The Usefulness of Sharing Social Impact Data. Early Findings from an International Benchmarking on SROI Assessments

Abstract

This paper aims at investigating a perspective for the social impact measurability by collecting and analysing open data at the international level. Our goal is to shed light on the unlocked potential of the knowledge produced by a global community of scholars and practitioners engaged in social impact measurement processes. Global open data on social impact assessment (SIA) have been mapped and collected in a database using the impact chain as a reference point for choosing the variables. In this paper, we focus on the potential use of these data to enable forecasting analysis about the expected social value and to inform decision-making processes aimed at responding to complex social challenges. The early findings suggest the opportunity of a wider actionresearch initiative, by engaging different typologies of stakeholders and organizations aimed at incorporating social impact as a key strategic driver.

The financial and green effects of cultural values on mission drifts in European social enterprises

“…The one-dimensional performance approach measures SE performance by assessing only its economic or social outcome (Staessens et al, 2019). This category includes SROI (Social Return on Investment) performance measurements (Bosa, 2021;Clark & Rosenzweig, 2004;Corvo & Pastore, 2021;Dia & Bozec, 2019;Gasmi, 2021) and ecoefficiency measurements (Chen & Chen, 2020;Kuosmanen & Kortelainen, 2005;Pang et al, 2016). However, these types of measurement do not capture the peculiarity of SEs, which is that of pursuing social and economic goals at the same time (Dacin et al, 2010(Dacin et al, , 2011.…”

Mapping Social Impact Assessment Models: A Literature Overview for a Future Research Agenda

“…Until now, the research in this field has almost never led to shared solutions, and this finds direct evidence in the plurality of models adopted for social impact measurement and evaluation, representative of highly differentiated approaches and tools. This condition is generated by the fragmentation among SIA models and the variety is high, apart from the very few models that present a clear methodology and features, e.g., the SROI [8], most models are not standardized (at least in the process) [9]. This variety certainly covers a wider range of dimensions for assessing social value and accommodates the diversity of each entity (from for-profit companies to social enterprises, from benefit companies to non-profits), but at the same time, it has the limitation of making it much more difficult to scale assessments [52].…”

“…A central issue is the debate about "who" is affected by the impact discussion. It is necessary to start from the assumption that the impact generated can be positive or negative, and this can be precisely the most immediate answer, because it is able to influence the well-being of people, the community and the community [9].…”

A worldwide overview on the information security posture of online public services

“…Often, the methodology described aims to measure the use (e.g., number of downloads) instead of the actual benefits to society that are created through open data use. The impact created by open data use generally refers to value for citizens, governments, businesses, and society as a whole (Corvo & Pastore, 2021).…”