Assessing Social Impact of Social Enterprises Does One Size Really F

This book explores the diversity of Social Impact Assessment (SIA) models and outlines a self-assessment on models to support social entrepreneurs. The chapters trace the concept and origins of social entrepreneurship and elicits current implementation of

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Cecilia Grieco

Assessing Social Impact of Social Enterprises Does One Size Really Fit All?

SpringerBriefs in Business

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8860

Cecilia Grieco

Assessing Social Impact of Social Enterprises Does One Size Really Fit All?

123

Cecilia Grieco Libera Università Maria Ss. Assunta (LUMSA) Rome Italy

ISSN 2191-5482 SpringerBriefs in Business ISBN 978-3-319-15313-1 DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-15314-8

ISSN 2191-5490 (electronic) ISBN 978-3-319-15314-8

(eBook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015933370 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © The Author(s) 2015 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

To these five centimetres of pure love, may you always be proud of your mom

Preface

The challenge for non-profit scholars is to ensure that research that has relevance for policy, practice, and/or management translates those findings into usable knowledge. In other words, scholars should invest a portion of their writing to address the “so what” question for both research and practice contributions. —Brenda K. Bushouse and Jessica E. Sowa1

I have kept these words in mind while writing this book. The field of study that we analyse as non-profit scholars is a breeding ground for gathering insights and developing new theories to increase our knowledge. But the give-and-take process between theory and practice should be two-way and continuous. I wanted my work to be relevant for practitioners, for whom the issue of assessing the impact of their activities on society is becoming a pressing need. Several biases have emerged in the discussion of how to measure social impact. Why should organizations spend time and resources measuring what they can see with their own eyes? What benefits can be derived from it? And is it really possible to quantify and/or monetize qual