The Girl Effect: A Neoliberal Instrumentalization of Gender Equality

Over the past ten years, ‘The Girl Effect’–the discourse and practice of investing in third world girls’ education—has ascended to the top of the international development agenda as the ‘highest return investment strategy’ to end poverty. This paper interrogates the trend by investigating the genealogy of ‘The Girl Effect’ as The Nike Foundation’s flagship corporate social responsibility campaign and the theory of change it is based on. A literature analysis of The Nike Foundation’s most recent intervention projects—“The Girl Effect Accelerator” and ‘Girl Hub’ pilot projects in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Rwanda—will elucidate the underlying investment logic and serve as a representative sample of the broader emerging practice. While claiming to advance “gender equality” and “women’s empowerment”, I argue that The Girl Effect accomplishes the opposite by reinforcing gender inequity on both the micro and macro levels. Feminist grammars are instrumentalized as window dressing to exploit third world females as prospective (1) debtors in the expansion of credit markets, (2) exploits in the expansion of consumer markets, and (3) the ‘untapped resource’ for cheap labor. An epochal look at second wave feminism will show how ‘The Girl Effect Paradigm’ is a second wave of neoliberal exploitation—a parallel of its first female-led development era (1980s-1990s). This paper warns that as this phenomenon grows in hegemony it is insidiously displacing feminism as a political project and neutralizing the need for a truly transformational agenda. Without a counterbalance of vigilant public scrutiny and debate, we risk letting it crystallize Western- patriarchal-capitalism even more deeply in an unyielding global glass ceiling

Garments without guilt? : an exploration of corporate social responsibility within the context of the fashion supply chain : case study of Sri Lanka

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Charity meets clarity: A multiple methods and transdisciplinary approach to improving philanthropic investment in Indigenous Australian education

A multiple methods and transdisciplinary approach to improving philanthropic investment in Indigenous Australian education Abstract: This study explores current and potentially future relationships between philanthropy and Indigenous education in Australia. More specifically, it has sought to address an overarching research question, namely ‘how can philanthropic bodies more successfully engage with Indigenous people and strategically invest their resources to improve Indigenous education outcomes?’ The research has involved a unique partnership between an Aboriginal researcher, the Australian National University, philanthropists, researchers and educators, and five First Nations communities in urban, regional and rural-remote localities. The study has been partly funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) through the ARC Linkage Projects scheme. Supplementary funds have also been provided by the Australian Communities Foundation, a philanthropic body based in Melbourne. In addressing the overarching research question and in light of the inherent complexity at the philanthropy–Indigenous affairs–education interface, the study has adopted multiple-methods and transdisciplinary approaches. It draws upon history, political studies, business and commerce studies, social sciences, and, especially, upon complexity science and emergence theories to both make sense of the data and to influence the future shape of First Nations education and philanthropic partnerships. Literature from both Australia and abroad is analysed to provide insights and understand tensions about historical practices, contemporary applications, and future directions in philanthropic investment in Indigenous education. The study has also sought to capture the voices of ‘demand’ (First Nations communities) and ‘supply’ (philanthropic bodies). As such, both the study and literature review examine current interventions and investments in First Nations education, and find that philanthropic investments in boarding school opportunities and university scholarships have grown considerably over the past decade. The study acknowledges this, but also argues that philanthropic investment in Indigenous education in its current form is too narrow, nowhere near scale when it comes to current and projected levels of need among First Nations communities, and tends to favour ‘fail-safe’ as opposed to ‘safe-fail’ initiatives. The study posits that improvements in Indigenous education are unlikely to present through oversimplified, linear and mono-dimensional interventions. It also concludes that partners in education, philanthropy and First Nations affairs need to think differently about problems and future possibilities by pursuing a course of positive disruption and collective action, where hearts of charity meet minds of clarity

