Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1962.

Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1962.

Reliable clean water supply and treated sewage are fundamental for human health and wellbeing. Water scarcity becomes a discussing concern due to the unfair distribution of resources and different amount of precipitation in some parts of the earth. Although water-related issues are highly influenced by climate changes, there are always various mismanagements of human kind in local scale which totally affects the natural water cycle. Therefore, an urban water system and how this system copes with the natural and built environment are going to be studied in this research. Reviewing the urban management and decision making process inIran, privatization and its prerequisites is the main backbone of this thesis. The central region ofIran,Yazd, has been selected as the case study. This water-stressed area is located on desert margins which water plays a key role in every new and existing development. Along with studying vulnerability of urban water system in this area, the potential risks and crisis would be pointed out. Finally, the analysis and discussion to the current of water sector’s situation based on previous experiences have been presented.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed Feb. 17, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 140-158).

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No. of bitstreams: 1 Manuela Rösing Agostin_.pdf: 6285955 bytes, checksum: 1e82fc7a5186d7fed0aef11509f41361 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-05-04 / NEIS – Núcleo de Empreendedorismo e Inovação Social da Unisinos / Em um cenário internacional caracterizado por desigualdades sociais, aumento das taxas de pobreza e dissimetriados mercados, um número cada vez maior de pesquisadores tem investigado diferentes teorias que procuram conciliar as práticas de gestão e a busca por soluções inovadoras para a transformação social.Alinhada a esta perspectiva, esta tese possui como objetivocompreender o processo de inovação social e os fatores que influenciam as iniciativas de inovação social em contextos de vazios institucionais.Assim, a inovação social é compreendidacomo o desenvolvimento de novas soluções que geram um impacto na resolução de problemas sociais, envolvendo atores e partes interessadas na promoção de uma mudança nas relações sociais, transformando as realidades locais. Os vazios institucionais ocorrem quando os arranjos institucionais não permitem o pleno funcionamento do mercado acarretando inúmeras desigualdades sociais, seja pela ausência, fraqueza ou não cumprimento do papel que se espera das instituições que formam o tecido social. Para investigar as iniciativas de inovação social em contextos de vazios institucionais, a tese seguiu seis etapas metodológicas, sendo a primeira inspirada numa etapa exploratória, com um caso exploratório em uma comunidade indígena produtora de café orgânico no sul do México, seguida por uma revisão de literatura com a identificação de proposições preliminares de pesquisa que foram investigadas em mais dois estudos de caso no Brasil, um no sul e outro no norte do país. Com estes casos, foi possível reformular as proposições preliminares gerando um documento com sete proposições validadas junto a pesquisadores que integram grupos de pesquisa em inovação social. A tese seguiuo paradigma interpretativista, com uma abordagem de pesquisa qualitativa. Dentre os principaisresultados encontrados, está a forte relação da inovação social com o contexto institucional no qual está inserida, levando a primeira contribuição teórica da tese: a presença de vazios institucionais intensifica desigualdades sociais em contextos de vulnerabilidade socioeconômico e as inovações sociais podem atuar para preencher ou amenizar estes vazios. Esta tese, ainda avança na teoria por incluir a perspectiva de que os vazios institucionais são originários não somente do Estado, do mercado e das organizações sem fins lucrativos, como abordado pela literatura, mas também da ciência e das regras e culturas comunitárias.Identificou-se, ainda, que os vazios também podem ocorrer em contextos com mercado desenvolvido e com alta concentração de instituições.Além do mais, os vazios institucionais são preenchidos por múltiplos atores que possuem objetivos diferentes e complementares e que podem atuar conjuntamente na transformação social.Entretanto, para que esta transformação seja efetiva, há que se respeitar os valores, normas e cultura dos atores envolvidos, por meio de uma negociação partilhada dos ideais coletivos. Outro destaque é a identificação de cinco sistemas para analisar o contexto no qual as iniciativasde inovação social estão inseridas: político, financeiro, econômico, de educação/trabalho, e cultural. A última contribuição teórica que a tese apresenta refere-se à possibilidade de uma formação hibrida de instituições para preencher vazios institucionais, sendo composta pelas comunidades locais e por instituições dominantes no cenário institucional. / In an international scenario characterized by social inequalities, rising poverty rates and market dissymmetry, an increasing number of researchers have investigated different theories that seek to reconcile management practices and search for innovative solutions to social transformation. According to this perspective, this thesis aims to understand the process of social innovation and the factors that influence social innovation initiatives in contexts of institutional voids. Thus, social innovation is understood as the development of new solutions that generate an impact in solving social problems, involving actors and stakeholders in promoting a change in social relations, transforming local realities. Institutional voids occur when institutional arrangements do not allow the full functioning of the market leading to innumerable social inequalities, either through the absence, weakness or non-fulfillment of the role that is expected from the institutions that form the social context. In order to investigate social innovation initiatives in contexts of institutional voids, this thesis followed six methodological steps, the first one inspired in an exploratory case in an indigenous community that produces organic coffee in southern Mexico. The second step is a literature review with the identification of preliminary research proposals that were investigated in two other case studies in Brazil, one in the south and the other in the north of the country. With these cases, it was possible to reformulate the preliminary propositions, generating a document with seven proposals validated by researchers that integrate research groups in social innovation. This thesis followed the interpretative paradigm, with a qualitative research approach. Among the main results, there is the strong relationship between social innovation and the institutional context in which it is inserted, leading to the first theoretical contribution of this thesis: the presence of institutional voids intensifies social inequalities in contexts of socioeconomic vulnerability and social innovations can act to fill or soften these voids. This thesis still advances in theory by including the perspective that institutional voids originate not only from the State, market and non-profit organizations, as addressed in literature, but also from science and community rules and cultures. It was also identified that voids can also occur in contexts with a developed market and with a high concentration of institutions. Moreover, institutional voids are filled by multiple actors who have different and complementary goals and can act together in social transformation. However, for this transformation to be effective, the values, norms and culture of the actors involved must be respected through a shared negotiation of collective ideals. Another highlight is the identification of five systems to analyze the context in which social innovation initiatives are inserted: political, financial, economic, education/work, and cultural. The last theoretical contribution that this thesis presents refers to the possibility of a hybrid formation of institutions to fill institutional voids, being composed by the local communities and by dominant institutions in the institutional scenario.

