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Newswise -- An international report on new business development  includes the first global study of social entrepreneurship. In 2009, 49 national teams collected data on social entrepreneurial activity. It covered any activity with a social purpose, including social or community work, for profit or non-profit, and incorporated or non-incorporated.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) includes a study of the prevalence of people engaged in entrepreneurial activities with a social goal, whether profit or non-profit, public or private.

Siri A. Terjesen, assistant professor of strategic management and international entrepreneurship and her co-authors found that the average rate of social entrepreneurship activity increases slightly with economic development.

"Individuals in richer countries, having satisfied their own basic needs, may be more likely to turn to the needs of others," they wrote in the report. "In other words, the opportunity cost of social entrepreneurship may be higher in developing countries.

"On the other hand, social and environmental problems are often more prevalent in developing countries," they added. "Another reason for this finding is that the definitions of a traditional enterprise and a social enterprise may overlap in developing countries, whereas they may be more distinct in developed counties."

For example, they found that social and business entrepreneurship overlap "quite significantly" in places such as Peru, Columbia, Venezuela and Jamaica.

More holistic definitions of entrepreneurship are needed

"A significant minority of social entrepreneurs, particularly in developing countries, appear to wish to have a profitable business that at the same time addresses social issues," the report said. "This demonstrates that for many people, the categories of 'social' and 'business' entrepreneur are artificial, and more holistic definitions of entrepreneurship are needed if we are to capture the true extent of this phenomenon."

• Countries with the highest prevalence of social entrepreneurs in the 2009 GEM sample included United Arab Emirates, the United States, Iceland and Argentina.
  
• Countries with few social entrepreneurs included Guatemala, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.

Sectors of Robust Social Entrepreneurship

The GEM report found that socially oriented entrepreneurs are found in a variety of areas --education, health, culture, economic development and the environment. Among them, specific issues differed across economic groups.

Factor-Driven Economies

For example, many social entrepreneurs in factor-driven economies - which are highly sensitive to world economic cycles, commodity price trends and exchange rate fluctuations - tend to focus on "more elementary issues and pressing needs" such as such as providing health care, access to sanitation and fresh water and agricultural activities in rural areas.

Innovation-Driven Economies

Many of those in innovation-driven countries focus on recycling, nature protection, providing services for disabled persons and even open-source activities such as online social networking.

Siri A. Terjesen, assistant professor of strategic management and international entrepreneurship, produced the social entrepreneurship component of the report with Rachida Justo of the Instituto de Empresa in Spain and Jan Lepoutre of Ghent University in Belgium.

Since 1998, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor has become the world's most comprehensive research consortium dedicated to understanding the relationship between entrepreneurship and national economic development. GEM provides the most comprehensive comparative data about attitudes toward entrepreneurs, start-up business activities, and plans for starting and building businesses, globally, by geographic region and by country.

The complete GEM report, which is based on interviews with at least 2,000 people in 54 countries, is available online at http://www.gemconsortium.org/ and provides further details about social entrepreneurship and many other global entrepreneurial findings.

Two  grant programs are available with ARRA funding to support the training and development of the skilled workforce required to support broad adoption and use of health information technology (health IT). 

National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P.,  announced the availability of
 
Information Technology Professionals in Health Care:

• Program of Assistance for University-Based Training Programs (University-Based Training Program)
• Competency Examination for Individuals (Competency Examination Program).

Authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the grants will strengthen and support the health IT workforce.

University Based Health IT Competency Training Program
The new grant programs will award $32 million to establish university-based certificate and advanced degree health IT training programs

University Based Health IT Competency Exam Program
$6 million dollars to develop a health IT competency examination program.

Community College Consortia Grants
These awards, together with the previous announced $80 million in workforce program grants (Community College Consortia on Nov. 24, 2009, and Curriculum Development Centers on Dec. 15, 2009), recognize the critical importance of developing a well-trained health IT workforce to support the adoption and meaningful use of health IT.

Applications are due by Jan. 25, 2010, with final awards expected in March 2010. 

I grew up in a live/work home.  I've always had a productive home...because I'm self employed and have always either had a full time or part time business going.  And so has my husband.

"Over half of all businesses are run out of an owner's home. As the economic crisis deepens, live/work housing provides a viable and appealing solution for small entrepreneurs who want to work and live in the same place for economic reasons. It is also a promising market for Baby Boomers who are starting to retire - or soon will retire - and want to live in upscale housing in an urban area while conducting consulting and other service oriented businesses which can function in a live/work condo."  says Dick Lewis, President, Lewis & Associates

A Productive Home

Homes used to provide us with clothing, food, shelter, education, entertainment...and more.  But over the years we've exported most of those functions to businesses and public facilitie outside the home. 

And paid the price!  Both in "retail" prices...and in loss of a strong safety net.

Part of a green career is balancing what you build OUTSIDE the home in jobs and networks and investments -- and what you build INSIDE your home in hobbies and food preparation and car repair and gardening...etc. 

How's your personal career productivity going?  What would you like to balance between outside and inside?

Surveys by Boston-based Aberdeen and Dayton, OH-based NCR Corp., show that retailers describe technology as a tool that can help struggling businesses survive the downturn and give them a competitive edge. Aberdeen surveyed about 200 retailers in November and December 2008 about the state of business and technology.

Four out of five retailers are grappling with historically higher cost of goods and low consumer confidence, according to Aberdeen

And shoppers are skittish, NCR found, focused on sales and discounts and willing to switch stores to find them.

Retailers shifted their value chain priorities and IT investments in the last six months of 2008 compared to the first six.

In the second half of the year, "technology and process spending was geared towards accelerated product campaigns, door busters, and promotions--in terms of price discounts and frequency, customer loyalty programs, precision merchandizing, and lean inventory management."

These strategies were designed to minimize business risks such as store closings, working capital squeeze, depleted customer satisfaction due to staff cuts, and low margin attainment.

Anand says the main concerns for 2009 are customer-facing and retail optimization applications that directly affect the bottom-line, greater application integration and hosted application delivery models. 

To attract and retain customers is the goal -- a task NCR suggests will be easiest for retailers who make their businesses most convenient for consumers.

Bargain conscious Americans are spending more time evaluating less familiar brands, switching stores to capitalize on deals and scheduling shopping trips to coincide with the arrival of paychecks, according to a survey of US consumers commissioned by NCR.

The NCR research found:

• 72% of consumers are more likely to shop with a retailer offering the flexibility of online, mobile and kiosk self-service channels;
• Nearly half think kiosks that show them where to find products in stores would be convenient;
• 43% believe receiving discount offerings and product information on large screens in store would be convenient;
• 39% want self-return solutions for processing returns quickly.

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