Intangible economy : How can investors deliver change in businesses? Lessons from nonprofit-business partnerships

Investors traditionally prioritised tangible outcomes (money, land, machinery) in order to protect their financial assets. However, the intangible economy (trust, human resources, information, reputation) that co-exists draws attention to new expectations that request the continuous, active and within the public sphere involvement of investors in order to protect their assets by prioritising intangible resources. The paper argues that investors in intangible outcomes who aim to achieve change in corporations share the same limitations within the financial and non-financial field. The case of Nonprofit-Business Partnerships is employed in order to demonstrate how change can be achieved. The role of investors is crucial in facilitating the shift from the tangible to the intangible economy. Investment in the intangible economy is a mechanism of co-determining the priority of responsibilities in the context of corporate social responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility and the Non-commercial Sector

The paper offers a definition of the noncommercial sector (NCS) and outlines its properties in order to provide a comparison between the social responsibilities of businesses and the non-commercial sector. It suggests that assigning different levels of responsibility to the different categories of organisations within the NCS will assist in defining those responsibilities

Implementing CSR through partnerships: Understanding the selection, design and institutionalisation of nonprofit-business partnerships

Partnerships between businesses and nonprofit organisations are an increasingly prominent element of corporate social responsibility implementation. The paper is based on two in depth partnership case studies (Earthwatch-Rio Tinto and Prince’s Trust-Royal Bank of Scotland) that move beyond a simple stage model to reveal the deeper level micro-processes in the selection, design and institutionalisation of business-NGO partnerships. The suggested practice-tested model is followed by a discussion that highlights management issues within partnership implementation and a practical Partnership Test to assist managers in testing both the accountability and level of institutionalisation of the relationship in order to address any possible skill gaps. Understanding how CSR partnerships are implemented in practice contributes to the broader CSR and partnership literatures a context specific level of detail in a systematic way that allows for transferable learning in both theory and practice

Towards designing a sustainable is-enabled service delivery system

This paper aims to bring into focus the concept of service sustainability. The normative literature advocates that services by companies, government institutions and service delivery are still posing great challenges to many organizations in this digital age. In highlighting the distinctive feature of service innovation, businesses will be able to maintain competitive advantage. In examining the literature on the service concept, successful companies have the customer at the forefront of their business strategy. As a result, the authors formulate suggestions on the most effective way an organization and the people concerned, can recast strategic thinking. to anticipate and adapt to ever increasing changing service environment. The contribution of the study is an IS-enabled Service Delivery Model (SDM) that places customer and staff as an integral part of the service delivery system with managed interactions and continuous quality control. This intends to support practitioners and researchers which could provide the former useful means of conceptualizing service, and raises an important issue to the latter in revisiting service quality research

The Future Challenges of Cross Sector Interactions: Interaction between NonProfit Organisations and Businesses

The paper aims to offer a starting point of a future research agenda on Cross Sector Social Partnerships that will be informed by both theory and practice, addressing the challenges that both business and nonprofit organisations will face due to and as a result of their increased interactions. In order to articulate the need for both organisational and social change through cross sector social partnerships the paper suggests that it is required to move towards multidimensional levels of analysis within multiple contexts that will emphasise a historical perspective rather than an ahistorical analysis of events outside of their context. Hence four categories are proposed in order to group a future research agenda: context, process, content and impacts. By extending the three levels of Pettigrew’s analysis of change the paper suggests that there is a need to include a fourth category that refers to the impacts/consequences of interactions. If indeed partnerships are able to facilitate change within their context but also in their external environment then we need to similarly study their impacts. The paper offers research suggestions under each of the four proposed categories and also on methodological issues within partnerships research

Enhancing the Impact of Cross-Sector Partnerships. Four Impact Loops for Channeling Partnership Studies

