For-profit Model Research Articles

Introduction to Focus: Corporate Fictions

Introduction to Focus:Corporate Fictions Joseph Tabbi (bio) Toward the end of William Gaddis's novel of American capitalism, J R (1975), a truck passes by on a Manhattan Street displaying five dwarves who are house painters and the words, "None of Us Grew but the Business." At the time of publication, readers might have taken this phrase and Gaddis's novel itself, as a corporate satire: one that traces (in grueling detail), the construction of a multi-billion-dollar empire by a solitary pre-adolescent, J R van Sant, who owns and operates a conglomerate from his grade school payphone. A handkerchief that he'd put over the mouthpiece makes him sound 'bigger,' or so he'd imagined—even as our handheld devices today allow us to continually update and reconstruct our own corporate identities, or to have them constructed for us by platforms and algorithms to which we freely subscribe. Gaddis's novel, however, is not so much a satire or ideological critique of the out of control "growth" of a worldwide corporate enterprise; it's more an enactment of the structures of belief that channel our energies—and our imaginations—toward this one for-profit model exclusive of all others. The book's 700-plus pages of mostly dialogue in a mostly uneventful narrative take things well beyond satire. And the capitalist system in America at the time is not subjected to critique so much as its imaginary communities are inhabited and its spoken languages reproduced in print. As John Dos Passos had written in his preface to the USA Trilogy (1919-1941), "mostly USA is the speech of the people." The same can be said of David Foster Wallace's unfinished novel of the American income tax system, The Pale King (2011). Neither Wallace nor Gaddis have much to say about "large scale" explanations or "the cultural logic of capitalism" and what that can mean for society, democracy, modernity and the rise of neoliberal ideology. What we have instead, as Kieran Smith notes in his piece for this issue of American Book Review devoted to Corporate Fictions, are scenes depicting the day in, day out boredom of filing (for example) tax returns. Even as Dos Passos in The Big Money (1936) and Gaddis in J R conveyed the operations of capital through the everyday speech of Americans, Wallace "shows," by tracing the day in day out, moment by moment construction of mind numbing accounting details, "that this 'laborious' method can yield 'values' that are not determined by neoliberal 'bottom-line thinking.'" Kieran Smith's comments appear in his review of After Critique (2016) by Mitchum Huehls. What's new here, and important, is the implicit assumption by Wallace and so many others that "value" is not something to be found after hours, in our time off and away but right here and now in the daily grind. Any alternative to The Official World (2016) (in Mark Selzer's compelling title) is likely to emerge not in opposition to corporate power but from within—for so long as we're in. The corporate fictions of our current generation of literary authors, like many of the pieces in this issue, might be said to offer something other than critique and something more interesting than satire. As Smith remarks: "Mitchum Huehls's erudite close-readings successfully demonstrate that contemporary authors have utilised the unique aesthetic attributes of literature to consider new, post-critical ways to challenge neoliberal ontology." Those post-critical ways, more likely than not, are given to us by the corporate structures and ontologies of the present—and not a few that have persisted from the past. America, love it or leave it? Where today would one go? Henry Turner's advice, to "Love Your Corporation," is again anything but satirical. In his analysis, Turner never rests with critique; he seeks rather to isolate earlier corporate entities—in churches and in kingdoms, for example, in towns, and in guilds whose purpose was to sustain specific, closely guarded trade interests that could only be performed collectively, through carefully communicated knowledge among fellow professionals not through individual initiative primarily. And not out in the open for all to see...

Searching for the Middle Path in Microfinance Delivery

Contrary to conventional understanding of microfinance delivery approach as either non-profit or for-profit model of delivery, the paper argues that there exists a middle path. The middle path assembles the scalability of a for-profit approach as well as the client-centredness of a non-profit approach. A community-based microfinance organisation, People’s Rural Education Movement (PREM), operating as a social movement organisation, has been able to successfully combine the pressure of outreach and sustainability without compromising on the focus on poverty. Through a federated structure, a holistic approach to poverty alleviation, and an emphasis on keeping the poor at the centre of decision making, PREM has been able to create an ‘enabling approach’ to microfinance which is demand-driven and maneuvered by people at the receiving end.