Micro-property developers are social entrepreneurs operating in townships and offer high quality rental units that upholds the dignity of community members. Although they are making a valuable contribution they are also faced with many challenges and the biggest being access to funds. This study looks at how impact investing, an emerging funding model can be used to address this challenge. Impact investing can be described as a cross-sectional initiative that involves the professional participation of various stakeholders; to drive social entrepreneurship to a level which can drive the socio-economic impact within communities, to create a social good that optimises financial, social and environmental returns ( Annual Impact Investor Survey, 2019). This research study seeks to explore and understand collaboration strategies that can be employed by micro-property developers in the context of South African townships. This study investigates how micro-property developers, through institutional systems and a multi-stakeholder approach can collaborate with impact investors by applying the concept of collective impact effort in township areas. Further on, this study highlights the importance of impact investing and unpacks the successes and challenges in township areas by illuminating how risk-taking, organisational values and funding contribute to corporate considerations in generating measurable, social and environment impact combined with financial return. Through relevant literature consulted and the use of in-depth interviews this study adopted a qualitative research methodology. Research participants included micro-property developers, impact investors and intermediaries. The research findings indicate that in the corporate ambit of social entrepreneurship and impact investing; variables such as income, risks, impact measurement, the situated area of human settlement and investor readiness are key considerations in the successful acquisition of funding opportunities. In addition, although impact investment in township areas is still an untapped market in South Africa, community leadership and partners should equally advocate the need of inclusion and innovation to steer sustainable impact investment opportunities in such communities. This study suggests that impact investors and funders should work toward cross-sectional initiatives that are scalable and inclusive, and that can create a positive impact in township communities. This study also recommends that a level of deeper knowledge is required through informed research, to understand the value and the impact of impact investments in township areas. This way, scientific data can override all stereotypical notions linked to township investments, as stigmas of crime and risks still hinder investment opportunities in townships compared to their urban counterparts.

This paper investigates the links between institutional systems and the entry mode of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) in developing and transition countries (DTCs). An assessment is made of the reasons for the continuing use of international joint ventures (IJVs) in countries that have undergone reforms intended to lead to the development of wholly owned subsidiaries. The paper argues that formal and informal institutional constraints in DTCs lead to high transaction and uncertainty costs for MNCs, and that the use of IJVs is a rational response to attempt to lower these high costs. The paper follows the literature suggesting that IJVs are normally a `second best¿ entry mode in terms of the potential for foreign direct investment (FDI) to contribute to the development of DTCs. The reform process in Jordan is used to illustrate how institutional systems, especially informal institutional constraints, lead to high transaction and uncertainty costs. In the case of Jordan, this occurred despite a series of four reform packages seeking to reduce the institutional barriers to effective business activities. Interviews of 28 foreign companies provide the basis for an empirical assessment of the importance of both formal and informal institutional constraints and infrastructure problems. The paper includes an outline of a future research agenda that seeks to generalise and develop the results from Jordan to other DTCs.