Examining the employment issues of persons with disabilities and exploring the solutions: Focusing on social enterprises

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K01851
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 07080:Business administration-related
• Research Institution: Chuo University
• Principal Investigator: Hirasawa Tetsu 中央大学, 商学部, 教授 (70610963)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 社会的企業 / 障害者 / 就労問題 / 定性的研究

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study focused on social enterprises that are developing businesses to improve the working conditions of people with disabilities, and aimed to uncover the formation of social innovation and its impact through field research. By conducting this research, I aimed to gain an academic understanding of the problem of employment for people with disabilities and to derive practical suggestions for solving the problem. The research revealed the key characteristics of social entrepreneurs who are "parrhesia" - taking risks and speaking the truth with courage - as well as the characteristics of hybrid organizations that enable them to simultaneously fulfill two roles, business and welfare, which are difficult to be combined. These findings were published in a domestic academic journal and reported at major conferences in both Japan and abroad.

Free Research Field

経営学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、公共政策や社会福祉サービスなどの従来のアプローチと異なり、社会的企業という新しいアプローチから障害者就労の課題解決についての独自な知見を明らかにしています。また、多くの先行研究において用いられてきたサーベイ調査と異なり、長期にわたるフィールド調査を実施し、当事者の立場から現在の問題とその背景を理解し、さらに、課題解決の方法を探求している点に本研究の独自性・創造性があります。