Social enterprise development and renewable energy dissemination in Africa: The experience of the community charging station model in Sierra Leone

In many parts of Africa, the spread of grid electrical networks into rural areas has remained a pernicious challenge. There has been a persistent bias towards expanding electricity access to urban centres, perhaps understandably as they are the main drivers of national economic growth. In contrast, the expansion of grid electricity networks into rural areas is largely seen as being financially unviable and thus is unlikely to be achieved in the foreseeable future. Using the example of energy kiosks in Sierra Leone, this paper examines the potential commercial and policy implications of a social enterprise approach to address this impasse. Specifically, the success of the community charging station model of one non-governmental organization, Energy For Opportunity, is evaluated in the context of ongoing commercial viability, the overcoming of financial and technological barriers, and the lack of for-profit entities in the market. This case study demonstrates how an innovative blending of non-profit and for-profit models of development interventions can provide effective institutional arrangements to realize solar electrification in rural Africa.

Social Entrepreneurship and Hybrid Organization

Hybrid organizations generate income in ways that are more consistent with a for-profit model, but abide by substantial social and ecological missions, associated with non-profit models. They have been referred to as Fourth Sector, For-Benefit, Values Driven, Mission Driven, Conscious Capitalism, B-Corporations, and Social Enterprises. We use the term "hybrid organization" because they are a hybrid of for-profit and non-profit. They can exist on either side of the for-profit/non-profit divide (or both sides). Hybrid business models have been termed "sustainability-driven". There are examples where hybrids have drifted away from their mission. We see today many companies going for social and environment mission. And we see many non-profits developing business models similar to for profit.

An application of the corporate company models for social enterprise (with special emphasis on Polish conditions)

This study seeks to answer the fundamental question referring to opportunity of employing for social enterprise – company models and strategies to maximize improvements in human and environmental well-being (rather than producing profits for owners and shareholders). This analysis was limited to presenting only certain aspects of the adaptation of the experience of models derived from the for-profit model for social enterprise. The paper is focusing on the major conceptual, strategic and legal issues referring to social enterprises (especially in terms and conditions opportunities that exist in Poland). The scope of this study includes, in particular, exploring the possibilities for using of the business models and some of the process models for social enterprise.

Linking farmers to markets in Kenya: The evolving KACE model

The Kenya Agricultural Commodity Exchange Limited (KACE) was incorporated in 1992 but formally launched in 1997 to address the challenges facing farmers in Kenya, especially poor smallholder farmers, in accessing input and output markets. A commercial for-profit model was chosen in order to charge clients modest fees for services rendered and raise revenue to sustain the services in the long term. The KACE model has evolved through various stages over time, with KACE developing, testing and experimenting with various platforms to link smallholder farmers to more remunerative markets. This article describes the various platforms, the challenges that were experienced and how they were addressed at each stage in the evolution. Chronologically, these platforms consisted of a physical trading floor, market information points (MIP), information and communication technology (ICT)-based platforms (short messaging service - SMS, interactive voice response service - IVRS, Internet based website and electronic database and radio), market resource centres (MRC), and a market call centre (MCC). Thus, the challenge experienced by KACE has been to find the right mix or portfolio of appropriate and affordable technology platforms, with complementary human skill and capacity, to efficiently manage the technologies, as well as the revenue flows, towards increased technical and financial sustainability. Despite the challenges, the KACE model continues to evolve and function, with a social entrepreneurial spirit of determination, to provide a solution to the social problem of poor smallholder farmers in Kenya, and God and technology willing, in the rest of Africa. The ICT platforms are being upgraded to improve technical and financial performance and efficiency, and the MRC staff are being trained to improve their capacity to generate and manage revenue efficiently.