This paper addresses the topic of this special symposium issue: how to enhance the impact of cross-sector partnerships. The paper takes stock of two related discussions: the discourse in cross-sector partnership research on how to assess impact and the discourse in impact assessment research on how to deal with more complex organizations and projects. We argue that there is growing need and recognition for cross-fertilization between the two areas. Cross-sector partnerships are reaching a paradigmatic status in society, but both research and practice need more thorough evidence of their impacts and of the conditions under which these impacts can be enhanced. This paper develops a framework that should enable a constructive interchange between the two research areas, while also framing existing research into more precise categories that can lead to knowledge accumulation. We address the preconditions for such a framework and discuss how the constituent parts of this framework interact. We distinguish four different pathways or impact loops that refer to four distinct orders of impact. The paper concludes by applying these insights to the four papers included in this special issue

H επίδραση του καπνίσματος στον ενδοθηλιακό γλυκοκάλυκα σε ασθενείς με οξύ στεφανιαίο σύνδρομο

Στην παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία, επιχειρείται η διερεύνηση της επίδρασης του καπνίσματος στην λειτουργικότητα του ενδοθηλιακού γλυκοκάλυκα σε ασθενείς με οξύ έμφραγμα του μυοκαρδίου. Το μελετώμενο δείγμα ήταν συνολικά 80 ασθενείς, 40 καπνιστές και 40 μη καπνιστές. Έγινε η χρήση της μεθόδου SDF , αγγειολογικός έλεγχος για την εκτίμηση των ελεστικών ιδιτήτων των αρτηριών, χρήση ενζύμων και δεικτών φλεγμονής. Στα πλάισια των αποτελεσμάτων προέκυψε ότι οι καπνιστές έχουν πολλαπλή βλάβη των αγγείων τους. Από τον αγγειολογικό έλεγχο ,τον έλεγχο ενζύμων και των δεικτών φλεγμονής προέκυψε ότι όλοι οι δείκτες ήταν αυξημένοι στους καπνιστές έναντι των μη καπνιστών.In this diplomatic thesis attemps to investigate the effect of smoking on the functionality of endothelial glucacalyx in patients with acute coronary syndrome. The studied sample was a total of 80 patients, 40 smokers and 40 non smokers. The use of a SDF method, angiological control for the assessment of arterial effector properties .In the context of the results, smokers had multiple blood vessels, vasocoustriction, enzyme control and inflammatory markers suggesting that all indicators were elevated in smokers versus non smokers

Toward Collaborative Cross-Sector Business Models for Sustainability

Sustainability challenges typically occur across sectoral boundaries, calling the state, market, andcivil society to action. While consensus exists on the merits of cross-sector collaboration, ourunderstanding of whether and how it can create value for various, collaborating stakeholders is still limited. This Special Issue focuses on how new combined knowledge on cross-sector collaboration and business models for sustainability can inform the academic and practitioner debates about sustainability challenges and solutions. We discuss how cross-sector collaboration can play an important role for the transition to new and potentially sustainability-driving business models given that value creation, delivery and capture of organizations are intimately related to the collaborative ties with their stakeholders. Sustainable alternatives to conventional business models tend to adopt a more holistic perspective of business by broadening the spectrum of solutions and stakeholders and, when aligned with cross-sector collaboration, can contribute new ways of addressing the wicked sustainability problems humanity faces

Partner Strategic Capabilities for Capturing Value from Sustainability-Focused Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships

As social and ecological problems escalate, the role of collective capacity and knowledge is becoming more critical in reaching solutions. This capacity and knowledge are dispersed among diverse stakeholder organizations. Thus, organizations in the private, public, and civil society sectors are experiencing pressure to address these complex challenges through collaborative action in the form of multi-stakeholder partnerships. One major challenge to securing and maintaining partner engagement in these voluntary collaborative initiatives is defining the value proposition for prospective and existing partner organizations. Understanding the relationship between different forms of partner involvement and the subsequent resources that partners stand to gain is necessary to articulate the value proposition of the partnership to partners. This study conducts a survey of partner organizations from 15 different sustainability-focused multi-stakeholder partnerships in Canada. We compare three partner strategies for implementation and value capture and discover that each strategy is associated with different partner-level resource outcomes. Our findings indicate that product stewardship strategies are associated with financial and organizational capital, marketing and promotion with human capital, and internal implementation structures with shared capital. This study has implications for multi-stakeholder partnership researchers and practitioners because it suggests the possibility that certain partner-level outcomes could rely on the partner, as well as partnership implementation strategies