Social Impact, Organizations and Society

Social Impact, Organizations and Society
Author: Katarzyna Bachnik
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2024-06-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1040100988

Social Impact, Organizations and Society represents endeavors to comprehensively explore the essence of social impact. The editors aim to elucidate its definition, scope, measurement and implementation. Delving into how organizations integrate social impact into their core missions, decision-making processes and operational frameworks, this monograph strives to identify avenues for enhancing social impact generation. Furthermore, its focus lies on fostering effective relationships with diverse stakeholder groups and providing empirical evidence of social impact practices across industries and sectors. Through an in-depth examination of the latest research, this monograph sheds light on the evolving role of corporate social responsibility and its significance amidst contemporary challenges. Chapters 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11 and 14 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Innovation and Scaling for Impact

Innovation and Scaling for Impact
Author: Christian Seelos
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2017-01-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1503600998

Innovation and Scaling for Impact forces us to reassess how social sector organizations create value. Drawing on a decade of research, Christian Seelos and Johanna Mair transcend widely held misconceptions, getting to the core of what a sound impact strategy entails in the nonprofit world. They reveal an overlooked nexus between investments that might not pan out (innovation) and expansion based on existing strengths (scaling). In the process, it becomes clear that managing this tension is a difficult balancing act that fundamentally defines an organization and its impact. The authors examine innovation pathologies that can derail organizations by thwarting their efforts to juggle these imperatives. Then, through four rich case studies, they detail innovation archetypes that effectively sidestep these pathologies and blend innovation with scaling. Readers will come away with conceptual models to drive progress in the social sector and tools for defining the future of their organizations.

Forces for Good

Forces for Good
Author: Leslie R. Crutchfield
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 469
Release: 2012-05-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1118118804

An updated edition of a groundbreaking book on best practices for nonprofits What makes great nonprofits great? In the original book, authors Crutchfield and McLeod Grant employed a rigorous research methodology derived from for-profit books like Built to Last. They studied 12 nonprofits that have achieved extraordinary levels of impact—from Habitat for Humanity to the Heritage Foundation—and distilled six counterintuitive practices that these organizations use to change the world. Features a new introduction that explores the new context in which nonprofits operate and the consequences for these organizations Includes a new chapter on applying the Six Practices to small, local nonprofits, including some examples of these organizations Contains an update on the 12 organizations featured in the original book—how they have fared, what they've learned, and where they are now in their growth trajectory This book has lessons for all readers interested in creating significant social change, including nonprofit managers, donors, and volunteers.

Networks for Social Impact

Networks for Social Impact
Author: Michelle Shumate
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2022-01-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0190091991

A broad review of how nonprofits, businesses, and governments work together to tackle social problems Networks for Social Impact takes a systems approach to explain how and when networks make a social impact. Michelle Shumate and Katherine R. Cooper argue that network design and management is not a one-size-fits-all formula. Instead, they show that the type of social issue, the mechanism for social impact, environment, and resources available each determine appropriate choices. Drawing on research from public administration, psychology, business, network science, social work, and communication, this book synthesizes what we know about how to best design and manage networks. It includes illustrations from thirty original case studies which describe groups of organizations addressing issues such as gender-based violence, educational outcomes, senior care, veterans' services, mental health and wellness, and climate change. Additionally, the volume examines critical issues that leaders address in creating and managing networks, including social issue analysis, network governance, securing and managing funding, dealing with power and conflict, using data effectively, and managing change. Each chapter includes tools for network leaders to use to handle these issues. This book is neither an overly idealistic, pro-collaboration account of the benefits of network approaches, nor is it a critical view of these efforts. Instead, this clear and concise volume highlights the opportunities and challenges of networks.

Frontiers in Social Innovation

Frontiers in Social Innovation
Author: Neil Malhotra
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2022-03-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1647821428

The one book you need to make a difference in the world. Social innovation and social entrepreneurship are rising forces. As the extent of the world's systemic challenges becomes clear—from climate change to income inequality to food security to healthcare and beyond—more and more of the best and brightest will feel called to become innovators and entrepreneurs who develop and deploy solutions to the world's thorniest problems. But it won't be easy: social innovation is complicated. Solutions require the active collaboration of constituents across the worlds of government, business, and nonprofits. Social innovators and entrepreneurs need a handbook to guide them on the journey to changing the world. This is that guide. Contributions from a who's who of the smartest thinkers and most experienced practitioners in the field provide the knowledge you need to succeed as a social innovator. Topics cover the waterfront, including: High-performance leadership as a driver of social change Design for extreme affordability Scaling social innovation Corporate decarbonization Social innovation and healthcare in the postpandemic world Donor-advised funds and impact investing Case studies from the field bring to life the challenges and opportunities social entrepreneurs and innovators face. Frontiers in Social Innovation is an essential volume for anyone who wants to use innovation and entrepreneurship to make the world a better place.