“Not just a taxi”? For-profit ridesharing, driver strategies, and VMT

The spread of GPS-based location services using smartphone applications has led to the rapid growth of new startups offering smartphone-enabled dispatch service for taxicabs, limousines, and ridesharing vehicles. This change in communicative technology has been accompanied by the creation of new categories of car service, particularly as drivers of limousines and private vehicles use the apps to provide on-demand service of a kind previously reserved for taxicabs. One of the most controversial new models of car service is for-profit ridesharing, which combines the for-profit model of taxi service with the overall traffic reduction goals of ridesharing. A preliminary attempt is here made at understanding how for-profit ridesharing compares to traditional taxicab and ridesharing models. Ethnographic interviews are drawn on to illustrate the range of motivations and strategies used by for-profit ridesharing drivers in San Francisco, California as they make use of the service. A range of driver strategies is identified, ranging from incidental, to part-time, to full-time driving. This makes possible a provisional account of the potential ecological impacts of the spread of this model of car service, based on the concept of taxicab efficiency, conceived as the ratio of shared versus unshared miles driven.

After the Berger Blanc: A Comparative Approach to the Utilitarian Regulation of Municipal Animal Control

In April 2011, Radio-Canada aired an investigative report exposing the cruel treatment of domestic animals by workers at one of Montreal’s largest animal shelters. A private business, the Berger Blanc held the majority of municipal contracts for animal control services throughout Montreal. Following the widely-watched exposé, the regulation of domestic animal welfare rose to the top of the agenda both at Montreal’s City Hall and Quebec’s National Assembly, as citizens demanded a response to the jarring images of cruelty and neglect. The province responded, adopting a regulation to strengthen the legal protection of dogs and cats under Quebec’s Animal Health Protection Act— a regulation which has been criticized as ineffective and inadequate by animal welfare groups throughout the province. Similarly, Montreal’s City Hall announced steps to launch a municipal animal control service. And yet, progress is slow and many Montreal boroughs continue to renew their contracts with the Berger Blanc. This paper will review the theoretical, political and legal context surrounding the issue of domestic animals, and employ an animal welfarist (utilitarian) approach to examine the three traditional municipal animal control service models, namely the private for-profit model, the private non-profit model and the public model. In doing so, the paper will suggest that despite the municipal government’s stated financial priorities, the only solution to Montreal’s domestic animal situation—one which properly takes the equal interests of domestic animals into account—lies in a publicly-funded, municipally-run animal services department, similar to the model currently employed by the City of Calgary.

For-Profit Education: The Sleep of Ethical Reason

This article argues the philosophical concerns and foundational challenges raised by a for-profit model of education. The for-profit model is governed by a business paradigm, without reference to the context in which it is found. The authors explore primary ethical questions and challenges presented by this model. As such, they present potential solutions to the growing problem in higher education as a corporate entity. The authors introduce a potential model for analysis of the issues and suggest an interventional technique with concrete directions for change. Universities are on the threshold of a transformation which can no longer be isolated from wider society. This environment awakened the critical task of blending corporate success with educational integrity.

What's Money Got to Do With It? The Appeal of the For-Profit Education Model

For-profit colleges have been dismissed by community college administrators and faculty as imperfect institutions that focus too heavily on skills-based training, to the detriment of a well-rounded academic experience. Although there are many appropriate criticisms of an educational model that relies on federal funding to make a profit—while enticing the lowest income group of students to take on huge debt—there may also be practices and resource efficiencies that can be exported to the community college. This paper seeks to examine what aspects of the for-profit model might be positively applied to the community college learning experience.

