Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 142 p. : ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-131).

Microfinance for-profit organizations flooded the market in the early 2000's when microcredit demonstrated profitability. Ever since, an intense debate arose contesting the morality of profiting from the poor. Many for-profit micro finance institutions were accused of predatory lending through high interest rates and aggressive marketing and payment collection. In this paper, I examine the validity of the arguments for and against for-profits by extensively comparing the different target audiences of the charity sector and the private sector and the main arguments of each side. I conclude that, although the ability to serve the poor is compromised by profit motives, for-profit micro finance organizations are serving a different market - and a much needed one - than nonprofits. Therefore, for-profits serve a function that, as of right now, nonprofits are not able to.

The U.S. higher education market grew substantially between 2005 and 2015, with an increase in the number of programs offered of 13% and an increase in annual graduations of nearly 30%. Can government policy significantly impact student and college decisions? Does this market respond to occupation-specific growth? Are for-profit colleges more responsive to changes in demand? I shed light on these questions in this dissertation. In Chapter 1, I estimate the impact of federal oversight on enrollment and completions at for-profit colleges. For-profit colleges experienced a 33% enrollment decline between 2010 and 2015 following an increase in federal oversight. Did oversight cause this decline? I assess the causal effect of two policies on for-profit enrollment: a significant report on misleading for-profit recruiting, and threatened federal student aid sanctions on under-performing colleges. I use a difference-in-difference framework that exploits the differential exposure of a treatment group to each policy. For the report, treatment is based on the presence of a local alternative; for sanctions, it is based on a debt-to-income threshold. Both policies significantly contributed to the enrollment decline: The report caused a 45% enrollment decline over 5 years at for-profit colleges with a nearby alternative, while the threat of sanctions led to a 121% greater enrollment decline at for-profit colleges below the performance threshold. In Chapter 2, I estimate the causal response of graduations and programs offered to new licensing requirements. Using a difference-in-difference framework, I exploit state-level variation in new licensing statutes. I find that new licenses cause increases in both the number of graduations and programs offered in fields related to the licensed occupations. I further show that new licenses cause employment increases in college-level occupations and employment declines in low-education occupations. In Chapter 3, I estimate program entry and exit due to labor demand shocks across college sectors. I find that the number of public and private non-profit Bachelor's degree programs offered increases following an employment increase in related occupations. However, I find no evidence of a similar response in the for-profit sector.

The great recession of the late 2000’s amplified a decline in mainline Protestant church revenue impacting ministry roles, programming, and missional capability. Trends towards socially conscious corporate business and historical monastic for-profit business in Western Europe serve as practical and theological entry points for how mainline Protestant churches might experiment with alternative revenue sources to withstand market swings and declining giving. The thesis argues that establishing ecclesial for-profit businesses, such as a BBQ restaurant in partnership with the First Baptist Church of Raleigh, North Carolina, is one solution to the emerging problem of declining church revenue.

Research about leadership is often common within the private- and the public sector, which has presented a large range of different leadership theories, concepts, styles and distinguished characteristics. We consider that far too little attention has been given to leadership within the third sector, which is why we consider that our study stands out, as well as making it interesting and relevant in today’s society. In our case study, we have examined what distinguishes leadership in the third sector. To answer this, we have conducted six semi-structured interviews with six different leaders within the Red Cross in Sweden. Our case study is based on a deductive approach through a qualitative method, the empirical material has been gathered and analysed through the use of five different leadership theories. Based on our result, we are able to ascertain that leadership within the third sector is characterised by the leader´s will and ability to serve its fellowship. Furthermore, we also came to the conclusion that leaders within the third sector are strongly influenced by organisational values, and that these values are considered a central part of the third sector.

No description available.

Yes / Theory predicts that the voluntary or community sector will contribute a range of services that are not delivered by the state or private sectors. This paper examines the changing contributions of the community waste sector in the UK to reflect upon these claims. A rosy picture of the community waste sector is presented from research on the sector in 2002, with a growing number of organisations carrying out a range of services, drawing on multiple and diverse sources of funding. More recent evidence, and information drawn from outside the sector, however, suggests that regulation, competition, and changes to funding regimes are putting the sector under considerable pressure, such that it is likely to change, and that some parts of it will contract. In terms of the claims from theory, the paper finds evidence that the community sector can and has been innovative in the services it provides and the way that it provides them, though similar innovations may emerge from the private and public sectors. The sparse evidence on participation and recycling rates in kerbside and civic amenity sites are equivocal on whether the sector provides enhanced communication as theory would predict. Overall, the paper highlights the difficulty in achieving direct comparisons between the waste sectors without specific focused research for this purpose. It concludes that the challenge for European, national and local government is to influence the necessarily constructed waste markets in a way which will enhance rather than discourage service providers to innovate in the waste material collected, and to communicate effectively with the public whom they serve. Such policies promise to encourage the effective delivery of sustainable waste services from all three - public, private and community - sectors.

