For-profit Entities Research Articles

Asan Cups: navigating blue oceans in menstrual hygiene sustainability

Learning outcomes After completion of the case study, students will be able to understand the format of for-profit social enterprise working for menstrual hygiene sustainability and its contribution toward U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, to appreciate the company’s alignment with the triple bottom line framework, to analyze the blue ocean mechanism that the company has developed to create an impact and to critique the strategies the Asan Cups company could adopt to increase its market share and growth. Case overview/synopsis Asan Cups was a for-profit social enterprise founded by Ira Guha in 2021. The company crafted reusable menstrual cups from liquid silicone, sporting a patented design in India, the UK, Europe and the USA. Successfully retailing its products in India, the UK and Europe, Asan Cups operated on a bootstrap model with a compact team of four, led by its visionary founder. From the get-go, the company embraced a compelling 1-for-1 donation initiative. For every cup sold, Asan Cups generously donated another to women who could not afford it. Collaborating with nongovernmental organizations, schools, educational institutions and social workers, the company spearheaded campaigns to heighten menstrual hygiene awareness. This proactive approach aimed to boost the acceptance of menstrual cups among rural women and championed the cause of environmental sustainability. The company did not just stop at providing an eco-friendly alternative. Asan Cups fervently educated the masses on the detrimental environmental impact of traditional disposable period products like sanitary pads and tampons. Fast-forwarding to 2023, Asan Cups had garnered approximately 30,000 users, with the adoption rate steadily climbing. The company strategically used an education-intensive model to foster awareness about period products in collaboration with partners nationwide. However, being a for-profit entity, the founder, Guha, was at a crossroads. Balancing the need for profitability, there was mounting pressure to explore additional revenue streams and expand operations and market reach. The dilemma loomed large: opt for a quicker marketing strategy or stay true to the company’s foundational education-centered approach. This case study delves into the dynamic strategies, impactful operations and growth scenarios Asan Cups navigated since its inception. It examines the pivotal choices faced by the founder and explores potential strategies for sustained growth. Complexity academic level This case study can be used at both undergraduate and master’s levels. The case study will be handy for strategic management and business strategy courses and can also be used for social entrepreneurship, marketing and entrepreneurship courses. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

Beyond profit: A model framework for ethical and feasible private prison labour

In response to increased interest from states and companies as well as momentum on the issue of private prison labour in the past few decades, this article offers a comprehensive model framework aimed at reconciling profit-driven objectives with prisoner rehabilitation. The article addresses the debate surrounding prison labour for private for-profit entities and proposes a model that attempts to remedy some of the issues and criticisms that arise from the practice. Drawing on the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) of the International Labour Organisation, the framework integrates certain provisions from the standard, emphasising public supervision, consent and labour guarantees. Equally, it tries to address concerns of unfair competition and job displacement while promoting ‘meaningful' work and encouraging post-release employment of prisoners. Recognising the need for some practical feasibility and in a bid to shift the incentives for private entities to employ prisoners, from ‘cheap’ labour to fairer work practices, the model argues that other benefits such as tax breaks or subsidies may help align private and rehabilitative goals. As governments have turned to the private sector to increase work opportunities for prisoners, this paper argues that a more equitable and rehabilitative approach should follow, representative of societal values.

First Peoples economic landscape: analysis of the ecosystem

PurposeThis paper focuses on First Peoples Founders of for-profit entities in Australia and the role of the Indigenous Economic Development Agencies (IEDAs). We explore the challenges facing First Peoples enterprises, influenced by historical exclusion from white settler society, and the practices of the IEDAs from the perspectives of Founders and agencies.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative study utilising Indigenous Standpoint Theory and Indigenous research methods, elevating Founder perspectives, in the Yaruwu language - the Nilangany Ngarrungunil, owners of knowledge, to that of research collaborators.FindingsThe First Peoples economic landscape is continually evolving with IEDAs contributing to that evolution despite contentious identity ownership definitions. Founders secure in their own identity, are focused on self-determination and opportunities provided by IEDAs, government and corporate sector policies. However, opportunities are undermined by ongoing racism, discrimination and prevailing stereotypes leading to homogeneity, invisibility and exclusion. Founders question organisational commitments to overcoming systemic exclusion in particular their commitment to building respectful relationships and understanding First Peoples ways of working. Instead, Founders focus on building a sustainable First Peoples economic ecosystem through relationship-based practices rather than transactional reconciliation which ignores the reality of the lived experience of everyday racism.Originality/valueThis study extends the scholarly discourse on First Peoples for-profit enterprise success written with an Indigenous voice. We demonstrate how this Founder generation are strengthened by culture with identity infused in organisational practices underpinning their aspirations of economic self-determination.