Urban agriculture's enterprise potential: Exploring vegetable box schemes in Cape Town

ABSTRACT Urban agriculture is potentially an important element of land reform and economic development programmes in South Africa. The social value of urban agriculture, such as improving food security, developing a sense of community and promoting ecological conservation, is well documented. But in order to effectively contribute to development agendas, urban agriculture must also present viable, sustainable economic opportunities. This study sets forth vegetable box schemes as a context-appropriate, economically feasible urban agriculture enterprise for which there is growing consumer demand. A survey of 354 subscribers to vegetable box schemes in Cape Town is analysed, finding these households source half of their fresh produce and a quarter of their total groceries from box schemes. The study explores dimensions of consumer satisfaction and considers ways in which box schemes may be expanded. This paper also offers a brief comparison of different box scheme models in order to demonstrate that a development-oriented social enterprise model can compete with other for-profit models in the market.

Non-government organization members' perceptions of governance: a comparison between Ontario and British Columbia provincial parks management models

This paper compares perspectives on the governance of the management models employed by two of Canada's largest provincial park systems, from the viewpoint of non-governmental organization members (NGOs) with an interest in protected areas. The two models are the parastatal model of Ontario (ON) Provincial Parks and the public and for-profit combination model of British Columbia (BC) Provincial Parks. Governance was evaluated using a computerized survey based on the 10 United Nations Development Program (UNDP) criteria of governance: accountability, consensus-orientation, effectiveness, efficiency, equity, public participation, responsiveness, rule of law, strategic vision and transparency. As part of a larger project, the survey was administered to members of NGOs with an interest in either of the two park systems. This was done in 2008 for British Columbia Parks and in 2009 for Ontario Parks. Analysis suggested that the 10 governance criteria might form 11 governance factors. Data suggest statistically significant differences in perception between NGOs in Ontario and British Columbia Park. Specifically, members of NGOs in Ontario had positive views and ranked all 11 governance factors closer toward good governance. Members of NGOs in British Columbia ranked 8 of 11 factors negatively, toward weak governance. This is the first study of this type where members of NGOs with an interest in either Ontario or British Columbia Parks voiced their opinion of governance within a systematic survey framework on the management models of the park systems with which they are involved. The research demonstrates that members of NGOs in Ontario have many more positive scores for the governance of the parastatal model than those in British Columbia have for the public for-profit model. We conclude that this difference is due to two factors: the management model used and the institutional relationships between the park systems and the associated NGOs.

El Cooperativismo en Tiempos de Crisis (Cooperation in Times of Crisis)

Over the last decades our society has been guided by the conviction that the traditional for-profit corporation is the only viable type of enterprise in the global economic system. According to this approach, the for-profit enterprise model has spread worldwide, while other forms of enterprises, including cooperatives, were confined to play a marginal role and destined to disappear. Current circumstances, though, are proving that a pluralism of enterprise forms is essential to tackling the complex consequences of the global economic crisis, and that cooperatives are a crucial component of this pluralism. Against this backdrop, the cooperative sector should make an effort in order to meet the challenges posed by the current economic crisis and find a way to fulfill its potential. At the international level, the cooperative movement has all of the energies and resources that are needed in order to tap new opportunities drawing on its traditional principles, which are founded on critical discussion and pluralism, rather than on ideology and on the imposition of monolithic identities. The role of research and training in this context is crucial. Any investments made with the goal of improving our knowledge is an investment toward a less vulnerable future. La versione italiana di questo documento e disponibile al seguente link: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2082063

La Cooperazione ai Tempi della Crisi (Cooperation During the Crisis)

Over the last decades our society has been guided by the conviction that the traditional for-profit corporation is the only viable type of enterprise in the global economic system. According to this approach, the for-profit enterprise model has spread worldwide, while other forms of enterprises, including cooperatives, were confined to play a marginal role and destined to disappear. Current circumstances, though, are proving that a pluralism of enterprise forms is essential to tackling the complex consequences of the global economic crisis, and that cooperatives are a crucial component of this pluralism. Against this backdrop, the cooperative sector should make an effort in order to meet the challenges posed by the current economic crisis and find a way to fulfill its potential. At the international level, the cooperative movement has all of the energies and resources that are needed in order to tap new opportunities drawing on its traditional principles, which are founded on critical discussion and pluralism, rather than on ideology and on the imposition of monolithic identities. The role of research and training in this context is crucial. Any investments made with the goal of improving our knowledge is an investment toward a less vulnerable future.La version en espanol de este documento se puede encontrar en este enlace: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2104181

