Volunteering

In recent decades, there has been a burgeoning interest in the study of volunteering, and the number of publications devoted to volunteering has grown exponentially. In this chapter, we examine emerging theories and new directions in volunteering research. First, we discuss multi-level perspectives that try to understand volunteering in complex interaction with the organizational and institutional context. Next, we present process-oriented approaches that focus on the experience of volunteering, as it changes through different stages of organizational socialization, and as a consequence of broader societal and sector-wide transformations. Finally, in the light of these sector changes, new methods of social accounting have emerged that expand traditional financial statements of nonprofits to account for volunteer labor. This review Demonstrates that, as research on volunteering further expands, it tends to grow in its diversity of questions and viewpoints, and to reflect the complex and dynamic nature of volunteering more precisely

Weakening organizational ties? A classification of styles of volunteering in the Flemish red cross

This article presents an initial empirical assessment of a new analytical framework of styles of volunteering (SOV). The framework suggests that volunteering can be categorized in terms of a multidimensional set of cultural and structural indicators that cohere in systematic and varying ways. With data drawn from a survey of 652 Flemish Red Cross volunteers, a multivariate analysis reveals five different SOV categories of volunteers: episodic contributors, established administrators, reliable coworkers, service-oriented core volunteers, and critical key figures. The research findings indicate that the volunteer reality is far more complex than suggested by conventional approaches to the study of volunteering

Where do I belong? Volunteer attachment in a complex organization

To understand volunteer retention and recruitment in complex organizations, this paper focuses on volunteers' attachment to a multipurpose and multi-branch organization. Using the Red Cross in Flanders (Belgium), a service organization with multiple locations offering a variety of programs, we investigate whether volunteers' attachment is primarily directed toward the organization as a whole, or whether volunteers are more prone to develop localized attachment to the program or branch in which they participate. Our findings suggest that managers recruiting volunteers to large complex organizations should be cautious in using the overarching organizational mission to attract volunteers. Rather, attention should be put on specific programs and activities using volunteers. It is only through longer-term service that volunteers appreciate the organization's mission and principles and find their allegiance to the organization as a whole

Volunteers and mega sporting events : developing a research framework

Interest in all aspects of the politics, financing, planning, management and operation of mega sporting events has been highlighted both by success stories and ongoing problems associated with Olympic Games, Football World Cups and other similar events. There is a growing literature that addresses these and related matters through both case history and comparative analyses. Within the context of mega sporting events, the issue of employment creation is an important motivator for host cities and features high on the political justification agenda for bids to host events. At the same time, the most significant working contribution to major mega events in sports, as in other areas, is provided by the very large numbers of volunteers who undertake tasks across the range of opportunities afforded by such events. Numbers of volunteers between 40,000 and 60,000 have been noted for some recent major events. Relatively little is known about these volunteers at mega sporting events and yet their contribution and wider impact is very significant, both to the events themselves and within the host community. This paper seeks to identify the evident gaps that exist in understanding areas such as what volunteers do at mega sporting events; who they are; what motivates them; how volunteering impacts upon their lives; what associated activities they do surrounding the event in the host city; and the extent to which volunteering is recidivistic. The paper concludes with the presentation of a tentative research framework agenda in order to guide future study of this important area

Mandatory Enforcement of Privacy Policies using Trusted Computing Principles

Modern communication systems and information technology create significant new threats to information privacy. In this paper, we discuss the need for proper privacy protection in cooperative intelligent transportation systems (cITS), one instance of such systems. We outline general principles for data protection and their legal basis and argue why pure legal protection is insufficient. Strong privacy-enhancing technologies need to be deployed in cITS to protect user data while it is generated and processed. As data minimization cannot always prevent the need for disclosing relevant personal information, we introduce the new concept of mandatory enforcement of privacy policies. This concept empowers users and data subjects to tightly couple their data with privacy policies and rely on the system to impose such policies onto any data processors. We also describe the PRECIOSA Privacy-enforcing Runtime Architecture that exemplifies our approach. Moreover, we show how an application can utilize this architecture by applying it to a pay as you drive (PAYD) car insurance scenario

Commercial heads, social hearts? Organizational changes and effects of civil society organizations becoming more business-like: a literature review

