Roger Reinsch, Raymond J. Jones, III and Randy Skalberg
The purpose of this study is to examine the choices social enterprises in the USA have about the legal formation of their business. Recently, new legal forms have been developed…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the choices social enterprises in the USA have about the legal formation of their business. Recently, new legal forms have been developed in the USA to ensure social goals are legally embedded into the firm. While the development of these new alternative supports social missions, organizations should be aware of both the benefits and drawbacks, which are outlined in this paper. Additionally, we draw on the US Supreme Court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case to illustrate how social enterprises can embed their social mission into their legal foundation using traditional legal structures, accomplishing the same purpose as the new socially oriented alternatives.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors provide a detailed assessment of the social-oriented legal forms of business based on precedent set in the US Supreme Court Hobby Lobby case.
Findings
Based on precedent in the Hobby Lobby case, the authors’ view is that traditional US legal business structures can be as effective as alternative socially oriented legal forms in the US as a method to legally prevent mission drift by legally embedding social goals into the legal structure of the firm.
Practical implications
By highlighting how social enterprises can use traditional US legal business forms to ensure their social mission as part of the organizational goals, the authors provide another legal avenue, and so US-based social enterprises can continue to focus on addressing social issues without worrying about mission drift from legal pressures.
Social implications
There is quite a lot of hype surrounding the development and adoption of socially oriented legal business forms in the USA with little discussion about the actual need for these new forms. The alternative perspective by the authors informs social enterprises how they can operate within the traditional US legal system while still focusing on their social mission.
Originality/value
The authors are one of the first to argue, based on precedent in the Hobby Lobby case, that US social enterprises need to critically examine which type of legal form is right for their business and what will offer them most benefit to their social mission in the long run.
Details
Keywords
E‐commerce plays an important role in today’s business environment, and that role will continue to grow each year. eMarketer predicts that by “2004, world wide e‐commerce revenues…
Abstract
E‐commerce plays an important role in today’s business environment, and that role will continue to grow each year. eMarketer predicts that by “2004, world wide e‐commerce revenues are expected to total USD 2.7 trillion”. E‐commerce continues to grow in the United States. “The Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce announced today that the estimate of U.S. retail e‐commerce sales for the first quarter of 2004, not adjusted for seasonal, holiday, and trading‐day differences, was $15.5 billion, an increase of 28.1 per cent (±2.9 per cent) from the first quarter of 2003.” “According to a new study by RoperASW and AOL Time Warner, Europeans spent on average EUR430 on line between August and October 2002.” This compares with an average spend of EUR543 per head in the US over the same period.
Details
Keywords
David S. Bright, Arran Caza, Elizabeth Fisher Turesky, Roger Putzel, Eric Nelson and Ray Luechtefeld
New educators may feel overwhelmed by the options available for engaging students through classroom participation. However, it may be helpful to recognize that participatory…
Abstract
New educators may feel overwhelmed by the options available for engaging students through classroom participation. However, it may be helpful to recognize that participatory pedagogical systems often have constructivist roots. Adopting a constructivist perspective, our paper considers three meta-practices that encourage student participation: designing activities, leading others, and assessing peers. We explored the consequences of these meta-practices for important student outcomes, including content knowledge, engagement, self-efficacy, sense of community, and self-awareness. We found that different meta-practices were associated with different combinations of outcomes. This discovery demonstrates the benefit of studying meta- practices so as to reveal the nuanced effects that may arise from pedagogical choices. In addition, an understanding of meta-practices can help leadership educators to be more discerning and intentional in their course designs.
The illness of no Sovereign, with the exception of that of Her late Majesty QUEEN VICTORIA, has ever aroused feelings of sympathy and anxiety so widespread and sincere as those…
Abstract
The illness of no Sovereign, with the exception of that of Her late Majesty QUEEN VICTORIA, has ever aroused feelings of sympathy and anxiety so widespread and sincere as those which have been called forth by the onset and development of the dangerous ailment from which His Majesty the KING has now happily recovered.
Owing to its almost universal quotation, the recent action of the Westminster City Council in closing not only its South Audley Street Library but all its newspaper rooms as well…
Abstract
Owing to its almost universal quotation, the recent action of the Westminster City Council in closing not only its South Audley Street Library but all its newspaper rooms as well, has been the significant event of the last month. By these means, and by severe restriction of its expenditure on new books, a reduction of over three thousand pounds has been effected. Westminster is perhaps the richest borough in London; its library rate of only a fraction of a penny in the pound produces the sum of well‐nigh twelve thousand pounds. Certainly a larger amount than that recorded by any other library authority administering a similar number of libraries, although the fixed charges that have to be met are probably the highest in the Kingdom. Unaware of the extent of the Westminster income various local papers have quoted the amount saved and attempted to draw a moral from it to apply to the libraries in their own localities—libraries which are already in a state of semi‐starvation. It should, therefore, be remembered that, although the Westminster libraries have been crippled to an extent that only their users can know, there is still a larger sum devoted to public libraries in Westminster than in any other borough of similar size, and while Westminster is injured by the loss of one‐third of its income, a similar loss would mean ruin to most other library systems.