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Susan Baines

Manchester Metropolitan University, Sociology, Faculty Member

Manchester Metropolitan University, Centre for Enterprise, Faculty Member

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Sue's research has spanned social policy, innovation, enterprise and civil society and she has published extensively on these themes. She joined the Policy Evaluation Research Unit in 2017 to lead on social innovation, social enterprise and co-creation.
Phone: 0161 2472511
Address: Manchester Metropolitan University Business School
All Saints Campus
Oxford Road
Manchester

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Newcastle University

Newcastle University

Giovanni Lamura

Charlotte Overgaard

London South Bank University

University of Malta

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Papers by Susan Baines

A collaborative research project by Age Concern Newcastle and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne

Volunteering, self-help and citizenship in later life

Working life in rural micro-enterprises: Old forms of organisation in the new economy

Citation: Baines, S., Wheelock, J. &amp;amp; Oughton, E. Working life in rural micro-enterpri... more

Working in the business family: Micro-business livelihoods in the North East and South East of England

Challenging tensions and contradictions: Critical, theoretical and empirical perspectives on social enterprise

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 2018

Guide: Fees and payments for artists

Where social enterprise practitioners draw the line

International Journal of Public Sector Management, 2014

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer new reflection upon the contested interaction of ... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer new reflection upon the contested interaction of social enterprises with the public sector. It does this by fore fronting the notions of boundaries, boundary work and boundary objects. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports qualitative research with social enterprise practitioners (from social enterprises and support agencies) in the north of England. Accounts elicited through interviews are combined with visual data in the form of pencil drawings made by practitioners when the authors invited them to respond to and rework diagrammatic models from the literature about the social and economic dimensions of social enterprise. Findings – Participants explained in words and images how normative images of social enterprise depicting linear and static boundaries inadequately represent the complexity of ideas and interactions in their world. Rather, they perceived an iterative process of crossing and re-crossing boundaries, with iden...

International Social Innovation Research Conference 2012 Demonstrating value in chaos: The elephant in the room

This paper discusses issues and challenges of proving impact of micro social enterprises. The pap... more This paper discusses issues and challenges of proving impact of micro social enterprises. The paper draws on the discussions at an event attended by representatives of Local Authorities, consultants, academics and practitioners in Manchester in March 2012 that were invited experts to grapple with the issues for micro (below five full time equivalents) social enterprises in proving their value to stakeholders. The event was entitled, ‘Demonstrating value in chaos’, to stimulate interest in discussing value in the chaos of new markets being shaped, in light of recent government third sector policies and the potential of a much bigger role in the delivery of public services for the third sector. The event sought to go beyond a SROI verses SAA debate, drawing on specific examples of organisations that are utilizing a number of ways of demonstrating value. The research was part of an ESRC funded Business Placement Scheme project in which the authors worked in partnership with Community Catalysts CIC, a social enterprise that supports microproviders and assists local authorities in stimulating enterprise. Community Catalysts is under pressure to evidence the impact of micro-providers in the personalisation of adult social care. Yet this paper extends beyond personalisation in grappling with the issues for wider social enterprise/third sector micro-enterprises. The paper is qualitative in nature and sits within a focus group methodology. This relied on copious note taking and other forms of evidence gathered during the event, which included participants taking part in activities with stickers, post it’s and stimulated debates. Four of the co-authors were deployed on the day to capture as much as they could of the discussions. The discussion threads presented in this paper are both a mix of pre-designed topics and more grounded topics that surfaced on the day. The cryptic inclusion in the title of the paper of the elephant in the room, was a drawing captured from one participant during the day in an analogy of the recent and potentially game changing Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 that recently went through UK parliament, which is discussed from participant perceptions in the paper.

A more entrepreneurial mindset? Engaging third sector suppliers to the NHS

Social Enterprise Journal, 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to offer a critical overview of claims and counter claims aro... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to offer a critical overview of claims and counter claims around increased expectations that the third sector organisations (TSOs) will compete for contracts to deliver public services. It does this through the lens of contested notions of being “businesslike” and “entrepreneurial” across the public and third sectors. Then it assesses how some of these tensions are currently played out between public sector commissioners and third sector service providers.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on a one‐year project funded under the ESRC Business Engagement Opportunities scheme (2009‐2010) in which the authors are working with NHS Manchester (responsible for commissioning and directing NHS funds into a wide range of services for communities across the city) and local third sector delivery and infrastructure organisations. The project consists of a set of knowledge exchange activities (scoping, workshops, placements and an on‐line tool) inte...

