Thesis advisor: Jean Bartunek / Thesis advisor: Sandra Waddock / Following the traditions of problem-driven and impact-focused approach to organizational studies (Davis & Marquis, 2005; Margolis & Walsh, 2003; Stern & Barley, 1996), this dissertation explores the emergence and evolution of social investment, defined as “the allocation of capital to advance the social and economic well- being of people” (Bruyn, 1987: 13). Social investment has become one of the fastest-growing trends in the U.S. financial sector and is a representative case of market-based initiatives that aim to address societal problems. Given the disproportionate power of the financial sector in our economy, understanding how social investment emerged and evolved provides an important insight into whether and how the market—which generated many societal and environmental problems—can be sufficiently transformed to now be the solution for these same problems. I present three empirical essays that together show how, despite exponential growth, social investment has become significantly diluted and came to resemble conventional investment strategies that are almost exclusively focused on maximizing financial returns. I hope that this dissertation could not only contribute to scholarly conversations around categories, hybrid organizing, and institutional theory, but help practitioners realize where social investment is in the U.S. and where it should go in order to, in effect, become a powerful tool that could bring about positive social/environmental changes, just like its pioneers had originally envisioned. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Management and Organization.

South Africa faces a raft of social problems, the enormity of which make it impossible for the government to tackle alone. This has necessitated private sector involvement through socially responsible investments (SRI) and charity. Despite the growth of the SRI industry and years of charitable contributions, social investment into the high-impact areas that need it most remains far too low. This study seeks to understand what is holding back social investment, and how to address this. Using grounded theory methodology, the research finds that traditional SRI investors are inappropriate sources of funding and that charitable funds have largely been deployed inefficiently. The proposed solution is for more use to be made of charitable funders, with the disbursement process employing some commercial investment principles in order to facilitate the recycling of capital, resulting in the growth of social investment over time.

No / This article uses the concept of `the social investment state' to understand key aspects of New Labour's policies in relation to welfare reform. It argues that `investing in children' and creating `responsible parents' are vital features of many of the policies and service initiatives which have emerged since 1997. Such features have considerable implications for policies and practices in the arena of family support. The article goes on to outline aspects of an important critique of the social investment state which has emerged from those engaged in research and policy analysis who argue for a `political ethics of care'. It argues that this perspective offers important possibilities to family support advocates not only for critique, but also for articulating much needed policy alternatives to those currently being promoted by New Labour. It also signposts the importance of conducting ongoing research into the meanings which are being attached by individuals to complex and contested terms such as `family' and `support'.

The purpose of many social programs is to facilitate sustainable change in the lives of individuals and communities. Unfortunately, the techniques used to evaluate social programs often ignore some of the most important changes which take place in the life of a participant and focus more on the activities that have been performed. The purpose of this research is to explore the practical benefits of Social Return on Investment (SROI); an innovative framework for program evaluation. A case study of the Circle of Friends, in Kitchener, Ontario, illustrates some of the qualities of SROI. Beyond the fiscal benefits associated with preventing homelessness, such as decreased use of emergency medical services and decreased housing costs, beneficiaries report increased feelings of community safety and greater mental stability. The final report ensures that all stakeholders have a more complete picture of both the costs and the ‘real’ returns to investing in social programs.

To competitively operate in an environment where even the basic social needs of the population are not met, it makes business sense to uplift the stakeholders that form part of the business environment. With approximately five and a half billion rand spent on philanthropic activities in 2010 alone, it is important that this spend translates into a competitive advantage for the company.The purpose of this study was to explore the concept of philanthropy as understood by companies. Further to that, the intention of the research was to understand how engaging stakeholders, utilising resources available and the intention of the giving by the key decision makers, contributed towards achieving the competitive advantage of the company.Qualitative research in the form of interviews with the key decision makers in the companies in respect of giving was used for data gathering, along with secondary data in sustainability reports to support findings.The research found that competitive advantage can be gained by using corporate philanthropy as a tool. The paper proposes a framework based on the core theories that can be referenced to assist decision makers in determining which areas needs to be improved, in order to raise the competitiveness of the company by means of corporate philanthropy. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

