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This study, emerging from workshop activity carried out as part of the course on ECONOMY AND ADMINISTRATION OF CO-OPERATION AND NON-PROFIT, represents an examination of the economic-financial dimension of the work of the Tuscan voluntary organisations. It is inserted within an articulated research process devoted to an analysis of the accountability of these third sector agents, in the awareness that voluntary work has always been an important factor in civil progress. More specifically, the economic and financial information made available to the provinces as a result of the obligation on the voluntary organisations to deposit the annual financial statement has been fully exploited. This compliance has thus been transformed from a mere bureaucratic procedure into an opportunity for a collective cognitive enrichment through collection at regional level, reclassification and the aggregate analysis of the economic and financial data relating to the management reports (profit and loss accounts) of the voluntary organisations for 2004-2005. This has made it possible to underscore the nature and provenance of the economic and financial resources that accrue annually to such bodies, as well as the principal productive factors "consumed" in the performance of their activities. - Il presente studio, frutto di un'attività di laboratorio svolta all'interno dell'insegnamento di ECONOMIA E AMMINISTRAZIONE DELLA COOPERAZIONE E DEL NON PROFIT, rappresenta un esame della dimensione economico-finanziaria di esercizio delle organizzazioni di volontariato toscane. Esso si inserisce in un percorso di ricerca articolato e dedicato all'analisi dell'accountability di tali attori del terzo settore, nella consapevolezza che il volontariato rappresenta da sempre un importante fattore di progresso civile. In particolare, si è voluto far tesoro delle informazioni economico-finanziarie a disposizione delle province grazie all'obbligo di deposito del bilancio annuale da parte delle organizzazioni di volontariato. Si è proceduto a trasformare questo adempimento da semplice onere burocratico in una occasione di arricchimento conoscitivo collettivo attraverso la raccolta a livello regionale, la riclassificazione e l'analisi aggregata dei dati economico-finanziari relativi ai rendiconti gestionali (conti economici) 2004-2005 che caratterizzano il nostro volontariato. Ciò ha permesso di evidenziare la natura e la provenienza dei mezzi economico-finanziari che affluiscono annualmente a tali enti, nonché i principali fattori produttivi «consumati» nella realizzazione delle loro attività.

This study proposes a reading of the financial statements of co-operatives operating within the Florentine metropolitan area, with a view to underscoring business aspects of a quantitative and monetary nature. The entrepreneurial nature of the co-operatives is taken as read, focusing as with any other corporate entity on assets and economic results as indicators of success. The financial statements were collected from co-operatives with their registered offices in the provinces of Florence, Prato and Pistoia for the financial years 2004-2007, and the accounts were then aggregated, reclassified and analysed. The observations on the resulting data are then broken down by province and by type of co-operative (A or B). - Il presente studio propone una lettura dei bilanci delle cooperative sociali operanti all'interno dell'area metropolitana fiorentina, al fine di evidenziarne le caratteristiche quantitativo-monetarie d'impresa. Si considera come pienamente affermata la loro natura imprenditoriale, dedicando attenzione alle risultanze patrimoniali ed economiche quale modalità tipicamente aziendale di rappresentazione e misurazione del successo. Si è proceduto a raccogliere i bilanci d'esercizio delle cooperative sociali con sede legale nelle province di Firenze, Prato e Pistoia relativamente agli anni di competenza 2004-2007, ad aggregare, riclassificare ed analizzare tali rendiconti e, infine, a commentare i dati ottenuti, articolando le osservazioni per provincia e per tipologia (A o B) di cooperativa.

Social accounting is a way of measuring and assessing the economic and social results achieved by a non-profit body. It is in the light of this observation that the project "SOCIAL ACCOUNTING OF THE NON-PROFIT BODIES" has been launched, involving the Tuscan Regional Authority, the Provincial Authorities of Florence and Pistoia, Cesvot, Le Reti di Kilim association and the Department of Business Science of the University of Florence. An important phase of theoretical research resulted in the publication PISR no. 2, "Observations on the issue of social accounting" in May 2002. Following this, the research approach finalised at the identification of a model of reference for the social accounting process of third sector organisations highlighted the need to concretise what had been elaborated. In other words, to apply the previous theoretical conclusions to certain "pilot" bodies and to report on the experience. More specifically, this work reports several processes of social accounting in which the authors have taken part. For each of these a grid of summary and comments has been prepared, with the purpose of facilitating a comparative reading. - Attraverso il bilancio sociale si misurano e si valutano i risultati conseguiti da un ente non profit sotto il profilo economico-sociale. Alla luce di questa osservazione è stato avviato il progetto «BILANCIO SOCIALE DEGLI ENTI NON PROFIT», che vede coinvolti Regione Toscana, Province di Firenze e Pistoia, Cesvot, associazione Le Reti di Kilim e Dipartimento di Scienze Aziendali dell'Università degli Studi di Firenze. Il percorso di ricerca, finalizzato all'individuazione di un modello di riferimento per il processo di rendicontazione sociale delle organizzazioni del terzo settore, dopo una signifi - cativa fase di ricerca teorica che ha dato luogo al quaderno PISR n. 2, Alcune considerazioni in tema di bilancio sociale del maggio 2002, ha reso evidente l'opportunità di procedere ad una concretizzazione di quanto elaborato. In altre parole, si è trattato di applicare le conclusioni teoriche precedenti ad alcuni enti «pilota» e di raccontare questa esperienza. Nello specifico, vengono riportati alcuni bilanci sociali alla cui realizzazione hanno partecipato gli autori del presente quaderno. Per ciascuno di questi è stata elaborata una griglia riassuntiva e di commento, con la finalità di facilitarne una lettura comparata.