Experiences of forced labour amongst Chinese migrant workers: exploring the context of vulnerability and protection

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 2013

This report reveals the experiences of Chinese migrant workers in the UK. It looks at forced labo... more

Narratives of transition from social to enterprise: you can’t get there from here!

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 2013

PurposeIn response to calls to critically analyse and conceptually advance social enterprise, the... more PurposeIn response to calls to critically analyse and conceptually advance social enterprise, the purpose of this paper is to examine narratives and models representing a spectrum of social enterprise from the “social” to the “economic”. The paper tests these against the experience of practitioners who were either employees in social organisations or support workers tasked with promoting social enterprise. This is timely against a background of imperatives from central governments for social organisations to compete for the delivery of public services and become more “entrepreneurial”.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reports qualitative research in which participants were invited to draw lines and arrows onto spectrum models to illustrate the social and economic contexts they perceived themselves to be working within. The data comprise interviews and drawings, combined with verbal descriptions of the drawings and reflections on their significance.FindingsThe paper shows how part...

Experiences of forced labour among Chinese migrant workers

Over the last decade, interest in Chinese migrants, forced labour, human trafficking and irregula... more

Who is telecaring whom? Exploring the total social organisation of care work in an Italian municipality

New Technology, Work and Employment, 2017

Co-creating rehabilitation: Findings from a pilot and implications for wider public service reform

Probation Journal

As part of a large pan-European project on co-creating public services we supported the design of... more As part of a large pan-European project on co-creating public services we supported the design of a programme in England that attempted to operationalise research on desistance, through a model of co-created, strengths-based working. We then evaluated its implementation and impact. The programme was implemented in a Community Rehabilitation Company. It was delivered in the context of rapid organisational change, often in response to rapidly changing external events and a turbulent policy environment. These factors impeded implementation. An impact evaluation did not identify a statistically significant difference in re-offending rates between the intervention group and a comparator group. However, in-depth qualitative evaluation identified positive examples of co-production and co-creation, with individual case managers and service users supportive and noting positive change. Taken as a whole our findings suggest that a co-created, strengths-based model of probation case management ...

Panikkos Poutziouris and Francis Chittenden, `Family Businesses or Business Families ?', UK Institute for Small Business Affairs Monograph in association with National Westminster Bank, Leeds, 1996

by Susan Baines and Jane Wheelock

International Small Business Journal, 1996

Working Hard and Making Do: Surviving in Small Town America

Contemporary Sociology, 2001

Experiences of forced labour among Chinese migrant workers

by Carolyn Kagan, Susan Baines, Sandy Lo, and Lisa Mok

This report reveals the experiences of Chinese migrant workers in the UK. It looks at forced labo... more

Volunteering, self-help and citizenship in later life

by Mabel Lie, Jane Wheelock, and Susan Baines

Getting By with a Little Help from Your Family: Toward a Policy-Relevant Model of the Household

by Jane Wheelock and Susan Baines

Feminist Economics, 2003

Recent decades have seen dramatic changes in the ways in which households in developed Western ec... more Recent decades have seen dramatic changes in the ways in which households in developed Western economies gain their livelihoods, with marked elements of a return to old ways of working. There has been a shift from reliance upon one family wage to the need for family employment as well as growing reliance on self-employment and small business. These changes mean

Volunteering, self-help and citizenship in later life

by Mabel Lie, Jane Wheelock, and Susan Baines

Enterprising care? Unpaid voluntary action in the 21st century

Volunteering has never been more prominent in social policy, political discourse and popular imag... more Volunteering has never been more prominent in social policy, political discourse and popular imagination. This book is a timely reminder of some of the vibrant traditions of mutual aid and philanthropy that long pre-date programmes under the Big Society to mobilise voluntary action in the face of fiscal austerity and fewer professional public services. The themes of volunteering, care and enterprising are woven throughout the book, which draws on a decade of research by the authors in collaboration with organisations (large and small) involved in care. Perspectives of individuals, organisations and communities are presented in a series of rich case studies, informed by feminist thinking on unpaid work and care. The authors also offer a historical overview of various ways in which policy makers have sought to enrol communities. The achievements of volunteering activated through communities of interest and identity are contrasted with recent policy emphasis on volunteering at the local level.

