Naslov
Towards a better understanding of the (social) impact of the third sector and social enterprises: approaches and challenges

Autori
Baturina, Danijel

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, pp prezentacija, znanstveni

Skup
Beijing Forum 2017- The Harmony of Civilizations and Prosperity for All

Mjesto i datum
Peking, Kina, 03.11.2017. - 05.11.2017

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
third sector, impact, social impact, impact measumerent

Sažetak
The welfare state in the 21st century is facing the challenges of achieving social cohesion in a society marked by deep transformations. It is becoming increasingly clear the need for the impact of the third sector and especially new developed field of social entrepreneurship, besides state and market, is proving to be important in overcoming 21st century challenges and ensuring further socio-economic development. Although social enterprises have an impact in different aspects of well-being and social life further step in measuring of that impact is needed. Effective metrics could provide legitimacy and recognition of social entrepreneurship in the public and among other stakeholders. But, there is no consensus about ways to effectively measure social enterprises and third sector impact, especially regarding methodologies and tools. This paper will, therefore, explore the current status of approaches to measurement of the (social) impact of social enterprises and third sector organizations and what are the challenges in the further development of this area. The methodology is based on the literature review of relevant secondary data sources. It would party reflect individual and joint analysis undertaken as part of European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) project “Third Sector Impact” (grant agreement no. 613034.). Also, it would be based on Ph.D. dissertation “The impact of the third sector in the social and economic development of the Croatia". Dissertation has used the qualitative methodology that included interviews with key stakeholders (16) and case studies (6) of different types of organizations in the third sector. In the first part of the paper, we will shortly explore definition of impact, how to differentiate different kinds of impacts and what are internal and external motivations for organizations for measuring impact. Impact assessment includes the processes of analyzing, monitoring and managing the intended and unintended social consequences, both positive and negative. Although there are numerous measuring tools could be used it can be concluded that the evaluation tools for measuring often immeasurable social outcomes are in the early stage of development. There are several different perspectives in which the subject of impact was emphasized. The impact can be looked upon from different levels: macro, mezzo, and micro. Also, the methods of impact measurement differ in different aspects, such as purpose, timeframe, orientation, perspective, and approach. The second part of the paper will be devoted to reviewing the status of knowledge about impact measurement with special focus methodological challenges in measuring that impact. Some of them are that the sector is heterogeneous ; organizations have several stakeholders, which are posing the challenge to developing indicators. Ascribing causality to the actions of social enterprises and third sector organizations as well as measuring opportunity costs is difficult. Besides that, even the definitions of independent variables such as volunteering, social enterprise, and third sector differ greatly. An additional challenge is measuring the so-called deadweight, the consequences that would occur in any case irrespective of the organization's performance. In the third part of the paper, we will present the research results about impact measurement perspectives in the third and social entrepreneurship sector in Croatia. Based on the research carried out within the author PhD dissertation “The impact of the third sector in the social and economic development of the Croatia” we will present results concerning the needs and motivations of different stakeholders for measuring the impact, motivations for conducting such measurements as well as the methods and tools used. Consequently, in the conclusion, with reflection on EU perspectives of the stated Third Sector Impact project and experiences of research in Croatia, we will highlight the “way forward” in developing impact measuring practices for social enterprises and the third sector in general.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Sociologija, Socijalne djelatnosti

POVEZANOST RADA