S-Cube Project (S3):

Training Soft Skills In Social

Enterprises Using Virtual

Environments for Role Play

Edited by Déirdre O'Byrne & Jonathan Moizer

___________________________________________________________________

eISBN 978-1-84102-3687

© University of Plymouth Press 2014

The rights of this work have been asserted in accordance with the Crown Copyright,

Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means whether electronic,

mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written

permission of UPP. Any person who carries out any unauthorised act in relation to

this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

________________________________________________ Contents

Preface ii

Acknowledgements iii

Contributors' Biographies iv

The S-Cube Partners x

SECTION ONE: BACKGROUND TO THE S-CUBE PROJECT

Chapter One: S-Cube: Context of the Project 1

Jonathan Moizer & Elena Dell’Aquila

Chapter Two: Social Enterprises in the European Union: A Review of Policy 5

Déirdre O'Byrne & Jonathan Lean

Chapter Three: Defining Soft Skills and their Added Value to Social Enterprises 28

Déirdre O'Byrne & Elena Dell'Aquila

Chapter Four: Role Play in Virtual Environments 41

Luigia Simona Sica, Orazio Miglino, Andrea Di Ferdinando

SECTION TWO: DEVELOPING THE S-CUBE LEARNING PROGRAMME

Chapter Five: The Training Methodology 54

Elena Dell'Aquila & Jonathan Lean

Chapter Six: The Training Needs Analysis 107

Paul Walsh, Déirdre O'Byrne and Elena Dell'Aquila

Chapter Seven: Evaluation of the Online Role Play Trials 135

Roberta Asperges, Jonathan Moizer, Alfie Keary & Ralf Friedrich

SECTION THREE: FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR S-CUBE

Chapter Eight: Using S-Cube for Training Soft Skills: Lessons Learned and Future

Prospects 146

Jonathan Moizer, Luigia Simona Sica, Orazio Miglino, Andrea Di

Ferdinando, Liz Thomson, Paul Walsh & Ralf Friedrich

_________________________________________________ Preface

This e-book brings together a collection of chapters describing an EC funded

‘Leonardo Da Vinci Transfer of Innovation’ project titled ‘Using Online Role Play to

Promote Soft Skills Development for Social Enterprises’. Conducted over the period

January 2012 to December 2013, the project brought together project partners from

four countries: the UK (Plymouth University); Ireland (Cork Institute of Technology);

Germany (GeProS); and Italy (Università of Naples Federico II – UNINA).

The book examines the project from a variety of perspectives. In Section One,

following an introduction to the project a number of background research studies are

presented. These explore the context of the study relating to social enterprise in the

EU, the nature of soft skills and role play in virtual environments. Section Two goes

on to describe the S-cube project itself in terms of the methodology employed, the

outcomes of the ‘Training Needs Analysis’ undertaken and the evaluation of the

project activities. Finally, Section Three takes a prospective view, assessing future

prospects emerging from the S-cube project.

It is the hope of the project partners that the work undertaken through S-cube will

provide a foundation for further work in this important field and, most importantly, will

contribute to the development of the social enterprise community within the EU.

Jonathan Lean, February 2014

___________________________________________________ Acknowledgements

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission,

Agreement Number: UK/11/LLP-LdV/TOI-419, Project Number: 2011-1-GB2-LEO05-

05526. The authors gratefully acknowledge support of Sophia Gilbert, Leigh

Hannam, Nichola Garland, Gareth Hart and David Carter from Plymouth University;

Patrizia Cozzolino from UNINA; Nigel O’Keeffe, Jim O’Dwyer and Tim Horgan from

Cork Institute of Technology; and Sandra Mueller, Andrea Keil and Wilfried Evers

from GeProS. In addition, the UK National Agency at Ecorys UK Ltd should also

receive thanks for their programme management guidance throughout the period of

the project. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the

Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the

information contained therein.

___________________________________ Contributors’ Biographies

Roberta Asperges has collaborated as a research assistant

with the S-Cube team at Plymouth Business School where

she completed her Master Degree in Marketing Management

and Strategy. Roberta also holds a degree in Psychology,

allowing her to collaborate in S-Cube project in the

development of the evaluation tests that were used to assess

the participants’ soft skills. Moreover, she worked with

different techniques and analysis software on the data exploration to generate new

insight and value. Her academic interests include consumer behaviour; influencing

and protecting consumers; advertising studies.

Dr Elena Dell’Aquila is a clinical psychologist with a

specialisation in Organisational Psychology (Human

Resource Management and Development). Her research

has a strong focus on the development and design of

educational/learning methodologies promoting effective

user interaction with new technologies, with a particular

interest in serious, simulation-based, games. Elena has

participated in the development of EU projects in collaboration with members of the

Italian National Research Council, the University of Naples and Plymouth University.

These projects have had specific emphasis on users’ interaction through advanced

e-learning platforms, the usability of such software for child and adult learners

(education) and visually impaired people (accessibility), & soft skills training. She is

currently working as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Plymouth University.