Measuring Social Change

Measuring Social Change
Author: Alnoor Ebrahim
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 341
Release: 2019-07-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1503609219

The social sector is undergoing a major transformation. We are witnessing an explosion in efforts to deliver social change, a burgeoning impact investing industry, and an unprecedented intergenerational transfer of wealth. Yet we live in a world of rapidly rising inequality, where social sector services are unable to keep up with societal need, and governments are stretched beyond their means. Alnoor Ebrahim addresses one of the fundamental dilemmas facing leaders as they navigate this uncertain terrain: performance measurement. How can they track performance towards worthy goals such as reducing poverty, improving public health, or advancing human rights? What results can they reasonably measure and legitimately take credit for? This book tackles three core challenges of performance faced by social enterprises and nonprofit organizations alike: what to measure, what kinds of performance systems to build, and how to align multiple demands for accountability. It lays out four different types of strategies for managers to consider—niche, integrated, emergent, and ecosystem—and details the types of performance measurement and accountability systems best suited to each. Finally, this book examines the roles of funders such as impact investors, philanthropic foundations, and international aid agencies, laying out how they can best enable meaningful performance measurement.

Social Value Investing

Social Value Investing
Author: Howard W. Buffett
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 592
Release: 2018-05-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0231544456

Social Value Investing presents a new way to approach some of society’s most difficult and intractable challenges. Although many of our world’s problems may seem too great and too complex to solve — inequality, climate change, affordable housing, corruption, healthcare, food insecurity — solutions to these challenges do exist, and will be found through new partnerships bringing together leaders from the public, private, and philanthropic sectors. In their new book, Howard W. Buffett and William B. Eimicke present a five-point management framework for developing and measuring the success of such partnerships. Inspired by value investing — one of history’s most successful investment paradigms — this framework provides tools to maximize collaborative efficiency and positive social impact, so that major public programs can deliver innovative, inclusive, and long-lasting solutions. It also offers practical insights for any private sector CEO, public sector administrator, or nonprofit manager hoping to build successful cross-sector collaborations. Social Value Investing tells the compelling stories of cross-sector partnerships from around the world — Central Park and the High Line in New York City, community-led economic development in Afghanistan, and improved public services in cities across Brazil. Drawing on lessons and observations from a broad selections of collaborations, this book combines real life stories with detailed analysis, resulting in a blueprint for effective, sustainable partnerships that serve the public interest. Readers also gain access to original, academic case material and professionally produced video documentaries for every major partnerships profiled — bringing to life the people and stories in a way that few other business or management books have done.

Organizations

Organizations
Author: Howard P. Greenwald
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 529
Release: 2008
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1412942470

Providing a comprehensive understanding of the functions of formal organizations and the challenges they face, this text emphasizes the importance of forces that organizations or their leaders cannot fully control as a key distinctive theme. It covers basic features of organizations such as roles, structure, reward systems, power and authority, and culture and introduces important theoretical perspectives related to these features.

Handbook on Corporate Foundations

Handbook on Corporate Foundations
Author: Lonneke Roza
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2019-10-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3030257592

Companies increasingly play a meaningful role in civil society and the philanthropic sector through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Philanthropy (CP). The most well studied form of allocating these resources is through outright contributions to operating external foundations and other nonprofit organizations. However, far less is known about the use of corporate foundations, separate and independent nonprofit entities aimed at channeling corporate giving to a social mission related to a company. Corporate foundations are often linked to the founding company through their name, funding, trustees, administration and potential employee involvement. As these foundations are growing in number, size and importance and becoming increasingly visible in the philanthropic sector, the urgency to understand their role and functioning becomes more important. The primary aim of this volume is to deliver a holistic analysis of the current state-of-the-art on corporate foundations. For that reason, the book includes different perspectives on and use a hybrid concept of corporate foundations. The book includes three main parts. First, looking further into the organizational processes of corporate foundations, the book analyzes governance and operations as major aspects of organizational performance. Second, it sheds light on the role of corporate foundations in various institutional settings. Lastly, the book includes various stakeholder perspectives on corporate foundations, including corporate employees, beneficiaries, and their non-profit partners. By reading the book, readers will build a comprehensive understanding of the role and functioning of corporate foundations, understand new avenues for research and, in case they are practitioners in the field, find practical advice rooted in academic research. ​