A collaborative research project by Age Concern Newcastle and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne

Volunteering, self-help and citizenship in later life

Working life in rural micro-enterprises: Old forms of organisation in the new economy

Citation: Baines, S., Wheelock, J. &amp;amp; Oughton, E. Working life in rural micro-enterpri... more

Working in the business family: Micro-business livelihoods in the North East and South East of England

Challenging tensions and contradictions: Critical, theoretical and empirical perspectives on social enterprise

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 2018

Guide: Fees and payments for artists

Where social enterprise practitioners draw the line

International Journal of Public Sector Management, 2014

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer new reflection upon the contested interaction of ... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer new reflection upon the contested interaction of social enterprises with the public sector. It does this by fore fronting the notions of boundaries, boundary work and boundary objects. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports qualitative research with social enterprise practitioners (from social enterprises and support agencies) in the north of England. Accounts elicited through interviews are combined with visual data in the form of pencil drawings made by practitioners when the authors invited them to respond to and rework diagrammatic models from the literature about the social and economic dimensions of social enterprise. Findings – Participants explained in words and images how normative images of social enterprise depicting linear and static boundaries inadequately represent the complexity of ideas and interactions in their world. Rather, they perceived an iterative process of crossing and re-crossing boundaries, with iden...

International Social Innovation Research Conference 2012 Demonstrating value in chaos: The elephant in the room

This paper discusses issues and challenges of proving impact of micro social enterprises. The pap... more This paper discusses issues and challenges of proving impact of micro social enterprises. The paper draws on the discussions at an event attended by representatives of Local Authorities, consultants, academics and practitioners in Manchester in March 2012 that were invited experts to grapple with the issues for micro (below five full time equivalents) social enterprises in proving their value to stakeholders. The event was entitled, ‘Demonstrating value in chaos’, to stimulate interest in discussing value in the chaos of new markets being shaped, in light of recent government third sector policies and the potential of a much bigger role in the delivery of public services for the third sector. The event sought to go beyond a SROI verses SAA debate, drawing on specific examples of organisations that are utilizing a number of ways of demonstrating value. The research was part of an ESRC funded Business Placement Scheme project in which the authors worked in partnership with Community Catalysts CIC, a social enterprise that supports microproviders and assists local authorities in stimulating enterprise. Community Catalysts is under pressure to evidence the impact of micro-providers in the personalisation of adult social care. Yet this paper extends beyond personalisation in grappling with the issues for wider social enterprise/third sector micro-enterprises. The paper is qualitative in nature and sits within a focus group methodology. This relied on copious note taking and other forms of evidence gathered during the event, which included participants taking part in activities with stickers, post it’s and stimulated debates. Four of the co-authors were deployed on the day to capture as much as they could of the discussions. The discussion threads presented in this paper are both a mix of pre-designed topics and more grounded topics that surfaced on the day. The cryptic inclusion in the title of the paper of the elephant in the room, was a drawing captured from one participant during the day in an analogy of the recent and potentially game changing Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 that recently went through UK parliament, which is discussed from participant perceptions in the paper.

A more entrepreneurial mindset? Engaging third sector suppliers to the NHS

Social Enterprise Journal, 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to offer a critical overview of claims and counter claims aro... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to offer a critical overview of claims and counter claims around increased expectations that the third sector organisations (TSOs) will compete for contracts to deliver public services. It does this through the lens of contested notions of being “businesslike” and “entrepreneurial” across the public and third sectors. Then it assesses how some of these tensions are currently played out between public sector commissioners and third sector service providers.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on a one‐year project funded under the ESRC Business Engagement Opportunities scheme (2009‐2010) in which the authors are working with NHS Manchester (responsible for commissioning and directing NHS funds into a wide range of services for communities across the city) and local third sector delivery and infrastructure organisations. The project consists of a set of knowledge exchange activities (scoping, workshops, placements and an on‐line tool) inte...

Experiences of forced labour amongst Chinese migrant workers: exploring the context of vulnerability and protection

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 2013

This report reveals the experiences of Chinese migrant workers in the UK. It looks at forced labo... more

Narratives of transition from social to enterprise: you can’t get there from here!

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 2013

PurposeIn response to calls to critically analyse and conceptually advance social enterprise, the... more PurposeIn response to calls to critically analyse and conceptually advance social enterprise, the purpose of this paper is to examine narratives and models representing a spectrum of social enterprise from the “social” to the “economic”. The paper tests these against the experience of practitioners who were either employees in social organisations or support workers tasked with promoting social enterprise. This is timely against a background of imperatives from central governments for social organisations to compete for the delivery of public services and become more “entrepreneurial”.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reports qualitative research in which participants were invited to draw lines and arrows onto spectrum models to illustrate the social and economic contexts they perceived themselves to be working within. The data comprise interviews and drawings, combined with verbal descriptions of the drawings and reflections on their significance.FindingsThe paper shows how part...

