The Mondragon Case: Companies Addressing Social Impact and Dialogic Methodologies

Mondragon Cooperative (MC) is one of the most outstanding examples of worker cooperatives in history. It has maintained its cooperative values along its trajectory, being competitive in the international market since 1956, under the motto: ‘Humanity at work’. Recently, scientific research has focused on impact, which has led to the emergence of the Successful Cooperative Actions (SCAs). Based on the case of MC, the scientific literature has identified key actions of this business model that can be transferred to other corporate contexts. Using a methodological approach, it is key to identify the SCAs that MC implements, which could apply to other cooperatives with similar principles but not the same success. This study aims to analyse the methodological innovation in qualitative research when the aim is focused on the transferability of the social impact of MC to other contexts. This paper shows that research focussing on the identification of SCAs modifies qualitative methodology by focussing on the transferability of actions to obtain social impact

Promoting Creativity in the Cooperative Work Environment: A Case Study of the Lacol Cooperative

Previous research has examined organizational factors that could facilitate or limit creativity also indicating that although cooperatives can be seen as innovative business formats, they are also considered slow growth models because of their organizational characteristics. In this study we aim to explore the processes, practices, and other organizational characteristics that define the creative dynamics in cooperatives. In this way, our goals are (a) to understand how the promotion of the creativity is carried out in the cooperative workplace and (b) to study the factors that can accelerate the development of a more positive climate for creativity, boosting transformative elements and neutralizing exclusionary elements. This article is focused on a qualitative case study of an architecture cooperative from Catalonia (Spain), Lacol. The data were collected through two in-depth interviews. Also, visual material was collected to study how the physical space is organised and how this affects creative processes. The results show that, of the studied elements, those most relevant to produce a creative work environment in Lacol are power decentralization, freedom and autonomy, work team support, training, and challenges. Likewise, friendship has been identified as an important transversal element. Finally, future research lines are discussed

Transforming rural education in Colombia through family participation: The case of school as a learning community

Purpose: This article studies the impact of the implementation of learning communities in a rural context of Colombia, specifically concerning the improvements related to learning and social cohesion. Design/methodology/approach: This longitudinal case study analyses the process and the impacts of the transformation of a school in 2015 and the subsequent years of 2016 and 2017. The data analysed include standardized external tests, a documentary analysis of the school and interviews with students, family members and the schoolteacher. Findings: The results obtained indicate academic improvement within the school with results that exceed the national average of Colombia. The results also report how violence has been reduced by 80%. All of these outcomes were motivated by the participation of the community in the school. Practical implications: The conclusions drawn are relevant as they show a success case that overcame the difficulties related to the lack of accessibility and quality of rural education in Colombia

Communicative methodology: Contributions to social impact assessment in psychological research

Recent advancements in the social impact assessment of science have shown the diverse methodologies being developed to monitor and evaluate the improvements for society as a result of research. These assessment methods include indicators to gather both quantitative and qualitative evidence of the social impact of science achieved in the short, medium, and long terms. In psychology, the impact of research has been mainly analyzed in relation to scientific publications in journals, but less is known about the methods for the social impact assessment of psychological research. Impact assessment in the domains of educational psychology and organizational psychology presents synergies with bottom-up approaches that include the voices of citizens and stakeholders in their analyses. Along these lines, the communicative methodology (CM) emerges as a methodology useful for the communicative evaluation of the social impact of research. Although the CM has widely demonstrated social impact in the social sciences, less is known about how it has been used and the impact achieved in psychological research. This article unpacks how to achieve social impact in psychology through the CM. In particular, it focuses on the theoretical underpinnings of the CM, the postulates linked to psychological research and some key actions for the implementation of the CM in relation to the design of Advisory Committees, working groups, and plenary meetings in research. Furthermore, it shows how the CM has been implemented in illustrative cases in psychological research. The article finishes with a conclusion and recommendations to further explore the ways in which the CM enables the social impact of research in psychology

A research synthesis of the impacts of successful educational actions on student outcomes

