New Business: have you done your homework?

This paper intends to present a new business canvas that can help entrepreneurs doing their homework before starting a new venture. The Basic Business Creation Model (BBCM) acts like an acid test validating or not the new idea. It can be used as a pedagogical tool as well as a first approach to a new project. With a few steps it is possible to structure the business and assess its economic viability. More, the model makes the entrepreneur decide and act based on a strategic reflection upon the critical factors to be succeeded, and it develops a new insight about the value model that underlies any business.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship: The Case of Porto Region

This chapter provides a summarized and objective review over the relationships among innovation, social innovation, entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, new business models (NBM), and product (good, service, idea) value and sustainability (economic, social, ecological, and psychological). A study has been done in Porto region through interviews with 13 social innovators and entrepreneurs, in order to evaluate those relationships. The conceptual base for analysis is the theories developed by Jonker (2012) and Carvalho & Jonker (2015). It has been concluded that market-oriented social innovation has a crucial role in the development social entrepreneurship. Moreover, these NBM should be adjusted to population needs towards societal well-being, by combining creation of shared value, co-creation of value, and multiple value creation. Thus, the value set (social innovation) contributes to economic, social, ecological, and psychological sustainability, and consequently to human, social and territorial development.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Modelling (Social) Intra/Entrepreneurship Process

This study had three objectives: to discover the main concepts and theories used in research around entrepreneurship; systematize the entrepreneurial process in a model that allows teaching it more efficiently, and substantiate the model by applying it to various social entrepreneurship projects. To this end, a systematic scoping review was carried out to identify the main concepts, theories, and processes, which constitute the six crucial building blocks to someone could be successful as a(n) (social) intra/entrepreneur. Then, a design-science approach led us to use real social innovation and social entrepreneurship cases to evaluate the constructs and the model. Consequently, it is concluded that all concepts, theories and models identified can be classified as external factors (Context and Resources), internal factors (Objectives and entrepreneurial Will) and achievements (Action and Impact). The CROWAI model fits well with the data obtained on 465 innovation and social entrepreneurship projects. Thus, this model presents a more comprehensive approach, applicable to all profitable or social intra/entrepreneurship situations, allowing this new conceptual arrangement to be more easily taught. Additionally, it makes sense to use the term ‘social’ in innovation and intra/entrepreneurship because it has excellent defining power of the scope one wants to achieve with human endeavours. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2022-06-01-02 Full Text: PD

The Crucial Role of Internal Communication Audit to Improve Internal and General Market Orientations

This research shows the importance of an internal communication (IC) audit in order to know what to do to improve internal and general market orientations (IMO and MO). A triangulation approach – interviews, questionnaires and critical incident analysis – was performed at a Higher Education Institution. In the literature, there is a lack of this kind of joint analysis of these constructs using a case study mixed method approach. The results show a clear and direct relationship among the different levels of IC, IMO, and MO, which have consequences in job satisfaction. All internal stakeholders (managers, teachers, non-academic staff and students) agree with the need of establishing formal rules and procedures to regulate communication access and flow. With this robust and complete diagnosis one can know in what ways can be improved the internal organizational communication, which is an essential basis to have greater IMO and MO. These orientations will be reflected in improved job satisfaction and better results for the organization

Core Organizational Stakeholder Impact – An assessment model

Measurement of organizational social impact is a pressing issue in corporate social responsibility research. This paper proposes an alternative measurement model – Core Organizational Stakeholder Impact (COSI) – based on economic, legal and ethical responsibilities of organizations. The model allows understanding organizational social footprint, i.e., how organizations impact each stakeholder. It has 40 indicators, easy to apply, dividing internal and external stakeholders in equal number (20), and corresponding to equal maximum scores (35 points each). A first exploratory application of COSI shows that it captures well the strengths and the weaknesses of the organizational performance in terms of social impact. The model also sensitizes managers to the importance of being sustainable and stakeholder oriented in order to accomplish organizational mission, and to contribute the welfare of society

On path–dependency of constant proportion portfolio insurance strategies

This paper evaluates the path–dependency/independency of most widespread Portfolio Insurance strategies. In particular, we look at Constant Proportion Portfolio Insurance (CPPI) structures and compare them to both the classical Option Based Portfolio Insurance (OBPI) and naive strategies such as Stop-loss Portfolio Insurance (SLPI) or a CPPI with a multiplier of one. The paper is based upon conditional Monte Carlo simulations and we show that CPPI strategies with a multiplier higher than 1 are extremely path-dependent and that they can easily get cash-locked, even in scenarios when the underlying at maturity can be worth much more than initially. The likelihood of being cash-locked increases with the size of the multiplier and the maturity of the CPPI, as well as with properties of the risky underlying’s dynamics. To emphasize the path dependency of CPPIs, we show that even in scenarios where the investor correctly “guesses” a higher future value for the underlying, CPPIs can get cash locked, losing the linkage to the risky asset. This cash-lock problem is specific of CPPIs, it goes against its European-style nature of traded CPPIs, and it introduces into the strategy a risks not related to the underlying risky asset – a design risk. Design risk does not occur for path-independent portfolio insurance strategies, like the classical case of OBPI strategies, nor in naive strategies. This study contributes to reinforce the idea that CPPI strategies suffer from a serious design problem.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Contact in Foster Care: Bridge or Collision between Two Worlds?

