Social Enterprises and Public Service Provision in Wales

(A study into the extent and impact of formalized social enterprise activities in charitable organizations involved in public service provision)

photograph of celine chew

Lead researcher: Dr Celine Chew

 

This research investigates the extent and impact of formalized social enterprise activities in charitable organizations, as part of the wider voluntary non-profit sector, that are involved in public service provision in Wales. It will use the experiences of different charities in Wales to determine whether organizational, contextual or institutional factors can explain the adoption of hybrid organizational forms by those charities that are involved in social enterprise activities.

The project  builds on recent research undertaken by the principal researcher that explored the experiences of British charities with hybrid organizational subsidiaries in pursuit of their social enterprise goals. This showed that social enterprises with charitable origins, as a special case of hybrid organization, share common features in their governance structure, organizational features and strategic positioning, but which are distinct from those of their parent charities. Two key implications were identified:

(1) the emerging tensions in the relationship and operating culture between the subsidiaries and their parent charities would need to be considered in the policy development and management of third sector social enterprises in general, and CICs with charitable origins specifically, and

(2) the need to generate greater public awareness and education among VCOs about the contributions of social enterprise and the role the CIC could play in public service delivery and social change agendas.

This present research will explore whether these same issues apply to charitable organizations and CICs in Wales, and if they do, what actions might be needed by charities, their CICs, the voluntary sector as a whole and the government to address them. The findings and outputs from this proposed study will strengthen the evidence base from my existing work on this topic to support a larger grant application to the ESRC or BAM for a comparative examination of the social enterprise strategies of VCOs involved in public service provision in Wales and elsewhere in the UK.

The contributions of this new research are in four major ways:

 (1) Generate new knowledge by increasing our understanding into the benefits realized, tensions experienced and challenges faced by charities in establishing formalized social enterprise activities (e.g. in the form of new hybrid organizational forms such as the community interest companies or CICs, and in other ways) in Wales.

(2) Provide useful lessons from the experiences of charities in this study to other voluntary and charitable organizations (VCOs) in Wales in establishing or furthering formalized social enterprise activities.

(3) Provide valuable evidence to help to inform future governmental policy decisions and actions, the charity and CIC regulators, and voluntary sector industry umbrella bodies on the future development of social enterprises in VCOs in Wales, and the role the CIC could play in public service delivery and social change agendas.

(4) Highlight potential areas for future policy relevant research in the area of social enterprise in VCOs in Wales and the UK.

 

  • Chew, C. (2008a). ‘Social enterprise in charities? Exploring the impact of hybrid forms of voluntary and charitable organizations in the UK’. Paper presented at the 12th International Research Symposium in Public Management (IRSPM), 26-28 March, Brisbane, Australia.
  • Chew, C. (2008b). ‘Exploring hybrid organizational forms of British charities’. Seminar presentation at the Nottingham Business School Research Seminar Series, 15 May 2008, Nottingham University.
  • Chew, C. (2008b). ‘Social enterprises in disguise? Towards hybrid organizational forms of voluntary and charitable organizations in the UK’, Research Working Paper No.49, Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS), Cardiff: Cardiff University.
  • Chew, C. (2008d). ‘Strategic positioning and organizational adaptation in social enterprise subsidiaries of voluntary organizations: An examination of community interest companies with charitable origins’, Public Management Review (under review).
 
 
© 2012 The ESRC Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society