A growing body of literature points at the increasing hybridization of civil society organizations (CSOs) by incorporating entrepreneurial practices, values and ideas, but also focuses on the presumed risks of non-profits becoming more ‘business-like’. The central question to this debate is whether non-profit organizations are able to adopt for-profit practices and yet perform their social mission. Touching upon the larger issue of welfare governance, the hybridization of civil society organizations is a rather politicised issue drawing both public and academic criticism ranging from cautious warnings to wholehearted opposition. However, in this – often normative – discussion, the impact of becoming business-like on the organizational level tends to be overlooked. The distinction between non-profit and business-like concepts are only clearly distinguished in terms of goals, i.e. on the level of mission and strategy, in contrast to governance arrangements and management practices. Although much of the non-profit management literature aims to support non-profit managers, research on how ‘becoming business-like’ is practically implemented in the non-profit context as well as the perceived effects is fragmentary of nature and understudied. A more fine-grained analysis is further complicated by a multitude of overlapping yet distinct concepts. Based on a systematic study of the international literature, this paper addresses this lacuna by mapping the internal changes and effects as a result of a more ‘business-like’ manner of organization within non-profits over the last 25 years as well as by providing a clear conceptual outline. The focus is on the (re-)definition of civil society organizations’ missions and strategies, on changing governance arrangements and shifting management practice

Measuring third party tracker power across web and mobile

Third-party networks collect vast amounts of data about users via web sites and mobile applications. Consolidations among tracker companies can significantly increase their individual tracking capabilities, prompting scrutiny by competition regulators. Traditional measures of market share, based on revenue or sales, fail to represent the tracking capability of a tracker, especially if it spans both web and mobile. This paper proposes a new approach to measure the concentration of tracking capability, based on the reach of a tracker on popular websites and apps. Our results reveal that tracker prominence and parent-subsidiary relationships have significant impact on accurately measuring concentration

Mega sports events volunteering : journeys with a past, a present and a future

The purpose of this research is to explore volunteer involvement at a mega-sports event (MSE) using the metaphorical volunteer journey as a lens. It responds to a call for research to provide insight into the background of MSE volunteers (Baum and Lockstone 2007). This need has arisen from past studies of volunteer involvement generating large lists of expectations and motivations through a predominantly survey based approach. The context used for this study is the Frontrunner pre-event volunteer programme for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and a narrative approach is applied allowing the volunteer experience to be considered from both the individual and group perspectives. The stories suggest that the individuals arrive at volunteering at Glasgow 2014 as a result of a dynamic process informed by the pragmatist school of thought. The stories also highlight the underlying meaning of volunteers’ involvement through consideration of past lived experiences

Liquid retail:cultural perspectives on marketplace transformation

Inspired by Bauman’s notion of ‘liquidity’, we problematize the socio-cultural dynamics taking place in contemporary retail. The notion of liquid retail enables reserachers to untangle marketplace transformation and to highlight developments centred around markets and market actors that jointly transform each other. This introduction underlines, as a point of departure, recent developments in retailing that have been marked by the corrosion of fixity and boundaries. We provide a short synopsis of marketplace transformation and liquid retail, from a socio-cultural perspective, and summarize the papers included in this special issue

Opening up the 'black box' of 'volunteering' : on hybridization and purification in volunteering research and promotion

The scholarly exploration of “volunteering” has mainly focused on identifying its antecedents or consequences, in order to facilitate the management and promotion of volunteering. In this dominant stream of research, the phenomenon of volunteering thus remains a “black box”—a taken-for-granted and fixed reality. The article sets out to open the black box of “volunteering” by not accepting it as a fixed, unproblematic object, but by exploring volunteering as a constructed phenomenon whose boundaries are managed and utilized by a variety of actors. To deconstruct volunteering, the article utilizes the Latourian notions of “hybridization” and “purification” as simultaneous and entangled mechanisms. We critically review the literature on “volunteering” and problematize the fundamental properties of the “pure” perception of “volunteering,” their hybridization and eventual purification. The article concludes by highlighting how the constant tension between hybridization and purification mechanisms is in fact what makes volunteering proliferate as a phenomenon that has an increasing public significance in contemporary society