This study aims not only to analyze the contact in foster care in Portugal compared to results collected from other studies but also to define the implications of its practice so as to propose improvements to the child protection system. It involves 289 foster children from the District of Porto whose results were obtained from official records. Subsequently, this study discusses the insights and practical consequences, the importance of maintaining up-to-date information on the changes of the biological family, the need to improve specific skills in social workers, and how to overlook the negative results of visits regarding the advantages and risks of maintaining contact

Percepciones de los niños sobre contacto y bienestar subjetivo en cuidado residencial y en acogida familiar

[EN] Contact between children in foster and residential care and their birth fami-lies have an impact on children’s development and on placement stability. Contact is also important for their social relationships and sense of belonging and well-being. The aim of this study was, from children’s point of view, to describe, analyse and compare contact in residential care and foster care in terms of its frequency, visit location, feelings during and after the visits, visit difficulties, happiness with their placement, their self-confidence, future perception about their lives, and perception of their subjective well-being. We used a sample of 145 children in residential care and all the children in foster care (39), aged between 11 and 15, from the same four Portuguese districts. Results indicated that children in residential care had more contact and visits with their parents than children in foster care, being phone calls the most used way to contact the children. The majority of the children presented joy or sat-isfaction during parents’ visits and more diffuse feelings after the visit. Also, most of children would like to have more visits and just a minority present some difficulties in their fulfilment. Nevertheless, children in foster care had more self-confidence, optimism in relation to their future, happiness in relation to their placement and higher subjective well-being than children in residential care. In summary, it seemed that the type of placement for children at risk is more important to their future than the existence of contact with their parents. [ES] El contacto entre los niños en acogida familiar y residencial y sus familias bioló-gicas tiene un impacto en el desarrollo de los niños y en la estabilidad de la colocación. El contacto también es importante para sus relaciones sociales y su sentido de pertenencia y bienestar. El objetivo de este estudio fue, desde el punto de vista de los niños, describir, ana-lizar y comparar el contacto en el cuidado residencial y en la acogida familiar en términos de su frecuencia, ubicación de la visita, sentimientos durante y después de las visitas, dificultades de la visita, felicidad con su colocación, su autoconfianza, percepción futura sobre sus vidas y percepción de su bienestar subjetivo. Utilizamos una muestra de 145 niños en cuidado resi-dencial y todos los niños en acogida familiar (39), de edades comprendidas entre 11 y 15 años, de los mismos cuatro distritos portugueses. Los resultados indicaron que los niños en cuidado residencial tuvieron más contacto y visitas con sus padres que los niños en acogida familiar, siendo las llamadas telefónicas la forma más utilizada para contactar a los niños. La mayoría de los niños presentaron alegría o satisfacción durante las visitas de los padres y sentimientos más difusos después de la visita. Además, a la mayoría de los niños les gustaría tener más visitas y solo una minoría presenta algunas dificultades para su cumplimiento. Sin embargo, los niños en acogida familiar tenían más confianza en sí mismos, optimismo en relación con su futuro, felicidad en relación con su colocación y un mayor bienestar subjetivo que los niños en cuidado residencial. En resumen, parecía que el tipo de colocación para niños en riesgo es más importante para su futuro que la existencia de contacto con sus padres. [PT] O contacto entre crianças em acolhimento familiar e residencial e as suas famí-lias de nascimento tem um impacto no desenvolvimento das crianças e na estabilidade da sua colocação. O contacto também é importante para as suas relações sociais e sentido de pertença e bem-estar. O objetivo deste estudo foi, do ponto de vista das crianças, descrever, analisar e comparar o contacto no acolhimento familiar e no acolhimento residencial em ter-mos de frequência, localização da visita, sentimentos durante e após as visitas, dificuldades na visita, felicidade com sua colocação, a sua autoconfiança, a perceção futura sobre as suas vidas e a perceção do seu bem-estar subjetivo. Utilizamos uma amostra de 145 crianças em cuidados residenciais e todas as crianças em acolhimento familiar (39), com idades entre os 11 e os 15 anos, dos mesmos quatro distritos portugueses. Os resultados indicaram que as crianças em cuidados residenciais tiveram mais contacto e visitas com os pais do que crianças em acolhimento familiar, sendo as chamadas telefónicas a forma mais utilizada de contacto com as crianças. A maioria das crianças apresentou alegria ou satisfação durante as visitas dos pais e sentimentos mais difusos após a visita. Além disso, a maioria das crianças gostaria de ter mais visitas e apenas uma minoria apresenta algumas dificuldades com a sua realização. No entanto, as crianças em acolhimento familiar tinham mais autoconfiança, otimismo em relação ao seu futuro, felicidade em relação à sua colocação e maior bem-estar subjetivo do que as crianças em cuidados residenciais. Em resumo, parecia que o tipo de colocação para as crianças em risco seria mais importante para o seu futuro do que a existência de contacto com os pais