Corporate social responsibility in Egypt: Towards creating shared value

This study assesses if the practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Egypt has moved beyond the understanding of charity and towards a model of creating shared value (CSV). This study is an important contribution given the growing interest in CSR in Egypt and the limited contextualized research on the topic. The conceptual framework used to guide this research is based on the Creating Shared Value model developed by Porter and Kramer. The research methodology is built on semi-structured in depth interviews with thirteen leading CSR practitioners and experts in Egypt. The study findings revealed valuable insights on the current understanding and practice of CSR and CSV in Egypt. Study results highlight that the understanding of CSR has evolved, at least amongst most of the study sample, from the traditional perception linked to charity, donation and societal obligation into a more comprehensive construction that promotes greater integration of a company\u27s responsibility towards their workforce, society and environment and incorporation of sustainability principles and models. More specifically, the idea of creating shared value is in fact gaining prominence within the private sector in Egypt. There are, however, still elements of the traditional model of CSR to be found as evidenced through the volunteering and donation-based activities as well as the philanthropic programs. Interestingly enough, philanthropy is taking a more strategic, developmental and sustainable approach compared to before. This study also provides a great deal of insight on the challenges faced in the practice of CSR and offers some suggestions and policy recommendations to help advance the CSR and CSV understanding and practice in Egypt

Closing the Innovation Gap for Business Sustainability

Senior business leaders may deliberately impede innovation or inadvertently fail at creating a culture of innovation to foster new product development. The gap between desired and achieved levels of innovation is cause for concern. Addressing the innovation gap may require new ways of thinking from senior executives and a departure from a locked-in mindset to make the linkage between innovation, branding, and financial performance. In this quantitative research study, multiple regression analyses were used to examine and analyze the relationship between innovation rankings, brand valuation, and economic sustainability to address possible reasons for an innovation gap. The theoretical framework of the study included Legrand and Weiss\u27s innovation gap theory, Sood and Tellis\u27s theory of limited market disruption, and Morris\u27s theory of innovation. Furthermore, Dierk and Dover\u27s definition of ambidexterity elucidated the failure of some senior leaders to balance short and long-term innovation objectives. A sample of 190 global companies was used in the study and taken from the Forbes World\u27s Most Innovative Companies ranking, Interbrand Brand Value Index, and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. The results of the regression model indicated a small, statistically significant positive correlation between innovation and long-term sustainability using 2015 data. Using 2012 data for the predictor variables and 2015 data for the dependent variable indicated no statistically significant relationship between innovation and branding efforts on sustainability. Though marginal, the correlation found between innovation and sustainability may encourage senior business leaders to support specific innovation practices in order to improve sustainability and close the innovation gap

Towards a Transformative Innovation Policy (TIP) research agenda

Throughout 2018 and 2019, academic scholars and policymakers involved in research and practice on science, technology and innovation (STI) policy came together on several occasions to explore intersections of their perspectives around the emerging ‘Transformative Innovation Policy (TIP)’ theme, in the ‘internetwork dialogue’. This working paper presents discussion on ten questions raised in multiple sessions and workshops, categorised under three main themes – 1) conceptualisation, 2) actors and contexts and 3) operationalisation of TIP. The aim of this paper is to present the rich quality and diversity of knowledge shared by over 100 scholars with transdisciplinary expertise, as well as policy professionals willing to contribute practical experience to the scholarly debates. A further aim of this paper is to provide a springboard for accelerating the ongoing developments in TIP research. A virtual conference in 2021 could build on these different streams of knowledge presented in the paper. The paper seeks further contributions from the new network of TIP scholars (TIPRN) in building a vibrant community of practise on TIP

Creating shared value of corporate social development programmes : ranked versus unranked South African brands

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Management Strategic Marketing 2016Context: Annually in South Africa, results of the Sunday Times Top Brands survey are released. Within this study is a ranking “brands that do the most to uplift the community” voted by the public, which is widely quoted by those brands included in the study. If this is the dominant study reporting on a “socially responsible organisation”, the study provides a guideline on how the organisation will be more likely to be thought to be in the top companies “doing the most to uplift communities”. A brief statement of the conceptual framework of the research: This, study employed the recently developed Porter and Kramer (2011) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) vs. Creating Shared Value (CSV) model as a return on corporate social development programs framework. The study sought to assess whether management in companies that are highly ranked adopt the CSR paradigm constructs (where the value is doing good) or the CSV paradigm constructs (where the value is economic and societal benefits relative to cost) as proposed by the Porter and Kramer (2011) model [Abbreviated abstract. Open document to view full version]GR201