For Good’s Sake: Strategic Social Media Influencer Communication in Non-Profit Organizations

ABSTRACT Strategic social media influencer communication has become increasingly professionalised in recent years, as evidenced by the emergence of established processes and routines. The continued success and opportunities associated with social media influencer communication are also relevant for non-profit organisations. Theory suggests that both credibility and the social relationship with their followers – two central aspects of the success of social media influencers – are also mission-critical for non-profit organisations. However, the impact of these requirements on the processes of strategic social media influencer communication in non-profit organisations is almost unexplored so far. Therefore, this study uses expert interviews with non-profit organisations, agencies and social media influencers to investigate how the processes in non-profit organisations differ from those encountered in for-profit entities. The results show that the main process steps (planning, organisation and evaluation) are organised similarly to for-profit campaigns, e.g. with brands. Differences emerge with regard to the special communicative requirements of non-profit organisations, which necessitate specific changes in the design and weighing of the individual steps. These must already be taken into account in the conceptualisation stage of strategic social media influencer communication of non-profit organisations. The study also indicates that the social media influencers’ perspective as independent strategic actors (and businesses) in strategic communications deserve attention in further research.

Patient-Reported Outcomes in Phase 3 Clinical Trials for Blood Cancers: A Systematic Review

Published research suggests that patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are neither commonly collected nor reported in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) for solid tumors. Little is known about these practices in RCTs for hematological malignant neoplasms. To evaluate the prevalence of PROs as prespecified end points in RCTs of hematological malignant neoplasms, and to assess reporting of PROs in associated trial publications. All issues of 8 journals known for publishing high-impact RCTs (NEJM, Lancet, Lancet Hematology, Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Blood, JAMA, and JAMA Oncology) between January 1, 2018, and December 13, 2022, were searched for primary publications of therapeutic phase 3 trials for adults with hematological malignant neoplasms. Studies that evaluated pretransplant conditioning regimens, graft-vs-host disease treatment, or radiotherapy as experimental treatment were excluded. Data regarding trial characteristics and PROs were extracted from manuscripts and trial protocols. Univariable analyses assessed associations between trial characteristics and PRO collection or reporting. Ninety RCTs were eligible for analysis. PROs were an end point in 66 (73%) trials: in 1 trial (1%) as a primary end point, in 50 (56%) as a secondary end point, and in 15 (17%) as an exploratory end point. PRO data were reported in 26 of 66 primary publications (39%): outcomes were unchanged in 18 and improved in 8, with none reporting worse PROs with experimental treatment. Trials sponsored by for-profit entities were more likely to include PROs as an end point (49 of 55 [89%] vs 17 of 35 [49%]; P < .001) but were not significantly more likely to report PRO data (20 of 49 [41%] vs 6 of 17 [35%]; P = .69). Compared with trials involving lymphoma (18 of 29 [62%]) or leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome (18 of 28 [64%]), those involving plasma cell disorders or multiple myeloma (27 of 30 [90%]) or myeloproliferative neoplasms (3 of 3 [100%]) were more likely to include PROs as an end point (P = .03). Similarly, compared with trials involving lymphoma (3 of 18 [17%]) or leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome (5 of 18 [28%]), those involving plasma cell disorders or multiple myeloma (16 of 27 [59%]) or myeloproliferative neoplasms (2 of 3 [67%]) were more likely to report PROs in the primary publication (P = .01). In this systematic review, almost 3 of every 4 therapeutic RCTs for blood cancers collected PRO data; however, only 1 RCT included PROs as a primary end point. Moreover, most did not report resulting PRO data in the primary publication and when reported, PROs were either better or unchanged, raising concern for publication bias. This analysis suggests a critical gap in dissemination of data on the lived experiences of patients enrolled in RCTs for hematological malignant neoplasms.

