Human resource management practices and organizational performance. The mediator role of immaterial satisfaction in Italian Social Cooperatives

The paper deals with the mediating role of immaterial satisfaction between substantive human resources (HR) features and organizational performance. We address this relationship in the Italian social service sector using a survey dataset that includes 4134 workers and 320 not-for-profit social cooperatives. The obtained results show that human resource management (HRM) practices influence immaterial satisfaction and, satisfaction positively impacts on firm performance. However, the impact of the different HRM practices is not the same. In this sense, worker involvement and workload pressure have a positive impact on firm performance; but task autonomy or collaborative teamwork do not have impact on organizational performance

The Impact of Gut Passage by Binturongs (Arctictus Binturong) on Seed Germination

Binturongs (Arctictis binturong) are the largest of Asian civets and, due to their highly frugivorous diet, are expected to play an important role in seed dispersal processes. To study the effect of binturong gut passage on seed viability, we fed 10 captive binturongs with fruits of longan (Dimocarpus longan), papaya (Carica papaya) and chiku (Manilkara zapota), collected the seeds they defaecated, and planted these to determine seed germination rate and time. Of the defaecated seeds, 90.4% passed through binturong gut intact in under nine hours, and 99.4% passed in under 33 hours. Chiku seeds had the highest germination rate (35.7% and 34.8% for ingested and control seeds, respectively), followed by papaya (30.8% and 27.6%) and longan (18.9% and 29.8%). The germination rate of longan seeds ingested by binturong was significantly lower than that control seeds, while for the other two species there were no differences. All three species germinated approximately three days faster after gut passage, which may increase seedling survival. This study indicates that binturongs may be effective agents of seed dispersal for some fruit species

Women, Social Class, and their Relation as Individuals in Hard Times

Abstract Hard Times exposes different female characters belonging to different social classes, as in the Victorian period the difference of classes was something prominent. Moreover, in that period, women were relegated to subordinate positions in each of the social classes they shared with men. This essay focuses on the personal development of some female characters portrayed in this novel, showing their individuality, their internal conflicts, their relations as individuals. The essay is divided in four different sections. It begins with an introduction to the novel Hard Times and an introduction to the period when it was written – a framework of the situation of England in the Victorian period, Dickens's own time, which is the period in which the novel is set too. This part focuses on the real image of an England affected by the social changes it was undergoing at that time as a consequence of the Industrialization. The second part of the essay could be considered as a second introduction as it is the one that focuses on women’s roles in the Victorian period. This part deals with the differences existing between men's and women’s spheres and the role women played. Following the introduction, the analysis is focused on three female characters showing their role in the novel, their evolution, their reactions. I have followed a historical, sociological and feminist approach in this essay in order to reflect the period I am dealing with, and to show how society was established regarding gender, but focusing mainly in the roles played by women at that moment

Corporate social responsibility and good corporate governance practices in Spanish ethical mutual funds: analysis of investee companies

Ethical Mutual Funds (EMF) stand out for their investments in companies that develop strategies based on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) through good practices of Corporate Governance (CG). The aim of this paper is to analyze the types of companies that make up the portfolio of Spanish EMF, taking into account their CG model, their organizational structure and their economic and financial aspects. The results obtained show that the Spanish EMF prefer companies that promote the participation of stakeholders in their organizational structure and accessibility to their information. Additional evidence shows that the development of good CG practices in the context of CSR favors access to financing provided by financial markets and, within them, the EMF

A human growth perspective on sustainable HRM practices, worker well-being and organizational performance

Care services pose new challenges and opportunities for the implementation of sustainable HRM practices related to worker involvement and well-being because of their relational nature. The article is framed in terms of the job demands and resources model and discusses the impact of sustainable HRM (SHRM) practices on organizational performance in terms of service quality and organizational innovation in social and care services. A possible mediating role of immaterial satisfaction between SHRM and performance is also considered. We use national survey data including 4134 workers in 310 matched nonprofit social enterprises in Italy. The results show that HRM practices linked to task autonomy, teamwork, and involvement positively influence immaterial satisfaction, while at the same time immaterial satisfaction and HRM features related to involvement and workload support performance. The mediating role of immaterial satisfaction is not confirmed, but its effect adds positively to involvement in improving performance. This work contributes to the literature on organizational performance and HRM sustainability, which are particularly important in the face of ongoing social change and organizational innovation in social and relational service delivery.This research was funded by the CaRiPLo Foundation and by the Italian Ministry for Scientific Research (MIUR)

Social investment in Spain: How do solidarity mutual funds decide the allocation of solidarity funding between social economy organizations?

Solidarity mutual funds (SMFs) are a financial product oriented toward funding social economy organizations (SEOs). The main characteristic of these mutual funds, known in other countries as social investment, is that part of their management fees is allocated to support SEOs. In Spain, the criteria used in the allocation process of these funds have not been studied. The aim of this paper is to analyze the decision model of SMFs. To this end, we developed a logit regression model. The obtained results show that the decision model of SMFs promotes the development of commercial activity and favors a specific ideology and values and an exclusive relationship with the main funders

Twenty Years of Research on the Relationship Between Economic and Social Performance: A Meta-analysis Approach

The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between economic and social performance in an organizational context. We perform a meta-analysis to test this relationship and to examine the influence of the measurement criteria and organizational characteristics, such as activity, social orientation, technology and cultural environment. We find 678 effect sizes in 83 papers. Our results reveal a positive relationship between economic and social performance, although differences in the sign are detected depending on the measurement instrument and the type of organization

In processu praesentationis Fermini de Arceiz

Precede al tít.: "Jesus, Maria, Josef"Copia digital : Diputación Provincial de Zaragoza. Servicio de Archivos y Bibliotecas, 2010Ejemplar sin port. datos de tít. tomados de p.1Sign.: A\p5\sInic. grab. xil

Are Mediterranean nonprofits adopting the social enterprise model?

The social enterprise model, which is characterized by economic, social, and governance dimensions, has become a key aspect of modern welfare states in Europe. Despite its potential to increase revenue diversification for nonprofits, particularly through commercial income, its effects in the context of Mediterranean countries within the European Union are untested. This study aims to examine the adoption of the social enterprise model by Mediterranean nonprofits. The results suggest that organizations with high levels of diversification through commercial income exhibit some characteristics of the social enterprise model, and this behavior is influenced by factors such as the type of promoter, user, organizational aims, and activities

Intraspecific differences in seed dispersal caused by differences in social rank and mediated by food availability

We use individual-based information on the behavior of wild female Japanese macaques in two consecutive years with different food availability (nut-rich vs. nut-poor) to test effects of dominance rank and nut fruiting on seed dispersal parameters. We predicted that social rank would affect dispersal (1) quantity, (2) quality, (3) species richness, and (4) percentage of berries in the diet in the nut-poor year, while these differences would disappear in the nut-rich year. We found seeds of nine fleshy-fruited plant species in the feces of the monkeys. The frequency of seed occurrence for two plant species (Viburnum dilatatum and Rosa multiflora) showed an interaction between dominance ranks and years; in the nut-poor year V. dilatatum seeds were more abundant among dominant females and R. multiflora among subordinates, while such inter-rank differences disappeared in the nut-rich year. Similarly, the intact ratio of V. dilatatum seeds was lower for dominants in the nut-poor year, while inter-rank variations disappeared in the nut-rich year. Finally, percentage of berries in diet and seed richness showed no inter-annual nor inter-rank variations. Our study highlights that differences in individuals’ social rank lead to within-group variation in seed dispersal services and that these differences are dependent on nut availability