Sectorization & L3C Regulatory Arbitrage of Joint Ventures with Nonprofits

The raison d’etre for the nascent low-profit limited liability company (L3C) is to stimulate collaboration (“sectorization”) among government, private and charitable sectors in order to redirect for-profit capital models into the nonprofit sector. The hope is that the L3C will not only generate additional resources for charitable purposes, but also fundamentally transform business culture by signaling a more efficient way to “do good while doing well.” The L3C has been criticized for targeting only private foundation program related investments, a capital pipeline already exhausted by existing profit entity models. When compared to the existing nonprofit joint venture, the L3C emerges as a less efficient arbitrage model for stimulating profit sector investment in charitable enterprises. A comparative analysis yields instructive lessons regarding deficiencies in federal tax regulation of program related investments and joint ventures. In both cases, the federal tax rules utilize a differing “control test” to assure the exempt entity directs assets toward its charitable mission and away from private benefit to profit sector participants. This Article provides the first comprehensive comparative theory that the existing nonprofit-profit joint venture model is a more efficient solution to assuring compliance with the charitable mission when blending market returns to market capital investors. This theoretical framework exposes why L3C statutory operating procedures unnecessarily cripple profit efforts, undermine its effectiveness, and present policy dilemmas less prevalent in joint ventures where the nonprofit must exercise control over the business entity rather than simply an investment in the entity. As a result, program related investments should be scaled back and limited to determining only whether an investment jeopardizes a foundation’s exempt mission where the scale of the investment has a self-limiting role.

For-Profit Social Investing: A Literature Review of Two Emerging Models

The literature review explores and discusses social investing as a new approach to financing social programming. For-profit social investing is an outcome or performance-based process versus the typical government approach of simply funding based on number of units served. Topics covered in this paper include a primer on for-profit social programming; salient features of two emerging for-profit financial models, social impact bonds and human capital performance bonds; and a comparison of the emerging models. The results show the two models have some similarities and many differences. A key difference between the two models is the level of risk/reward. Social impact bonds put a greater risk on the investor and thereby require greater rewards for investors. Human capital performance bonds put a greater risk on the nonprofit organization with fewer rewards for the investor. The conclusion discusses the integration and synthesis, also providing a strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat analysis of the social investing concept.

Online Media, Market Orientation, and Financial Performance in Nonprofits

The combination of social, political, and economic changes causing simultaneously decreasing funding and increasing demand for services is driving nonprofit managers to engage in proactive marketing in a for-profit model, including the use of online media. This research extends the MARKOR model of market orientation to examine the relationship between market orientation practices, as reflected in the utilization of online media, and their effects on the financial viability of nonprofit organizations (NPOs). The Wayback Machine website (http://waybackmachine.org) provided a unique ability to track site content over time, for comparison with each organization's financial indicators at corresponding points in time. The results of this study confirm the positive relationship between higher market orientation via online media presence and improved financial viability for the sampled group of NPOs. This study provides a simple, actionable, and free measure that NPOs can use to assess their current and planned online media.