Do design features explain the volatility of cryptocurrencies?

This paper examines the impact of cryptocurrency design features on their return volatility. We compile a sample of 58 cryptocurrencies, adopt the taxonomy of design features proposed by Eska et al. (2022), and estimate LASSO regressions. We document that older cryptocurrencies tend to be less volatile. Networks with mandatory transaction fees, cryptocurrencies based on (delegated) Proof-of-Stake, and those developed by private for-profit entities tend to be more volatile. Furthermore, we provide evidence that networks passing transaction fees and/or tips on to verifiers are associated with higher volatility levels.

From access toward sovereignty: A scoping review of municipal land access policies for urban agriculture in the United States

Accessing land—and protecting that access—for the purpose of growing food and other agricultural products is a significant challenge in urban agriculture (UA), an issue exacerbated by racial and wealth disparities and high land values in cities. While local policies and programs supporting the use or sale of public land for UA have increased steadily since the early 21st century, limited research has examined the diversity, accessibility, and permanency of mechanisms facilitating land access and tenure. To address this gap, we compared the availability and characteristics of land access mechanisms across the 40 most populous U.S. cities. While 75% of cities employed at least one mechanism to facilitate land access, few (20%) offered multiple options. Mechanisms facilitating temporary use of public land for UA such as Adopt-A-Lot programs and city-run farms and gardens were more common than those enabling more secure tenure through long-term leases, land trusts, and simplified sales processes. Most policies and programs explicitly focused on local residents and nonprofit/community groups rather than for-profit entities. Nearly half (45%) of cities designed their land access mechanisms with a focus on equity or supporting underserved populations. Less than a quarter of cities offered subsidized water access, liability insurance, soil testing, or funding to complement public land access. The diversity of available mechanisms for facilitating land access underscores how different cities are enabling UA for different goals. Additionally, the incongruence between advocates’ demands for land sovereignty and the mechanisms currently offered raise questions about the extent to which cities are advancing permanent land reforms or provisional interventions at risk of revocation. Our findings may be of use to policymakers and advocates who are creating, comparing, and adapting land access policies and programs to best address growers’ needs and advance sustainable and equitable food transformations.

Psychedelics in PERIL: The Commercial Determinants of Health, Financial Entanglements and Population Health Ethics.

The nascent for-profit psychedelic industry has begun to engage in corporate practices like funding scientific research and research programs. There is substantial evidence that such practices from other industries like tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceuticals and food create conflicts of interest and can negatively influence population health. However, in a context of funding pressures, low publicly funded success rates and precarious academic labor, there is limited ethics guidance for researchers working at the intersection of clinical practice and population health as to how they should approach potential financial sponsorship from for-profit entities, such as the psychedelic industry. This article reports on a reflective exercise among a group of clinician scientists working in psychedelic science, where we applied Adams' (2016) PERIL (Purpose, Extent, Relevant harm, Identifiers, Link) ethical decision-making framework to a fictionalized case of corporate psychedelic financial sponsorship. Our analysis suggests financial relationships with the corporate psychedelic sector may create varying degrees of risk to a research program's purpose, autonomy and integrity. We argue that the commercial determinants of health provide a useful framework for understanding the ethics of industry-healthcare entanglements and can provide an important population health ethics lens to examine nascent industries such as psychedelics, and work toward potential solutions.

Organizational Citizenship Behaviours in For-Profit, Public And Nonprofit Organizations

Organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) are behaviours that go beyond the formal role and are organ-izationally functional. Research results point to the existence of relationships between OCBs and factors connected with job characteristics and the functioning of the organization. But will organizations of differ-ent types: for-profit, nonprofit and public show different levels of OCBs? Literature review conducted to this end found that so far this has only been examined for for-profit and public entities, leaving out nonprofits (NPOs). The purpose of the article is to determine whether there are differences in the level of OCBs between for-profit, public and nonprofit organizations. A cross-sectoral study (a survey) was conducted in 2022. The sample consisted of employees representing three types of organizations. It was conducted using the OCB scale developed by Spector. It was found out that for-profit, public and nonprofit organizations show dif-ferent levels of OCBs. The highest level of OCB-P (toward people in the organization) was reported in NPOs, while the highest level of OCB-O (toward organization) - in public entities.

