The determinants of social sustainability in work integration social enterprises: the effect of entrepreneurship

Work integration social enterprises (WISEs) exist to fight poverty and social exclusion. They offer support and guidance to those at risk of exclusion to help these individuals join the labour market. This study examines the relationship between social enterprises (specifically, work integration social enterprises) and their social impact, considered here in the form of social sustainability. This article presents the results of empirical analysis of 62 Spanish work integration social enterprises using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. The article focuses on the entrepreneurial characteristics of the companies’ founders and managers as drivers of social value creation. Specifically, the study examines their entrepreneurial traits, capabilities, orientation, and behaviour. The results show the importance of the training that social entrepreneurs receive, as well as the structure and planning of social enterprises

The restructuring of WA human services and its implications for the not-for-profit sector

Western Australia provides an interesting case study of the outsourcing of human services to the not-for-profit (NfP) sector. This article presents and discusses some of the key themes that emerged from a recently completed research project examining one large NfP in Western Australia. Key themes included the recruitment and retention of staff linked to pay and changing funding arrangements, and the sector becoming increasingly corporatised in outlook and goal orientaiton. Despite evidence that the shifting policy and funding environment within the NfP sector has had some negative consequences, the research findings highlight a degree of agency within which organisations can resist or counterbalance these changes. Efforts to avoid this trend, however, are reliant upon a number of factors; for example, a strong commitment to vision and mission supported by skilled leadership and adequate resourcing. Significantly, these factors are unlikely to be readily available, particularly for smaller NfPs. This discrepancy in organisational capacity is set to become more conspicuous with the potential introduction of ‘Big Society’ policies derived from the United Kingdom, and funding cuts proposed by the Coalition government