In this study, the researcher employed an inductive qualitative approach to explore the rationale and dimensions of corporate social investment (CSI) practice in South Africa. While the globalised CSI literature is robust, the South African literature is fragmented and insufficient, despite the growing social need for this type of funding in the context of South Africa. Thus, with this paper, the researcher fills this research gap by providing an exploratory analysis of the structure and evolution of CSI practice in South Africa. The motivation behind this research is to use the research to optimise the social impact that CSI participation can provide, as well as integrating corporate funding into the broader approach of addressing the country's poor socioeconomic conditions. In the study, the researcher covered a sample of 15 CSI professions operating in positions in either large South African corporations or established NGOs, with an average CSI experience of 13 years. The results of the inductive qualitative analysis show that the CSI functions operated using a traditional corporate function structure. The history and rationale of CSI practice have been key elements in defining current CSI practice. Initially, governmental regulation resulted in adherence strategies. However, growing social considerations have shifted CSI policy from adherence to impact. This has driven the growing sophistication in CSI practice in the country. The researcher breaks down this evolution and discusses the key strengths and weaknesses of each element to provide sufficient detail to the function. The findings are used to derive recommendations for CSI best practice. Internal commitment, sustainability, process management and key stakeholder relationships are prioritised in these recommendations. The exploratory findings provide a baseline in accordance with which more statistically robust or comprehensive research methods can be used to assess the identified elements of CSI more thoroughly and in more depth. The research provides a generalised benchmark for corporations to assess their CSI practice against an established peer group, while providing ideas about improving their CSI practice going forward.

Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the Degree of MA in Communication Science, University of Zululand, 2008. / The concept of sustainability has been adapted in business context to achieve balance, integrity, economic, social and environmental performance (Naidoo 2002:129); however Corporate Social Investment (CSI) is a relatively new concept to some companies. This study measures the growing debate over the responsibilities of business and the examination of communication strategies and CSI programmes being implemented by the banking sector in the Chatsworth District The first part of the study reviews literature pertaining to the communication process, electronic communication, mass communication, organisational communication, public communication, communication strategies in corporate social investment and community development. Subsequent chapters deal with the construction of a survey instrument employed to measure and evaluate the extent of CSI programmes by the banking sector and the findings of the survey. Penultimate chapters blend the insights gained from this literature review to interpret the results, obtained through the quantitative research methodology, to describe a set of conclusions and recommendations in the context of community upliftment through CSI initiatives.

Thesis (MBA.) -- Unversity of Limpopo, 2016 / The researcher using Quantitative process is aimed to appraise Corporate Social Investment (CSI) in relation to Corporate Financial Performance (CFP). This research addressed theoretical paradigms of CSI, leadership strategies applied to implement CSI and stakeholder theory is presented. The study area was Johannesburg Stock Exchange FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index. The top 35 recorded companies were chosen, and then from top 35, only 5 companies were used (25 observations). Data from 2011 to 2015 were obtained from audited integrated financial statements, websites, publications and annual reports. CSI indexes and financial presentation measures of companies were taken from the annual reports to be analysed using simple regression equation to examine the link between corporate social investments to company’s fiscal presentation. This study revealed a strong positive linkage among company’s social investment strategy implementation and share price, turnover, and return on equity. Companies that implemented social investment strategy noticed increase in profit because of factors such customer awareness, good firm reputation and competitive advantage.

Social enterprises may be instrumental to overcome the well-known difficulties of State provision of social welfare services. Considering the impressive movement of social entrepreneurship and innovation witnessed in most European societies, coincident with the decline of economic growth and the rise of unemployment, the idea of a transition from a welfare state to a welfare mix gains interest. For social enterprises to meet the challenge, they need to scale up operations. Moreover, for that purpose they should be able to diversify the finance resources used, instead of relying mainly on subsidies and donations. However, so far not much progress has been made in that direction what led (Daggers & Nicholls, 2016) to identify as a critical research topic: how do social investment markets develop? That research question was investigated in the Portuguese context. Besides a conceptual framework, literature review allowed to identify the factors that currently are believed to determine demand in social investment markets: i) impact; ii) return; iii) double cost issue; iv) financial dead zone; v) investment readiness; vi) ecosystem. Theory development was greatly enhanced from the contacts made with the Project Manager of an ongoing applied research project launched by European Investment Bank Group on a similar topic: “Social Enterprises Access to Finance – An exploration into the constraints around social businesses access to finance in Portugal”. The importance of the research question becomes clear from the fact that, in spite of all the knowledge and attempts, for some reason not yet identified, social investment market does not grow. The investigation revealed that the key to the problem had to be looked in the demand side of the market and that there is reason to believe that social and cultural characteristics of demand agents are being overlooked. This supported the main theoretical proposition: Portuguese social investment market development will be unlikely to occur as expected from current understanding about how the market operates, unless prevailing characteristics of the social and cultural structure of demand agents are also taken into account. The investigation was conducted through case study research. A rival theory was elaborated and study propositions were defined for both main and rival theory. Multiple sources of evidence were collected and from the respective analysis the study propositions of the main theoretical propositions were corroborated. None of the study propositions of the rival theory were corroborated. The conclusion was that initiatives for growth of Portuguese social investment market will have to integrate a factor that so far has been neglected. Indeed, social and cultural characteristics are a determinant a demand that needs to be considered.

DEd (Educational Management) / Department of Educational Management / See the attached abstract below