Acquisition of Urology Practices by Private Equity Firms and Performance in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System.

Private equity is increasingly engaged in the acquisition of urology practices. The implications of strategies to enhance practice value deployed by these firms for patients are unclear. We conducted a retrospective study of urologist performance in the MIPS (Merit-based Incentive Payment System) program for 2017 to 2020 using national Medicare data from the Quality Payment Program file. The primary outcome was the overall MIPS score. Secondary outcomes included MIPS component scores (ie, quality, interoperability, improvement activities, cost) and the percentage of urologists receiving a bonus payment. Generalized estimating equations were used to estimate the relationship between private equity acquisition and outcomes using a difference-in-differences framework. Between 2017 and 2020, 181 urologists were in a urology practice acquired by private equity with MIPS data available the year before and after acquisition. Compared to urologists in practices not acquired by private equity, those in acquired practices had worse overall MIPS performance after acquisition (difference-in-differences estimate, -14 points, P = .04). The decrease in the overall score was driven by worse performance in the quality score (difference-in-differences estimate, -28 points, P < .001). Finally, acquisition resulted in a decrease in the percentage of urologists receiving bonus payments (difference-in-differences estimate, -43%, P < .001). Private equity acquisition of urology practices was associated with significantly lower MIPS performance. As private equity acquisition of urology practices becomes more prevalent, key stakeholders should ensure that the quality of patient care is maintained and that the involvement of for-profit entities in health care is being made transparent to patients.

A consumer perspective of AI certification – the current certification landscape, consumer approval and directions for future research

PurposeIn spite of the merits of artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing and social media, harm to consumers has prompted calls for AI auditing/certification. Understanding consumers’ approval of AI certification entities is vital for its effectiveness and companies’ choice of certification. This study aims to generate important insights into the consumer perspective of AI certifications and stimulate future research.Design/methodology/approachA literature and status-quo-driven search of the AI certification landscape identifies entities and related concepts. This study empirically explores consumer approval of the most discussed entities in four AI decision domains using an online experiment and outline a research agenda for AI certification in marketing/social media.FindingsTrust in AI certification is complex. The empirical findings show that consumers seem to approve more of non-profit entities than for-profit entities, with the government approving the most.Research limitations/implicationsThe introduction of AI certification to marketing/social media contributes to work on consumer trust and AI acceptance and structures AI certification research from outside marketing to facilitate future research on AI certification for marketing/social media scholars.Practical implicationsFor businesses, the authors provide a first insight into consumer preferences for AI-certifying entities, guiding the choice of which entity to use. For policymakers, this work guides their ongoing discussion on “who should certify AI” from a consumer perspective.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work is the first to introduce the topic of AI certification to the marketing/social media literature, provide a novel guideline to scholars and offer the first set of empirical studies examining consumer approval of AI certifications.

Promising or Predatory? Online Education in Non-Profit and For-Profit Universities

Abstract Online education is a rapidly growing segment of the postsecondary system, and recent growth is concentrated at non-profit universities. Research shows that Black and low-income students are disproportionately represented in online programs; however, research on the outcomes of exclusively online education, especially at four-year non-profit universities, has been limited. Two narratives have emerged about the consequences of the access that online education provides: one describing it as promising and the other describing it as predatory. We harness both institution-level data and individual-level data to intervene in this debate. We show that online education is related to worse educational outcomes in non-profit and for-profit sectors, including lower retention and graduation rates. A sensitivity analysis suggests that selection into online education is unlikely to explain these results. Attending online is also related to some less desirable student loan repayment outcomes across sectors. Our results suggest that online education is a form of “predatory inclusion,” in that access is coupled with increased risks for students relative to comparable peers attending in-person. In light of our findings, we propose that the provision of online education by for-profit entities—even in the non-profit sector—may play a central role in producing poor student outcomes.

Identifying Credible Sources of Health Information in Social Media: Phase 2-Considerations for Non-Accredited Nonprofit Organizations, For-Profit Entities, and Individual Sources.