Archive

This project initially developed out of my 'discovery' of the short sf film Pumzi (2009) by Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu. I saw an off-hand comment about the film on a blog, pursued the lead and eventually acquired a copy of the film. But the incident left me wondering, if I only learned of this film by chance, then how many others are there out there? The short answer is: a great deal.Through searches on a number of sites, I have been able to catalogue 851 short sf films released in the year 2010. These short films range from 1 minute to 60 minutes in length. The decision to cut off at 60 minutes is rather arbitrary; nevertheless, that length differentiates them from full-length features. The increase in the number of short sf films released each year has been dramatic. According to my research, the previous year saw 649 short sf films, while 2005 saw 167. The year 2000 saw 64 short sf films, while 1995 saw 29 and 1990 just 17. In 1984, there were just six.The inclusion of 1984, the year of the introduction of the Apple Macintosh computer, is not accidental. Obviously, one of the leading factors in the meteoric rise in the creation and release of short films has been technological advances, primarily the personal computer. In the past, very few people had access to, or could afford access to, analogue cameras, film and editing equipment. Film editing software for the personal computer has made filmmaking much more accessible to the average individual. Similarly, digital video cameras have become significantly smaller and cheaper. At the same time, the quality of the cameras and, therefore, the quality of the images, have improved.Also significant are the ubiquity of the internet and the development of high speed access. In the past, even if someone had the equipment to make a short film, distribution was another obstacle. Personal video recorders and players made distribution more accessible, but even so, obtaining, dubbing and distributing the tapes remained expensive. Now, countless sites exist for individuals to post their films. Certainly, free sites are one avenue: YouTube, Vimeo, the Internet Movie Database and Your Indie Movie are a few of the most popular options. For-profit models also exist, including Amazon, which will host the film and collect payment for any copies that are downloaded. Other sites are dedicated to a particular company. For example, in 2010, the Philips Corporation ran a short film contest, called Parallel Lines, the results of which can be viewed online. As another example, FutureStates.tv, now in its second season, is a project by the Independent Television Service, in conjunction with Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which commissions filmmakers to contribute short films, all of which are sf.Related to such technological innovations is the emergence of film schools and programmes. Many of the 851 films are student projects, often thesis projects. While film schools were once limited to those with access to equipment, these programmes have also benefited from the reduction in cost of equipment. Now, many high schools and grade schools are also teaching film to their students.Another of the effects of available technologies has been a proliferation of short film festivals. Although some short film festivals date back many years (e.g. the Norwegian Short Film Festival was founded in 1978), nearly all of them have begun in the past 15 years, including the Los Angeles Short Film Festival (founded 1996), the Thai Short Film Festival (1997), Belo Horizonte International SFF (1998), the Bulgarian International SFF (2003), the NYC SFF (2004) and the European SFF (2004). In a festival that is not fixed to one location, the 48 Hour Film Project travels around the USA, offering a challenge to make films in 48 hours (several of which are represented in the list of 851). While some of these larger festivals offer specific sf and fantasy programming, these genres are only tangential to the festival. …

An uneasy truce: brokering collaborative knowledge building and commodity culture

This article provides an ethnographic case study of a genealogy and social media site, Geni.com, that has provided the structure and tools for collaborative knowledge building. To date, over seven million users have contributed to and constructed what is billed as the largest interconnected genealogical database in human history. The author examines this process as part of a new Web 2.0 paradigm for cultural, educational and business practices and focuses, in particular, upon the tensions and inherent contradictions that must be overcome if the corporate for-profit model might successfully be integrated with, and co-exist with, an open-source, participatory, user-led wiki model for collaborative knowledge-building (a wiki model). The article also provides insights on the construction of both a technological and human architecture for participatory involvement in knowledge building and illustrates a number of intercultural and ideological challenges that an enterprise may face as it expands into a global market and global community of users.

Microfinancing the Developing World: how small loans empower local economies and catalyse neoliberalism's endgame

Co-finance has steadily grown to provide credit to hundreds of thousands of individuals living in third world countries. The spreading of and innovation within the microfinance sector demonstrates a successful neoliberal initiative that is both socially conscious and economically beneficial. By connecting groups of poor individuals to lending institutions or affluent individuals in developed countries, microloans have been able to foster the strengthening of local economies, necessary for consuming life-improving technology, while incurring minimal risk to the lending party. Criticisms of microfinance—both non-profit and for-profit models—appear misguided as there are clear data demonstrating both a low incidence of default and modest interest rates. Moreover, credit has been the foundation for modern economic growth. Ethical lending to the Third World should therefore not be denied, but rather intensified through the faculty of microfinance.