Business Commons^™

Developing A Holistic Approach For Tackling Undeclared Work: Background Paper, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

Multilevel Marketing Diffusion And The Risk Of Pyramid Scheme Activity: The Case Of Fortune Hi‐Tech Marketing In Montana, Stacie A. Bosley, Kim Mckeage

Stacie Bosley

While statisticians have simulated the expected rate of growth in pyramid schemes, this research examines actual data on the spread of an alleged pyramid scheme in Montana. Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing (FHTM) was a multilevel marketing firm, sued by six states and the Federal Trade Commission and permanently shut down in 2014. Data from a settlement with the State of Montana provide a population of participants in a geographic region with definable markets and offer unique insights into local contagion. The authors analyze the pattern of FHTM adoption within a diffusion-of-innovation framework. The findings confirm that nearly all adoption results from …

Assessing A Foundation’S Contribution To Public-Policy Change: A New Framework, Barbara Masters, Gigi Barsoum, Sandra Martinez, Fatima Angeles

The Foundation Review

This article presents a framework for evaluating a foundation’s role in complex policy-change efforts, based on a 10-year retrospective evaluation of The California Wellness Foundation’s grantmaking in public policy.

After examining more than 25 policy outcomes associated with the foundation’s grantmaking priorities, three dimensions of contribution emerged: the role of its grantees relative to other organizations, the prominence of its role and funding relative to other funders or donors, and the degree of alignment between the policy change and the foundation’s policy goals.

The experience of The California Wellness Foundation illustrates that there is no single approach to supporting work …

Food Policy: Urban Farming As A Supplemental Food Source, Bessie Didomenica, Mark Gordon

Journal of Sustainable Social Change

Food policy has a unique role for public, nonprofit, private, and academic stakeholders. Growing food in the city is a challenge worldwide. Food systems can be destroyed by external (weather extremes) and internal (zoning regulations) forces. This study explores urban farms as a secondary food source and their common themes across four sectors. A Northeastern U.S. city was the case study to examine how it implemented its formal urban agriculture program. The positive social change implications of urban farms include greater food visibility and food access in low-income areas and more consumer awareness about growing fresh food. This study contributes …