This is a study of several contentious issues in Canadian health policy involving the interaction of public and private payers and for-profit (FP) and not-for-profit (NFP) providers; the influence of health professionals on market structure; and the role of foreign investment. A case study was used, the Ontario physiotherapy market in 2003-2005, with its complex mix of payers and providers and foreign investment opportunities. Key market features were: fragmented but substantial payer influence, effective though uncoordinated cost control across payers, constrained labour supply, and fragmented patient referral sources. These features increased the complexity of providers’ interactions with patients and payers, reducing standardization and therefore favouring local, professional-owned small business FP providers (FP/s) for ambulatory care. NFP Hospitals’ market share declined. The findings generally confirmed expected behavioural differences between FP and NFP providers but expected differences between investor-owned FP providers (FP/c) and FP/s providers were not generally found. FP/s dominated the market, and FP/c providers appeared to mimic FP/s market behaviours, competing in local sub-markets. With no single or dominant payer, cost control difficulties were expected, but all 11 payer categories (public and private) used various cost control mechanisms, resulting in significant collective but uncoordinated influence. Generally, no payer alone supported a provider’s operations. The dominant labour suppliers, regulated physiotherapists, were scarce and exerted significant pressure, affecting market structure by asserting individual preferences and professional interests. FP/s dominance resulted, supported by the traditional patient referral source, physicians in small practices. Very little foreign investment was found despite little protection for domestic providers under NAFTA. In sum, this study showed FP and NFP provider stereotypes are subject to payer pressure: FP/c organizations can adapt by mimicking FP/s, and payers can modify NFPs’ assumed community orientation. Labour shortages and historical referral patterns can make individual professionals and their preferences more influential than their collective profession without diminishing the importance of professional interests. The degree and structure of payer control can make a market unattractive to foreign investors. Finally, this market – neither a planned or standard market – had a service provision pattern more broadly influenced by professionalism and practitioner interests than policies or prices.

This thesis examines decision making at executive level in Australian private hospitals as a social phenomenon, since individuals draw meaning from their own biographical and social environmental experiences. The researcher interpreted the constructed realities of the factors influencing executives' decisions within the context of private hospitals - a field that is rarely examined through the lens of social research. Using an Interpretivist research paradigm, the researcher conducted semi- structured and in-depth interviews with sixteen executive members who are experts in their field and represent both sectors of the private hospital industry: private for-profit and private not-for-profit. The data generated was transformed into technical accounts using an abductive research strategy and adopting Schütz's notion of first-order and second-order constructs. Using Giddens' Structuration Theory, that stressed the fundamental role of the human agent, the structure and their mutual dependence, the researcher moved beyond the interpretation of individuals' meanings, to incorporate the structure as an entity that can be formed and reformed. The researcher interpreted social actors' constructed meanings of these social phenomena in their work environment to form the elements of a two-dimensional decision making model at organisational level, incorporating the present with the future and the internal with the external factors. On an individual level, three different approaches to decision making were identified, based on whether executives perceived the decision making phenomenon as intuition, as a reasoned process or as an expected outcome. While being from a limited research sample, the findings of this study suggest that the paradox of mission / economic decisions restrained executives in the not-for-profit sector from strengthening their hospitals' financial performance, putting at risk, therefore, their ability to achieve social dividends as a way to proclaim their mission. On the other hand, in the for-profit sector, shareholders' dividends appeared to be a strong catalyst for attaining profit maximisation when making decisions. In both settings, the findings suggest that the role of stakeholder theory is questionable, particularly when executives remained hesitant to involve medical specialists, whom they considered to be major stakeholders and profit generators for private hospitals. This attitude appeared to be constant, despite the changes identified in executives' individual approaches to decision making. However, early signs of shifts towards adopting more commercially and socially accountable decisions were apparent in not-for-p rofit and for-profit sectors respectively. The thesis sets out recommendations to assist executives in managing the different factors that interplay to form executives' decisions. The importance of having a mission in business longevity and the integration, as opposed to alignment, of strategic goals with business operations when making executive decisions in private hospitals was highlighted. The implications for both sectors are described and recommendations for further research are suggested.

This is a study of several contentious issues in Canadian health policy involving the interaction of public and private payers and for-profit (FP) and not-for-profit (NFP) providers; the influence of health professionals on market structure; and the role of foreign investment. A case study was used, the Ontario physiotherapy market in 2003-2005, with its complex mix of payers and providers and foreign investment opportunities. Key market features were: fragmented but substantial payer influence, effective though uncoordinated cost control across payers, constrained labour supply, and fragmented patient referral sources. These features increased the complexity of providers’ interactions with patients and payers, reducing standardization and therefore favouring local, professional-owned small business FP providers (FP/s) for ambulatory care. NFP Hospitals’ market share declined. The findings generally confirmed expected behavioural differences between FP and NFP providers but expected differences between investor-owned FP providers (FP/c) and FP/s providers were not generally found. FP/s dominated the market, and FP/c providers appeared to mimic FP/s market behaviours, competing in local sub-markets. With no single or dominant payer, cost control difficulties were expected, but all 11 payer categories (public and private) used various cost control mechanisms, resulting in significant collective but uncoordinated influence. Generally, no payer alone supported a provider’s operations. The dominant labour suppliers, regulated physiotherapists, were scarce and exerted significant pressure, affecting market structure by asserting individual preferences and professional interests. FP/s dominance resulted, supported by the traditional patient referral source, physicians in small practices. Very little foreign investment was found despite little protection for domestic providers under NAFTA. In sum, this study showed FP and NFP provider stereotypes are subject to payer pressure: FP/c organizations can adapt by mimicking FP/s, and payers can modify NFPs’ assumed community orientation. Labour shortages and historical referral patterns can make individual professionals and their preferences more influential than their collective profession without diminishing the importance of professional interests. The degree and structure of payer control can make a market unattractive to foreign investors. Finally, this market – neither a planned or standard market – had a service provision pattern more broadly influenced by professionalism and practitioner interests than policies or prices.