Human Resources and Performance in Social Enterprises: Evidence from Microfinance Institutions
The research highlights the need for careful consideration of the employment strategy for organizations seeking to operate in the developing contexts.
Naome Otiti
PhD Candidate
You may follow the disputation on campus or online. Link for registration as an online spectator at the bottom of this page.
Naome Otiti of the School of Business and Law at the University of Agder has submitted her thesis entitled «Human Resources and Performance in Social Enterprises: Evidence from Microfinance Institutions» and will defend the thesis for the PhD-degree Friday 22 April 2022.
She has followed the PhD-programme at the School of Business and Law at the University of Agder, with specialisation in International Business.
Summary of the thesis by Naome Otiti:
Human Resources and Performance in Social Enterprises
Social enterprises are organizations which seek to confront society challenges while remaining financially sustainable. They therefore have both a social and financial goal.
These firms rely greatly on their human resources (employees) to carry out their activities. In fact, the employees are the main point of contact between the firm and clients.
Yet, little is known about how they influence social enterprise performance. I attempt to fill this gap in my dissertation summarized below:
Four Research Studies
The first study determines whether the social enterprise employees and clients at the bottom of the pyramid should be matched. The results show that employees of higher status i.e., often the more educated and more experienced, may be more suitable to serve the poorer clients as opposed to employees of lower status.
The second study determines how different employee-client gender pairs impact repayment performance. Results show that pairs with female employees are the best performing relative to those with male employees. Moreover, the best performing pair is the female client-female employee.
The third study examines the influence of employee tenure on performance. The results show that social enterprise employees with the longest tenure are the most inclined to achieve a favourable balance in both the social and financial goals.
The fourth study explores the vital role of female leadership in the staff turnover situation. The results indicate that having a female CEO can lessen the negative outcomes of high staff turnover which is a major human resource issue in social enterprises.
Implications
Overall, the research has several implications for development in terms of financial inclusion and women empowerment through the employees, clients and even leadership.
It highlights the need for careful consideration of the employment strategy for organizations seeking to operate in the developing contexts.
It also emphasizes the need for the effective integration and socialization of employees in firms with more than one goal.
Disputation facts:
The trial lecture and the public defence will take place in Auditorium B3 007, Campus Kristiansand and online, via the Zoom conferencing app - link below.
Dean Roger Normann, School of Business and Law at the University of Agder, will chair the disputation.
The trial lecture Friday 22 April at 10:15 hours
Public defence Friday 22 April at 12:00 hours
Given topic for trial lecture: «Tensions in hybrid organizations»
Thesis Title: «Human Resources and Performance in Social Enterprises: Evidence from Microfinance Institutions»
Search for the thesis in AURA - Agder University Research Archive, a digital archive of scientific papers, theses and dissertations from the academic staff and students at the University of Agder.
The thesis is available here:
https://uia.brage.unit.no/uia-xmlui/handle/11250/2991084
The Candidate: Naome Otiti (1992, Uganda) Bachelor of Commerce, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, Master of Science in Business Administration, University of Agder (2017). Master thesis: "Should microfinance institutions hire staff from the same socioeconomic status as their clients?" Present position: Teaching and Research Assistant and also a member of the Center for Research on Social Enterprises and Microfinance (CERSEM) at the University of Agder.
Opponents:
First opponent: Professor Anne-Claire Pache, ESSEC Business School, France
Second opponent: Professor Marek Hudon, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Professor Emeritus Lars Oxelheim, University of Agder, is appointed as the administrator for the assessment committee.
Supervisors in the doctoral work were Professor Roy Mersland, UiA (main supervisor), and Associate Professor Kjetil Andersson (co-supervisor)
What to do as an audience member:
The disputation is open to the public, but to follow the trial lecture and the public defence online, transmitted via the Zoom conferencing app, you have to register as an audience member on this link:
https://uiano.zoom.us/meeting/register/u50vfuChqjMrHNbtdiTplMwm_mvJXEyE3JoP
A Zoom-link will be returned to you. (Here are introductions for how to use Zoom: support.zoom.us if you cannot join by clicking on the link.)
We ask online audience members to join the virtual trial lecture at 10:05 at the earliest and the public defense at 11:50 at the earliest. After these times, you can leave and rejoin the meeting at any time. Further, we ask audience members to turn off their microphone and camera and keep them turned off throughout the event. You do this at the bottom left of the image when in Zoom. We recommend you use ‘Speaker view’. You select that at the top right corner of the video window when in Zoom.
Opponent ex auditorio:
The chair invites members of the public to pose questions ex auditorio in the introduction to the public defense, with deadlines. It is a prerequisite that the opponent has read the thesis. Questions can be submitted to the chair Roger Henning Normann at e-mail roger.h.normann@uia.no