This article addresses the subject of management control and tries to create a performance measurement system for social enterprises, that is, how to measure success. Three reference fields for management are analyzed: (a) economic-financial performance, linked to the determination of general performance (profits, value added, etc.) and analytic results (production-cost of services, efficiency indicators, etc.); (b) social effectiveness, to measure the quantity and quality of work undertaken and to identify its impact on the intended beneficiaries and the community; and (c) institutional legitimacy, verifying conformity with law and mission statement. In integrating these aspects, we propose a multidimensional controlling framework that is appropriate to the management of a social enterprise. We try to demonstrate the validity of the theoretical model through the illustration of an Italian empirical case: the work integration social enterprise "Ulisse."

This study uses theories on dialogic accounting to assess whether online interaction through social media is used as a mechanism of public information and stakeholder engagement by Canadian and American public transportation agencies. We embraced a quantitative methodology in which content analysis was performed on the Facebook and Twitter accounts of 35 transit operators in Canada and the United States. We categorized the contents of 1,222 Facebook posts and 2,615 tweets, assessed which level and what type of interaction was effectively reached for every category, tracked whether and how agencies reply to comments on their posts, and assessed the general tenor of the discussion. Our results show that public transportation agencies often take advantage of their presence on social media to provide the public with information on their services and to perform activities associated with stakeholder engagement. However, we have found some significant differences in the utilization of social media by public transportation agencies, all of which are discussed in the "Conclusion" section of this article. Twitter is most often used for public information messages, while Facebook appears to be used more to publish content in a dialogic perspective that creates two-way, collaborative conversations with users. In terms of practical implications, our study suggests that a broader and more continuous commitment to interaction between users and stakeholders on social media would create new opportunities for improving transparency and, indirectly, the services of public agencies.

The present study offers an empirical analysis of motivations for social reporting in voluntary organizations (VOs). Our concurrent mixed methods research design is supported by a questionnaire administered to all of the organizations listed in the regional registry of VOs in Tuscany. Analysis of the scores associated with each set of motivations suggests that VOs issue social reports to offer a truthful representation of the organization's activities, provide relevant information to stakeholders, and conduct an effective form of internal control. Our findings suggest that many of these motivations connect with each other and produce less conflict among VOs than they do among for-profit organizations, thereby highlighting some peculiar characteristics of these types of organizations. By studying the theoretical perspectives that better correspond to the motivations of Italian VOs, our study contributes to the literature by providing a more complete understanding of why these organizations decide to issue a social report.

ABSTRACT:  The aim of this paper is to introduce a multidimensional assessment model for organizations that have multiple goals and are not driven exclusively by profit. Therefore, it is an assessment method particularly suitable for social enterprises. In order to measure the efficiency of production units in each dimension, the Data Envelopment Analysis non‐parametric method is applied. Our case study is concerned with Fair Trade shops and members of the consortium Altromercato for which we collected variables that could be associated with input and output for the economic, socio‐cultural and organizational dimensions. The results of the analysis confirm the presence of economies of scale in the economic dimension but not in the socio‐cultural dimension. Moreover, our organizational analysis confirmed a low general professionalization. Our results also confirm, on the one hand, the more pronounced capacity of cooperatives to sell Fair Trade products compared to associations, which, on the other hand, have the tendency to achieve proportionately better results in the socio‐cultural dimension.

PurposeThis study aims to assess the effectiveness of social return on investment (SROI) as a measure of the social impact produced by non-profit organisations and social enterprises that support family-centred care, an approach that focuses on the pivotal role of families in paediatric health care.Design/methodology/approachThe study offers an analytical evaluation of the SROI created by the Italian branch of the Ronald McDonald House Charities and highlights (a) the participatory analysis of stakeholders and outcomes; (b) the measurement of inputs; (c) the definition of outputs and proxies for the measurement of outcomes; (d) the calculation of the SROI ratio; and (e) the results of a sensitivity analysis.FindingsThis study discusses the advantages and shortcomings of SROI analyses, the practical implications of this research on governance and management and the role of engagement in managing the expectations of stakeholders. The value of SROI measurements in shaping strategic and management decisions – with special emphasis on stakeholder relations – is also discussed.Originality/valueNon-profit organisations and social enterprises often require tools that assess the outcomes of their activities. The present research can provide new guidance to SROI analysts, while drawing attention to the most suitable proxies and indicators for evaluating the SROI of organisations operating in the health care sector.