Identifying Credible Sources of Health Information in Social Media: Phase 2-Considerations for Non-Accredited Nonprofit Organizations, For-Profit Entities, and Individual Sources.

Century-Long Trends in the Financing and Ownership of American Health Care.

Who pays for health care-and who owns it-determine what care is delivered, who receives it, and who profits from it. We examined trends in health care ownership and financing over a century. We used multiple historical and current data sources (including data from the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, government publications and surveys, and analyses of Medicare Provider of Services files) to classify health care provider ownership as: public, private (for-profit), and private (not-for-profit). We used US Census data to classify physicians' employers as public, not-for-profit, or for-profit entities or "self-employed." We combined estimates from the official National Health Expenditures Accounts with other data sources to determine the public vs. private share of health care spending since 1923; we calculated a "comprehensive" public share metric that accounted for public subsidization of private health expenditures, mostly via the tax exemption for employer-sponsored insurance plans or government purchase of such plans for public employees. For-profit ownership of most health care subsectors has risen in recent decades and now predominates in several (including nursing facilities, ambulatory surgical facilities, dialysis facilities, hospices, and home health agencies). However, most community hospitals remain not-for-profit. Additionally, over the past century, a growing share of physicians identify as employees. Meanwhile, the comprehensive taxpayer-financed share of health care spending has increased dramatically from 9% in 1923 to 69% in 2020, with taxpayer-financed subsidies to private expenditures accounting for much of the recent growth. American health care is increasingly publicly financed yet investor owned, a trend accompanied by rising costs and, recently, worsening population health. A reassessment of the US mode of health care financing and ownership appears warranted.

Using data to create excellence in online student support

In 2017 National Louis University (NLU) set out to grow its online programming through the use of an online programme manager (OPM) — a third-party, for-profit entity focused on expanding an institution’s online programme capacity and academic support activities. So began a journey of learning, specifically in the area of online student support to improve student retention through the use of data generated by the learning management system and other data systems at NLU, as well as a series of actionable protocols carried about by faculty and staff meant to improve student outcomes. This paper analyses what resulted from this: an appreciable improvement in online student retention and a culture of data-informed action and student-focus that serves the institution to this day.

An economy in the making: Negotiating capitalist and beyond-capitalist ontologies and relations in makerspaces

This paper critically examines how capitalist, alternative capitalist and non-capitalist ontologies and relations are negotiated in a hybrid makerspace that hosts both for-profit and non-profit entities and integrates community and commercial aspects. Despite a growing body of knowledge on the distinct characteristics of non-commercial makerspaces, few scholars have analysed them in relation to capitalism. This applies even more to commercial or hybrid makerspaces that remain so far under-researched in diverse economies literature. These spaces, however, can be of increasing interest given what we know about makerspaces as hubs of budding entrepreneurship and that some makers avidly pursue entrepreneurial objectives while others are reluctant to even consider commercialising their projects. In this paper, I employ an extended framework of diverse economies that understands capitalism as not only a form of socio-economic organisation but also a cultural and political architecture. Followed by an overview of existing literature that sheds light on beyond-capitalist dimensions of makerspaces, I explore a case study of the Keilewerf, a hybrid makerspace situated in Makers District in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, disentangling how capitalist, alternative capitalist and non-capitalist ontologies of sustainability-oriented makers co-exist and conflict with economic relations, knowledge production and relations with the state.

Physician Management Companies, Private Equity Investment, and Commercial Healthcare Prices (WITHDRAWN)

