Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship

The State of Entrepreneurship in Turkey

Mary Tracy — Mon, 13 May 2013 06:38:35 PDT

The efficiency-driven economy of Turkey is growing at a very fast rate, but not yet considered to be at an innovative stage. One way of getting there is having a high presence of entrepreneurship. The aim of this research is to show that with improvements in the procedures to start a business and developments within the financial sector, Turkey will abound with entrepreneurial activity. The study first defines entrepreneurship and its relationship with society and the economy. Next, the report provides a summary of the process of entrepreneurship, its barriers to entry, its necessities, and its outcomes. From this, the research seeks to evaluate if Turkey is able to support a high volume of successful entrepreneurs. The research data is predominantly from GEM, OECD, Central Bank of Turkey, and the World Bank. Throughout the analysis, the report compares Turkish entrepreneurship with that of the US, Iran, and Hungary. The findings show that based on the attitudes of Turkey’s population and the growing rate of entrepreneurship, there is a high potential for entrepreneurial opportunities and advancement.

Back to Square One: An Examination of Social Entrepreneurship Centers and Programs

Noushi Rahman, PhD et al. — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 14:16:39 PDT

Prominent social entrepreneurship (SE) centers and programs in North America, Europe, and Asia are examined in terms of their position in the institutional structure, initial and additional funding, teaching initiatives, research achievements, and outreach activities. Performance was computed using a transparent coding scheme. Low correlations with institutional endowment and SE center/program performance offer some evidence of discriminant validity of our rankings approach. Performance scores were used to rank-order SE centers and programs. Such an approach to examine SE center/program performance goes beyond the perception-based ranking instruments that popular magazines employ to evaluate subject-specific rankings. We examined data from 28 centers/programs, and in addition to an unweighted approach to rankings, we also computed regression-weighted rankings of these centers/programs. Implications for SE centers/programs, social entrepreneurs, SE scholars, and funders are discussed.

500 Year Documentation

Francis T. Marchese, PhD et al. — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 08:03:06 PST

Museum visitors today can regularly view 500 year old art by Renaissance masters. Will visitors to museums 500 years in the future be able to see the work of digital artists from the early 21st century? This paper considers the real problem of conserving interactive digital artwork for museum installation in the far distant future by exploring the requirements for creating documentation that will support an artwork's adaptation to future technology. In effect, this documentation must survive as long as the artwork itself -- effectively, in perpetuity. A proposal is made for the use of software engineering methodologies as solutions for designing this documentation.

Economic Impact of Pace University New York City

Rebecca Tekula PhD et al. — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:20:39 PST

The Economic Impact of the Pace University Athletic Department

Rebecca Tekula et al. — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:20:22 PST

Summary Report: The State of Black Entrepreneurship in the United States: Education, Labor Activity, and Access to Capital

Rebecca Tekula et al. — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:20:17 PST

The Impact of the "Great Recession" on the Financial Resources of Nonprofit Organizations

Joseph C. Morreale, PhD — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 10:42:56 PST

Open-Source IT Support for Effective Social Entrepreneurship

Lixin Tao — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 10:25:59 PST

To better support its mission, a non-profit organization needs to effectively reach out to the public, collect information and opinions form the public, support effective brainstorming and discussions, implement effective business processes for non-profit operations, and support effective governance of the organization. The latest information technologies have provided better alternative for non-profits to run smoother and more effectively.

In this paper we conduct a critical study of two popular open-source contents management systems, Drupal and WordPress, introduce Drupal to social entrepreneurs, and explain how it can support most of the tasks outlined above. Specific guidance is provided for setting up an organization's public website that supports smooth communications and effective governance. This paper also outlines a PHP and Ajaz based real-time information sharing system which can be adapted to support various forms of fast data sharing and brainstorming for organization members through the Internet.

Entrepreneurial Passion: Sources and Sustenance

Melissa S. Cardon PhD — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 11:01:10 PST

Entrepreneurial passion helps coordinate cognition and behavior of entrepreneurs, providing the fire that fuels innovation, persistence, and ultimate success. But where does entrepreneurial passion come from? Using a phenomenological approach, we conduct a qualitative study of 80 entrepreneurs and analyze their oral histories to explore the sources of entrepreneurial passion, as experienced by entrepreneurs. Our discovery process in the interviews suggests six major sources of entrepreneurial passion: passion for building/developing the venture, passion for people, passion for the product or service, passion for inventing, passion for competition, and passion for a social cause.

User Patterns of Key Performance Indicators Among Non-Profits in New York City and Westchester County

Gregory Holtz PhD — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:15:22 PST

After a brief description of the study participants, the four major questions which guide the research are explored:

What percent of the non-profits in the study use KPI’s and what are the different purposes served by the non-profit’s sector adoption of KPI’s?
What are the various uses of KPI’S by non-profits?
What are the pressures that come from funders to use KPI’s?
Why do some non-profits not use Key Performance Indicators?

The context inside of which these questions were posed is one that has changed rapidly over the last several years. For many years non-profit organizations concentrated their considerable energies on meeting the needs of the poor and underserved. Rarely, were they concerned with documenting and measuring the outcomes of their efforts. However, as competition for scarce resources has grown and as non-profits have been under more and more pressure to be accountable, their organizations have moved to satisfy the needs of important funders by becoming more results oriented.

I Will Make a Difference: What Makes a Successful Social Enterprise

Helene and Grant Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship — Wed, 18 May 2011 07:25:30 PDT