This thesis investigates the relationship between organizational size and the decision of using social impact measurements in Swedish socially entrepreneurial organizations, which include organizations and individuals that aim at solving social problems. Data is collected using an online survey, and three different ways to measure organizational size are used and tested whether they have a positive relation-ship with the use of social impact measurement. Organizational size is measured as the yearly turnover, available personnel and the number of members and participants in the organization. The association was analyzed through three different analytical methods, and we also present detailed descriptive statis-tics for the data sample. The results showed significant relationships between available staff as well as members and participants and the use of social impact measurements, while no significant relationship between the yearly turnover and the use of social impact measurements could be confirmed. We suggest a consideration of impact measurements when addressing sustainable organizational development as well as consideration of organizational size for local governments when introducing policies, funding and other support for socially entrepreneurial organizations.

Tutte le organizzazioni hanno un impatto che riguarda l'economia, la società e l'ambiente naturale. Gli studi accademici di diversi filoni di ricerca (ad business and society studies, accounting, strategic management) propongono diverse definizioni di "impatto sociale" (Latane, 1981; Burdge & Vanclay, 1996;. Emerson et al, 2000;. Clark et al, 2004 ). Tutte queste definizioni descrivono, in modo più o meno esplicito, il concetto di "cambiamento", essendo basati sulla “teoria del cambiamento” (Weiss, 1972; Anderson, 2004) - vale a dire, il cambiamento che un'organizzazione può produrre nel modo di vivere delle persone, nella cultura, personale nelle aspirazioni, ma anche rispetto alla comunità, ai sistemi politici, l'ambiente, la salute e il benessere. La misurazione dell’impatto sociale conduce l'organizzazione a considerare i cambiamenti prodotti sugli stakeholders come risultato di una serie di rapporti causa-effetto proposteidalla teoria del cambiamento. L'obiettivo della misurazione dell’impatto sociale è quindi di capire, in termini sociali, ambientali ed economici, i cambiamenti che si sono verificati nella vita delle parti interessate, a causa di attività di organizzazioni, al fine di comunicarlo (Nicholls et al, 2009). Nonostante il crescente interesse sulla misurazione dell'impatto sociale, la produzione accademica sull'argomento è ancora scarsa. La presente tesi contribuisce alla discussione in corso, concentrandosi sulla teoria, i concetti e strumenti per misurare l'impatto sociale. In particolare, due contesti di analisi sono presi in considerazione: la finanza etica e l'educazione all'imprenditorialità. La tesi si compone di tre articoli. La prima ricerca vuole fornire una revisione della letteratura sul tema della misurazione dell'impatto sociale nel contesto della finanza etica, il secondo articolo è una ricerca-azione su una metodologia per misurare l'impatto sociale delle banche etiche sviluppata attraverso lo studio del caso estremo di Banca Popolare Etica, e la terza ricerca riguarda il contesto della formazione imprenditoriale e mira a studiare l'impatto di un programma MBA sugli antecedenti dell’intenzione all'imprenditorialità di studenti in Ghana. Più in dettaglio, il primo documento è intitolato " Review of impact assessment methodologies for ethical finance ". Questo documento fornisce una rassegna completa della letteratura sulla misurazione dell'impatto sociale nelle banche etiche. In particolare, si discute l'approccio delle banche etiche all’impatto sociale e alla misurazione dell'impatto sociale considerando diversi studi e analisi, poi proponendo un elenco di indicatori e outcomes da utilizzare per evidenziare l'impatto sociale delle attività delle banche etiche. Si segnalano, inoltre, alcune lacune nella letteratura che abbiamo posto come questioni aperte per la ricerca futura. La ricerca è stata portata avanti con due partner: la Fédération Européenne des Banques et Ethiques Alternative (FEBEA) e l’Institute of Social banks (ISB). Il titolo della seconda ricerca è: " Measurement of social impact in financial institutions: the case of Banca Popolare Etica ". Si tratta di una ricerca-azione su una metodologia per misurare l'impatto sociale delle banche etiche, fondata sul caso di studio di Banca Popolare Etica. Usiamo un set di dati composto da 1.385 organizzazioni e 1324 individui, beneficiari dei finanziamenti, per studiare la misurazione dell'impatto sociale dei progetti finanziati. Integrando in un unico processo di valutazione (sia quantitative che qualitative) diverse metodologie generalmente utilizzate singolarmente per la misurazione di impatto sociale (Social Return on Investment (SROI), Impact Reporting Investment Standards (IRIS) e storytelling), il caso mostra come i limiti tradizionali di metodologie per misurare l'impatto sociale possono essere superati. Il terzo e ultimo studio è intitolato " Does entrepreneurial education impact on antecedents of entrepreneurial intention? An analysis of an Entrepreneurship MBA in Ghana". Questo studio ha lo scopo di analizzare gli effetti di un programma di educazione all'imprenditorialità, sugli antecedenti dell'intenzione imprenditoriale di studenti in un paese in via di sviluppo. Lo studio analizza i risultati di una ricerca di impatto eseguita con partecipanti di uno specifico programma di formazione all'imprenditorialità: il "E4impact MBA", tenuto dal l'Istituto Cattolico di Business and Technology - CIBT in Accra, Ghana. Il metodo misto impiegato, era un approccio esplicativo (Creswell, Plano Clark et al, 2003), con un disegno quasi-sperimentale (Cohen e Manion, 1989) con test pre e post e misure di cambiamento auto-percepito. Abbiamo valutato i cambiamenti nelle caratteristiche psicologiche imprenditoriali (Need for achievement, Self-efficacy, Locus of control; Risk taking propensity; Tolerance for ambiguity) e competenze e conoscenze personali (Creatività, Conoscenza, Flessibilità, Networking e analisi) sul modello esteso della Teoria del Comportamento Pianificato. L'analisi mostra che il programma di educazione all'imprenditorialità ha un forte impatto sugli antecedenti psicologici e cognitivi delle intenzioni imprenditoriali. Quindi, la partecipazione al programma di educazione all'imprenditorialità può influenzare positivamente le intenzioni imprenditoriali degli studenti e il controllo comportamentale percepito sostenendo l'idea che le università hanno un ruolo fondamentale nel plasmare e promuovere le intenzioni imprenditoriali e le abilità attraverso programmi di formazione all'imprenditorialità. / All organizations have impacts that affect economy, society and the natural environment. Academics from different streams of research (i.e. business and society studies, accounting, strategic management) propose several definitions of “social impact” (Latané, 1981; Burdge & Vanclay, 1996; Emerson et al., 2000; Clark et al., 2004). All these definitions describe, more or less explicitly, the concept of “change”, being each one based on the Theory of Change (Weiss, 1972; Anderson, 2004) – i.e., the change that an organization can produce in people’s way of life, culture, personal and property rights, fears and aspirations, but also with respect to community, political systems, environment, health and wellbeing. The measurement of social impact leads the organization to consider the changes on stakeholders as a result of the set of cause-effect relations proposed by the theory of change. The objective of social impact measurement thus is to understand, in social, environmental and economic terms, changes that have occurred in stakeholders’ lives because of organizations activities, in order to communicate it (Nicholls et al, 2009). Despite a growing interest on social impact measurement, academic production in the topic is still scarce. The present Ph.D. thesis contributes to the ongoing discussion by focusing on the theory, concepts and tools to measure social impact. In particular, two context of analysis are at issue: ethical finance and entrepreneurship education. The work consists of three papers. The first research wants to provide a review of the literature on the issue of measuring the social impact in the context of ethical finance, the second paper is an action research on a methodology for measuring the social impact of ethical banks developed through the extreme case study of Banca Popolare Etica, and the third research concerns the context of entrepreneurial education and aims at studying the impact of an MBA program on the antecedents of entrepreneurship intention of students in Ghana. More in details, the first paper is entitled “Review of impact assessment methodologies for ethical finance”. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the literature on measuring the social impact in ethical banks. Specifically, we discuss the approach of ethical banks to social impact and social impact measurement considering several studies and frameworks of analysis, then proposing a list of indicators and outcomes to be used to highlight the social impact of ethical banks’ activities. We also point out some gaps in the literature that we left as questions open for future research. The research was carried on with two partners: the Fédération Européenne des Banques Ethiques et Alternatives (FEBEA) and the Institute of Social banks (ISB). The title of the second paper is: “Measurement of social impact in financial institutions: the case of Banca Popolare Etica”. This is an action research on a methodology for measuring the social impact of ethical banks, grounded on the case study of Banca Popolare Etica. We use a dataset of 1,385 organizations and 1,324 individuals, recipients of funding, to study the measurement of the social impact of the projects funded. Integrating in a single assessment process (both quantitative and qualitative) various methodologies generally singularly used for the measurement of social impact (Social Return on Investment (SROI), Impact Reporting Investment Standards (IRIS) and storytelling), the case shows how the traditional limitations of methodologies to measure social impact can be overcome. The third and last study is entitled “Does entrepreneurial education impact on antecedents of entrepreneurial intention? An analysis of an Entrepreneurship MBA in Ghana”. This study has the aim to analyze the effects of an entrepreneurship education program, on the antecedents of entrepreneurial intention of students in a developing country. The study analyzes the results of an impact research conducted with participants to a specific entrepreneurship education program: the “E4impact MBA”, held by the Catholic Institute of Business and Technology – CIBT in Accra, Ghana. The mixed method design employed, was an explanatory approach (Creswell, Plano Clark et al., 2003) with a quasi-experimental design (Cohen and Manion, 1989) featuring both pre-post tests and self-perceived change measures. We assessed changes in entrepreneurial psychological characteristics (Need for achievement, Self-efficacy, Locus of control; Risk taking propensity; Tolerance for ambiguity) and personal skills and knowlwdge (Creativity, Knowledge, Flexibility, Networking and Analysis) following the extended model of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The analysis shows that the entrepreneurship education program has a strong impact on psychological and cognitive antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions. That is, participation in entrepreneurship education program can positively influence students’ entrepreneurial intentions and perceived behavioral control supporting the idea that universities have a key role in shaping and fostering entrepreneurial intentions and abilities through entrepreneurship education program.

Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprises are an emerging trend. An increasing number of individuals are finding ways to address a social issue through their entrepreneurial skills. As well as increasing number of corporations and investing organizations are looking for ventures that address a social issue to fulfil their social responsibility. Thus, it is increasingly becoming important for the social entrepreneurs to measure and report their impacts to society in an accurate way. This research seeks to find out the challenges faced by social entrepreneurs while setting up social impact measurements in their ventures and the solutions adopted by them. Through a series of semi‐structured interviews with successful social entrepreneurs, this research collects qualitative data that increases the knowledge in this area and contributes in a better understanding of the challenges faced by social entrepreneurs. This research found that Theory Of Change is the most commonly used method and is preferred by practitioners as it is easy to implement. The research summarises the efforts it takes to implement the measurements, recommends best practices or advice to make impact measurement easier and useful. Also, a framework is developed that can be used in setting up measurements in a social venture.

Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprises are an emerging trend. An increasing number of individuals are finding ways to address a social issue through their entrepreneurial skills. As well as increasing number of corporations and investing organizations are looking for ventures that address a social issue to fulfill their social responsibility. Thus, it is increasingly becoming important for the social entrepreneurs to measure and report their impacts to society in an accurate way. This research seeks to find out the challenges faced by social entrepreneurs while setting up social impact measurements in their ventures and the solutions adopted by them. Through a series of semi‐structured interviews with successful social entrepreneurs, this research collects qualitative data that increases the knowledge in this area and contributes in a better understanding of the challenges faced by social entrepreneurs. This research found that Theory Of Change is the most commonly used method and is preferred by practitioners as it is easy to implement. The research summarises the efforts it takes to implement the measurements, recommends best practices or advice to make impact measurement easier and useful. Also, a framework is developed that can be used in setting up measurements in a social venture.

[Context] Social impact refers to the positive and negative consequences of any organization on the environment and society. One actor in the social impact landscape is the impact investor who expects financial return for their investments as well as positive social impact. Although the impact investor plays a crucial role in the social impact capital market by financing organizations that explicitly address social and environmental problems, the academic literature regarding impact investing has yet to develop especially from the investor perspective. One reason for the lack of academic research in this field is that the impact investor stands at a crossroad, between social impact and social enterprise research. [Purpose] Therefore, the purpose of this research is to determine the current state of impact investment processes as well as the challenges that investors face and, lastly, the role of social impact measurement within the impact investing process. [Findings] An exploratory multi-case study was conducted with semi-structured interviews which resulted in eight interviews from impact investors across four countries and within different focus areas in the social impact landscape. The findings show that impact investors face a variety of challenges based on the stage of their portfolio enterprises, the alignment of the social enterprise’s business model with their social impact mission, the horizon of their investments and, last but not least, their investment exit strategies. As for the role of social impact measurement in the investment process, the findings show that the majority of impact investors measure the impact of their investments although the method of measurement varies while the remaining investors, that do not measure social impact, illustrate the challenges that come with measuring impact in their personal contexts such as the difficulty of measuring the impact of an early stage social enterprise that may be susceptible to pivots. / [Kontext] Social påverkan avser de positiva och negativa konsekvenserna av alla organisationer på miljön och samhället. En aktör i det sociala påverkanslandskapet är påverkansinvesterare som förväntar sig ekonomisk avkastning för sina investeringar samt positiva sociala effekter. Även om påverkansinvesterare spelar en avgörande roll på kapitalmarknaden för social påverkan genom att finansiera organisationer som uttryckligen behandlar sociala och miljömässiga problem, har den akademiska litteraturen angående impact investering ännu inte utvecklats särskilt ur investerarperspektivet. En anledning till bristen på akademisk forskning inom detta område är att påverkansinvesterare står vid en korsning mellan social påverkan och social företagsforskning. [Syfte] Syftet med denna forskning är därför att undersöka det aktuella tillståndet för effekterna av investeringsprocesser samt de utmaningar som investerare står inför och slutligen rollen för mätning av sociala effekter i effekten av investeringsprocessen. [Resultat] En undersökande multifallstudie genomfördes med semistrukturerade intervjuer som resulterade i åtta intervjuer från påverkansinvesterare i fyra länder och inom olika fokusområden i det sociala påverkanslandskapet. Resultaten visar att påverkansinvesterare möter olika utmaningar baserat på affärsfas i deras portföljföretag, anpassningen av det sociala företagets affärsmodell med deras sociala påverkan, deras investeringshorisont och, sist men inte minst, deras investeringsutgångsstrategier . När det gäller rollen för mätning av sociala konsekvenser i investeringsprocessen visar resultaten att majoriteten av påverkansinvesterare mäter effekterna av sina investeringar även om mätmetoden varierar medan de återstående investerarna, som inte mäter social påverkan, illustrerar de utmaningar som komma med att mäta påverkan i deras personliga sammanhang, såsom svårigheten att mäta effekterna av ett tidigt skede socialt företag som kan vara känsligt för svängningar.