Financial institutions have fueled the corporatization of medicine by investing in and acquiring health care organizations. In particular, private equity (PE) firms have invested heavily in physician management companies (PMCs). A PMC is a for-profit entity that manages the back-end administrative functions of medical practices, such as insurance contracting and billing. Many PMCs also employ practitioners and contract with hospitals to provide professional staffing and management services. This type of PMC is especially common in anesthesia: the eight largest anesthesia-focused PMCs employ nearly 22% of all anesthesia practitioners in the U.S. In this paper, we create a novel dataset that combines commercial claims from the Health Care Cost Institute with data on PMC facility contracts for anesthesia staffing services to study 1) how prices paid to anesthesia practitioners change after a facility contracts with a PMC and 2) whether there are differences between PMCs with and without PE investment. Using difference-in-differences methods, we find that allowed amounts increase by 16.5% post-PMC contract, with significant differences by PE status: PMCs without PE investment increase allowed amounts by 12.9%, while PE-backed PMCs increase allowed amounts by 26.0%. We find similar patterns for unit prices (allowed amounts standardized by procedure type and length), suggesting that price increases are the result of higher prices paid per service and not service length or intensity. In additional analyses, we explore why PMCs may command higher prices, including the threat of moving practitioners out of network.

Current Topics in Health Care Law

Current Topics in Health Care Law

Innovations in Therapy Development for Rare Diseases Through the Rare Disease Cures Accelerator-Data and Analytics Platform.

Rare diseases impact the lives of an estimated 350 million people worldwide, and yet about 90% of rare diseases remain without an approved treatment. New technologies have become available, such as gene and oligonucleotide therapies, that offer great promise in treating rare diseases. However, progress toward the development of therapies to treat these diseases is hampered by a limited understanding of the course of each rare disease, how changes in disease progression occur and can be effectively measured over time, and challenges in designing and running clinical trials in diseases where the natural history is poorly characterized. Data that could be used to characterize the natural history of each disease has often been collected in various ways, including in electronic health records, patient-report registries, clinical natural history studies, and in past clinical trials. However, each data source contains a limited number of subjects and different data elements, and data is frequently kept proprietary in the hands of the study sponsor rather than shared widely across the rare disease community. The Rare Disease Cures Accelerator-Data and Analytics Platform (RDCA-DAP) is an FDA-funded effort to overcome these persistent challenges. By aggregating data across all rare diseases and making that data available to the community to support understanding of rare disease natural history and inform drug development, RDCA-DAP aims to accelerate the regulatory approval of new therapies. RDCA-DAP curates, standardizes, and tags data across rare disease datasets to make it findable within the database, and contains a built-in analytics platform to help visualize, interpret, and use it to support drug development. RDCA-DAP will coordinate data and tool resources across non-profit, commercial, and for-profit entities to serve a diverse array of rare disease stakeholders that includes academic researchers, drug developers, FDA reviewers and of course patients and their caregivers. Drug development programs utilizing the RDCA-DAP will be able to leverage existing data to support their efforts and reach definitive decisions on the efficacy of their therapeutics more efficiently and more rapidly than ever.

Ownership Change and Care Quality: Lessons From Minnesota's Experience With Value-Based Purchasing.

Background and ObjectivesMinnesota’s implementation of a new nursing home value-based reimbursement (VBR) system in 2016 presented an opportunity to compare the response of nursing homes (NHs) to financial incentives to improve their quality and efficiency. The state substantially increased reimbursement for care-related costs and tied this rate increase to a composite quality score. Coinciding with rate increases of the new VBR system was an increase in ownership changes, with new owners being primarily for-profit entities from outside of Minnesota, including several private equity firms. Our objective was to examine NHs that underwent a change in ownership to determine their cost and quality response to the change.Research Design and MethodsOur sample consists of 342 Minnesota NHs that submitted Medicaid cost reports each year from 2013 to 2019. A time differential two-way fixed-effects difference-in-difference model is used to assess changes in quality metrics by comparing measures in years prior to and years following the sale for NHs that changed ownership versus NHs with consistent ownership. Nursing home characteristics, revenue, and spending patterns are examined to understand differences in performance.ResultsThose NHs with ownership change experienced a decline in quality scores with notable changes to expenditure patterns. They performed worse on Minnesota Department of Health inspection scores and had nonsignificant declines in measures of quality of life and clinical care. They had declining staff dental and medical benefits and occupancy rates, greater revenue growth from Medicare Part B, and larger increases in administrative management fees.Discussion and ImplicationsMinnesota like many other states has given wide latitude for nursing home ownership changes, without specific oversight for the quality of care and expenditure patterns of new owners. Recommendations include strict guidelines for the transparency of ownership structures, quality performance targets, rigorous financial auditing, and enhanced regulatory oversight.