira tradicionalmente privilegiou a produção de moradias para camadas mais abastadas. A base da pirâmide, que tem pouco acesso às novas unidades habitacionais produzidas, tampouco goza de políticas de apoio à melhoria das condições de suas residências, normalmente localizadas em áreas periféricas e com infraestrutura precária. Este estudo se propôs a analisar os desafios e oportunidades para a estruturação de negócios sociais na área da habitação, no Brasil. Este tipo de negócio tem como objetivo principal contribuir com a resolução de algum problema social crítico, utilizando, para isso, mecanismos de mercado. Para atender aos objetivos propostos, foi realizada uma pesquisa-ação junto a um grupo de moradores da Favela da Erundina, localizada na Zona Sul da cidade de São Paulo. Tendo a questão da reforma como foco específico de análise, foi possível constatar que os aspectos de assistência técnica em reforma, voltadas a demandas não coletivas; a disponibilidade de mão de obra qualificada; a gestão de materiais e o acesso a crédito, são os principais fatores críticos para a estruturação de um negócio social na comunidade voltado a esse fim. / The housing issue is one of the most important themes in the present. The projections indicate that around the year 2030, 40% of the world\'s population will live in poor housing conditions and 25% won\'t have housing at all. Brazil has a gross housing deficit of 5546 thousand residences, with around 11 million habitations without adequate infrastructure. Even though most of this deficit is concentrated in the population with earnings of up to three minimum wages, the Brazilian housing policies have always privileged the production of houses to the richest stratas of society. The base of the societal pyramid has low access to the units newly produced and very little access to polices that allow the improvement of residences in precarious conditions, usually located in peripheral areas with precarious urban conditions. The present study intends to analyze the challenges and opportunities for structuring social businesses in Brazil´s housing area. Social businesses are businesses that have as their main objective to contribute to the resolution of some critical social problem, using market mechanisms. To meet the study objectives, we conducted an action research initiative with a group of residents of Favela Erundina, located in São Paulo´s southern district. Taking the issue the house´s improvement as the specific focus of analysis, it was found that the aspects of technical assistance, not orientated to collective demands, the availability of skilled labor, material management and access to credit are the critical factors for structuring a social business dedicated to that purpose in the community level.

It is claimed that low-income people in Dhaka city do not have the financial ability to enjoy adecent housing environment. There is a clear lack of knowledge on how low-income people,drawing upon both their available income together and support from formal financial institutions,would be able to afford housing. It is commonly considered a fact that their access to formalfinancial means is largely hindered by their poor financial status, along with the absence of anyform of land tenure security. The case of this study demonstrates, on the contrary, the adequatefinancial ability of the urban poor when it comes to meeting rent and payments for other necessaryservices. This study therefore primarily responds to the critical issue of whether the government isunaware of informal housing practices, or is simply ignorant of low-income housing provision.In this study, perspectives on change are analyzed in order to comprehend the obstacles andchallenges embedded within the housing organizations of Dhaka city. Within the local governanceparadigm, the concepts of deliberative dialogue and partnership are explored with the aim toreveal both the resources rooted in ‘informal’ low-income housing practices, and the resources atstake for the ‘formal’ housing gatekeepers. Different land tenure security options are explored inorder to understand their compatibility with the informal nature of low-income housing. Thetheory of social business is critically reviewed, and used to examine whether low-incomeaffordable housing could be seen as a product resulting from partnerships between vested actors,for whom the low-income community could be considered to be both a beneficiary and a partner.This study suggests that outside the boundary of ‘formal’ housing, there is an unexplored andfunctional ‘informal’ housing market where de facto owners purchase ‘business tenure security’from the slum lords, while de facto tenants buy ‘house rental tenure security’ in exchange forregular rental payments. Within this informality, an innovative financial organization (the JhilparCooperative) has emerged as a creative platform for business investment. This study reveals thatJhilpar’s inhabitants pay more than 30 percent of their monthly income for housing. As anabsolute value, this is more than what is being paid by middle-class – and even many high-income– people. The slum inhabitants also pay more for a limited supply of basic services, such aselectricity.This study concludes that the formal housing gatekeepers lack a complete knowledge of‘informality’ – a notion reflected in, for example, the actual financial ability of the urban poor; thestrength and potentials of systematic community-based cooperative business; and housing relocationdecisions (employment-housing nexus). This fundamental lack of knowledge precludesthe housing gatekeepers from taking the right decisions to achieve affordable low-incomehousing. These deficiencies have led to low-income housing projects that have barely benefitedthe urban poor, benefiting other income groups instead. Low-income housing projects utilizingland title provision, sites and services schemes, and relocation to other places (amongst otherstrategies) disregard the nature, strength, and potentials of housing ‘informality’ in the slums inthe most pronounced manner. This identified knowledge gap also rules out private and publichousing gatekeepers employing their resources as enablers or providers. To improve this impassewith regard to affordable low-income housing, this study advocates a ‘social business model forlow-income housing’ as the most effective option for the Jhilpar community, wherebypartnerships would be built on an ‘investment’ mindset, through a shift away from conventional‘give away’ practices. / QC 20120221