Measuring social impact: Developing an outcome model for work integration social enterprise in Hong Kong

Abstract

In 2015, there are over five hundreds social enterprises in Hong Kong. Among them, approximately 70% are work integration social enterprises (WISEs) primarily aiming at creating employment and/or providing vocational training for the disadvantaged groups. Impact assessment of these WISEs is definitely a growing concern in the society. In this paper, the author reviews major types of impact assessment approaches and three board categories are delineated - outcome-based, structured-based and process-based approaches. Through the application of one particular outcome-based approach, Social Return on Investment (SROI), onto four invited local WISEs, a three-levels-4-dimensions (3L4E) outcome model is developed for further practices and researches of the kinds in the community.