Impact sourcing in India: Trends and implications

Abstract

This paper focuses on impact sourcing, 1 which refers to a type of business process outsourcing activity whereby service providers elect to provide high quality, information-based services to clients by purposefully employing youth from low-income communities to carry out simple

Understanding the interplay of institutional logics and management practices in impact sourcing

“…By contrast, Ismail et al () apply institutional logics to understand the roots and management of conflicts in impact‐sourcing public/private partnerships where powerful commercial interests are shown to overwhelm the social goals. Although not drawing on a logics perspective explicitly, Madon and Ranjini () highlight the influence of policy and institutional environment on operational activities of impact‐sourcing organizations and link them with slow growth of impact sourcing sector. This prior work indicates the different institutional forces at play including policy (Madon & Ranjini, ), community (Sandeep & Ravishankar, ), family, and professional and personal logics (Malik et al, ) that influence the operations of Impact‐sourcing organizations.…”

“…Trivedi and Stokols () point out that these organizations typically have an emphasis on “social goals” as opposed to economic gains; thus, any economic profit is understood as a means to solve a social problem. While prior research has recognized that institutional logics create tensions in the management of impact sourcing (Khan et al, ; Madon & Ranjini, ; Sandeep & Ravishankar, ), the mechanisms by which market‐driven GITO organizations can respond to different institutional logics while managing the social and commercial orientation are still unexplored.…”

“…This highlights the need for further research into how mainstream market‐driven GITO organizations engaged in impact sourcing work respond to the challenges of aligning practices with the local context and achieve sustainable socio‐economic returns. Towards this goal, an institutional theory lens has been shown to be of value in making sense of the dynamics of impact sourcing (Ismail, Heeks, Nicholson, & Aman, ; Khan et al, ; Madon & Ranjini, ). Of particular relevance to our inquiry is a stream in the management literature focusing on how institutional logics shape operations of organizations (Greenwood, Díaz, Li, & Lorente, ; Smets, Jarzabkowski, Burke, & Spee, ).…”

Do we care about the Societal Impact of our research?

“…In the first paper, Shirin Madon and C.R. Ranjini () report on initiatives taken by the state Government of Karnataka, India, to pioneer a rural Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) policy by funding entrepreneurs to set up operations in rural areas and provide employment to disadvantaged youth. This was an exemplary policy, given its focus on rural outreach and bridging the digital divide.…”

Online freelancing and impact sourcing: Examining the inclusive development potential of online service work in the Philippines

“…Impact‐sourcing initiatives involve providing employment to workers through a traditional model of office‐based service delivery. According to Carmel et al (2016, p. 19), impact sourcing is “the practice of hiring and training marginalized individuals who normally would have few opportunities for good employment to provide information technology, business process, or other digitally‐enabled services.” Impact sourcing is often undertaken as part of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives (Heeks, 2013; Madon & Ranjini, 2019). For the second model, online freelancing opportunities are provided by digital labor platforms, such as Upwork, Freelancer, Guru , to individuals around the globe who undertake outsourced digital service work (Graham, Hjorth, & Lehdonvirta, 2017).…”