Successful Educational Actions (SEAs) are school-based initiatives oriented to provide high-quality education for all students. Identified by the INCLUD-ED research project, SEAs have been implemented in schools in different countries and researchers have studied their implementation and the impacts achieved. We undertook a review and synthesis of research findings on the implementation of SEAs with three aims. First, identify different types of impacts on students (3-12 years), second, offer a unified and comprehensive framework, and thirdly, provide suggestions for further research. We identified 63 studies that met our inclusion criteria and were coded descriptively. The findings documented in our reviewed studies accounted for impacts on the individual level, comprising (1) students' instrumental learning and 2) self-esteem and motivation; on the group level, involving (3) enhancement of interpersonal relationships and (4) cohesion and conflict reduction; and on the community level, comprising (5) family involvement and change towards school and (6) absenteeism reduction. The synthesis concludes with a discussion of the implications of those findings and further research suggestions

Feudalism, meritocracy and sexual harassment

Scientific literature has clarified that the contexts of more intense power relations favor sexual harassment and impunity. This article presents the results of a research that has analyzed a legislation aimed at combating sexual harassment that preceded six months earlier the selection and evaluation of faculty. The communicative research methodology followed the criteria of social impact and creation, which are currently required by the European Union research program. In addition to a documentary review, sixteen interviews were conducted, twelve with teachers who led the research that gave rise to these reforms and three with victims who managed to become survivors. The result shows an affirmation shared by all interviewees: the passing of legislation against sexual harassment weakened feudal relationships within universities and made members of the Spanish parliament aware of the need to overcome these relationships through meritocratic evaluation. This result can contribute to a twofold process: that feminisms support democratic and social reforms in universities and that those who elaborate scientific policies know that guaranteeing gender equality and overcoming sexual harassment is the way to promote scientific productivity.La literatura científica ha clarificado que los contextos de relaciones de poder más intensas favorecen el acoso sexual y la impunidad. Este artículo, presenta los resultados de una investigación que ha analizado una legislación destinada a combatir el acoso sexual que precedió en 6 meses en la selección y evaluación del profesorado. La metodología de investigación comunicativa ha seguido los criterios de impacto social y creación, que actualmente son requisitos del programa de investigación de la Unión Europea. También, se han realizado dieciséis entrevistas, doce a profesorado que lideraron las investigaciones que dieron origen a esas reformas y tres a víctimas que consiguieron transformarse en supervivientes. El resultado demuestra una afirmación compartida por todas las personas entrevistadas: la aprobación de la legislación contra el acoso sexual debilitó las relaciones feudales dentro de las universidades y concienció a miembros del parlamento español sobre la necesidad de superar esas relaciones a través de una evaluación meritocrática. Este resultado, puede contribuir a un doble proceso, que desde los feminismos se apoyen las reformas democráticas y sociales de las universidades y que quienes elaboran las  políticas científicas sepan que garantizando la igualdad de género y superación del acoso sexual, se fomenta la productividad científica

Communicative Methodology: Contributions to Social Impact Assessment in Psychological Research

Recent advancements in the social impact assessment of science have shown the diverse methodologies being developed to monitor and evaluate the improvements for society as a result of research. These assessment methods include indicators to gather both quantitative and qualitative evidence of the social impact of science achieved in the short, medium and long terms. In psychology, the impact of research has been mainly analysed in relation to scientific publications in journals, but less is known about the methods for the social impact assessment of psychological research. Impact assessment in the domains of educational psychology and organizational psychology presents synergies with bottom-up approaches that include the voices of citizens and stakeholders in their analyses. Along these lines, the communicative methodology (CM) emerges as a methodology useful for the communicative evaluation of the social impact of research. Although the CM has widely demonstrated social impact in the social sciences, less is known about how it has been used and the impact achieved in psychological research. This article unpacks how to achieve social impact in psychology through the CM. In particular, it focuses on the theoretical underpinnings of the CM, the postulates linked to psychological research and some key actions for the implementation of the CM in relation to the design of advisory committees, working groups and plenary meetings in research. Furthermore, it shows how the CM has been implemented in illustrative cases in psychological research. The article finishes with a conclusion and recommendations to further explore the ways in which the CM enables the social impact of research in psychology