Experiences of forced labour among Chinese migrant workers

Over the last decade, interest in Chinese migrants, forced labour, human trafficking and irregula... more

Who is telecaring whom? Exploring the total social organisation of care work in an Italian municipality

New Technology, Work and Employment, 2017

Co-creating rehabilitation: Findings from a pilot and implications for wider public service reform

Probation Journal

As part of a large pan-European project on co-creating public services we supported the design of... more As part of a large pan-European project on co-creating public services we supported the design of a programme in England that attempted to operationalise research on desistance, through a model of co-created, strengths-based working. We then evaluated its implementation and impact. The programme was implemented in a Community Rehabilitation Company. It was delivered in the context of rapid organisational change, often in response to rapidly changing external events and a turbulent policy environment. These factors impeded implementation. An impact evaluation did not identify a statistically significant difference in re-offending rates between the intervention group and a comparator group. However, in-depth qualitative evaluation identified positive examples of co-production and co-creation, with individual case managers and service users supportive and noting positive change. Taken as a whole our findings suggest that a co-created, strengths-based model of probation case management ...

Panikkos Poutziouris and Francis Chittenden, `Family Businesses or Business Families ?', UK Institute for Small Business Affairs Monograph in association with National Westminster Bank, Leeds, 1996

by Susan Baines and Jane Wheelock

International Small Business Journal, 1996

Working Hard and Making Do: Surviving in Small Town America

Contemporary Sociology, 2001

Experiences of forced labour among Chinese migrant workers

by Carolyn Kagan, Susan Baines, Sandy Lo, and Lisa Mok

This report reveals the experiences of Chinese migrant workers in the UK. It looks at forced labo... more

Volunteering, self-help and citizenship in later life

by Mabel Lie, Jane Wheelock, and Susan Baines

Getting By with a Little Help from Your Family: Toward a Policy-Relevant Model of the Household

by Jane Wheelock and Susan Baines

Feminist Economics, 2003

Recent decades have seen dramatic changes in the ways in which households in developed Western ec... more Recent decades have seen dramatic changes in the ways in which households in developed Western economies gain their livelihoods, with marked elements of a return to old ways of working. There has been a shift from reliance upon one family wage to the need for family employment as well as growing reliance on self-employment and small business. These changes mean

Volunteering, self-help and citizenship in later life

by Mabel Lie, Jane Wheelock, and Susan Baines

Enterprising care? Unpaid voluntary action in the 21st century

Volunteering has never been more prominent in social policy, political discourse and popular imag... more Volunteering has never been more prominent in social policy, political discourse and popular imagination. This book is a timely reminder of some of the vibrant traditions of mutual aid and philanthropy that long pre-date programmes under the Big Society to mobilise voluntary action in the face of fiscal austerity and fewer professional public services. The themes of volunteering, care and enterprising are woven throughout the book, which draws on a decade of research by the authors in collaboration with organisations (large and small) involved in care. Perspectives of individuals, organisations and communities are presented in a series of rich case studies, informed by feminist thinking on unpaid work and care. The authors also offer a historical overview of various ways in which policy makers have sought to enrol communities. The achievements of volunteering activated through communities of interest and identity are contrasted with recent policy emphasis on volunteering at the local level.

Linking volunteering and social mobility: New departure or false start

Social mobility and volunteering are prominent themes in present day public policy but almost nev... more Social mobility and volunteering are prominent themes in present day public policy but almost never linked together in policy or research. The intersection of volunteering and social mobility clearly strikes a chord and this seminar showed that it was an excellent topic to engage people from different perspectives in lively and thought provoking discussion. But is it a good topic to guide policy? My tentative answer is no. Of course others will disagree and I welcome debate.

Social Value, Health and Care in the Big Society

Personalised Care - Community Catalysts and co-operatives Caring Support and Sunshine Care will ... more Personalised Care - Community Catalysts and co-operatives Caring Support and Sunshine Care will talk about opportunities and challenges for small providers when the ‘commissioner’ is an individual or family.

Social Value is the added benefit to the community over and above the supply of goods and services to the public sector - workshop led by Chris Ford Newcastled UNiversity

Supporting Organisational Reflection and Development. showcase the Balance diagnostic tool - Mike Bull (MMU)