Mr Andrea Di Ferdinando is a researcher at the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and

Technologies (ISTC) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). His research

activity concentrates on Computational Neuropsychology and Artificial Intelligence,

and their applications in several domains, such as e-Learning, Videogames, Serious

Games and Intelligent Tutor Systems. Andrea has authored important scientific

publications on brain modularity and its evolution, on computational models of

v

neuropsychological syndromes like neglect, on the role of

action and perception in object categorization and on the

application of Artificial Intelligent techniques in Serious

Games and Video Games. Andrea has participated on a

number of European research projects, in which he

collaborated on the creation of several technological

platforms for soft skills training. In 2012, he co-founded the

company Aidvanced s.r.l., for creating technology enhanced learning solutions,

applying the methodologies and techniques investigated in his research activity.

Mr Ralf Friedrich, PMP. BCC. MSc. is a qualified learning

consultant in project management and CEO of GeProS -

German Project Solutions GmbH in Dieburg, Germany. He

is an active member of the PMI® (Project Management

Institute) Chapter in Frankfurt and is involved in shaping

new developments in project management theory and

practice. Ralf is a qualified coach and has obtained the

BCC (Board Certified Coach) accreditation of the CCE (Centre for Credentialing and

Education). He received his training in coaching through the CTI (Coach Training

Institute) and also received CPCC (Certified Professional Co-Active Coach)

certification. Ralf's key capabilities are in delivering interactive workshops and

seminars in traditional classrooms, outdoors and in virtual environments; change

management and implementation of new work processes, including marketing, sales

and management systems; developing training curricula; assessing and improving

organisational training needs; managing international virtual projects; and coaching

senior managers, project leaders and teams. More recently, Ralf has lectured at the

University of Applied Sciences of Worms covering areas of leadership and strategic

management and is currently studying with Cork Institute of Technology for his PhD.

Mr Alfie Keary has over 30 years ICT (Information & Communications

Technologies) experience and is a director of Informa Europe Limited. His activities

with Informa Europe have included the business development of cloud based

software services, ICT consulting and education services as well as interactive web

based learning services. Alfie has completed numerous industry specific training

vi

programmes in ICT, has studied management at the Irish

Management Institute (IMI) and has completed an

Enterprise Development Programme managed by the

Dublin Institute of Technology. Alfie is a graduate of

University College Cork, National University of Ireland

Galway (NUI-Galway) and Regis University, Denver,

Colorado. In 2012, Alfie was awarded a PhD Risam

scholarship by Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland. In returning to full-time

education, his work now involves research into perceptual and affective computing,

Internet of Things/Sensor Web, Computational Intelligence and Brain Computer

Interfaces (BCIs) and how these technologies will drive future CMC innovations and

services.

Dr Jonathan Lean is an Associate Professor in Strategic

Management at Plymouth University. His research

interests include support and training for small to medium

sized enterprises (SMEs), and the use of simulation

games for teaching and learning. He is widely published

in these areas. He is a researcher on the topic of

simulation games and is also a Member of the Editorial

Board for Simulation & Gaming: An Interdisciplinary

Journal of Theory, Practice, and Research. He has researched widely on the

methodological issues surrounding the design, delivery and assessment of learning

through simulation gaming and role play, have disseminated his findings in

international journals, at conferences and at national education workshops.

Jonathan’s research on SME training and support focuses, in particular, on

evaluating the efficacy of interventions aimed at assisting smaller firms. He has led

or worked on projects funded by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

(ACCA), Business Link / Government Office South West, European Social Fund, the

Department for Education and Employment, the Higher Education Academy and the

British Council (Prime Minister’s Initiative 2).

Professor Orazio Miglino is an associate researcher at the CNR (Italian National

Research Council) Institute for Cognitive Sciences & Technology, Rome, where he

vii

works at the Laboratory for Adaptive Robotics and Artificial

Life (lara.istc.cnr.it). Professor Miglino's main research

interest is in the biological and cognitive mechanisms that

organisms (humans, animals and plants) use to construct

their knowledge of the world. Professor Miglino is also the

president of the 5 year specialist degree course in

Psychology at the University of Naples.

Dr Jonathan Moizer is the S-Cube Project Coordinator. He

is an Associate Professor in Business Operations and

Strategy at Plymouth University and a Fellow of the Higher

Education Academy. His research interests include both

simulation gaming and its applications in education and

training, as well as simulation modelling for learning, insight

and prediction. Jonathan is widely published in these fields in

addition to the use of computer-based simulation games in

educational settings. He is a Member of the Editorial Board for Simulation and

Gaming: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Theory, Practice, and Research' and sits on

the committee of the European Conference on Games Based Learning. Jonathan is

also engaged in research relating to strategy development for social enterprise. He

has led a successful UK Higher Education Academy funded project involving the

application of learning technologies to support students engaging with social

enterprise in ‘live consultancy’ projects. Over the past few years, he has organised

and facilitated three UK national workshops for the Higher Education Academy on

using simulation and games to promote and enhance experiential learning.

Jonathan is a ‘technology enabler’ within the Faculty of Business, where he supports

other academics with integrating simulation games and role play into their teaching

practice.

Ms Déirdre O'Byrne, B.A.MSocSc has worked on the S-Cube project as a

researcher with Cork Institute of Technology over the course of the project life. Her

area of expertise is Social Enterprise and Community Development. Déirdre is

currently working at University College Cork where she lectures in these areas within

Adult Continuing Education (ACE). Her academic career to date has been strongly

viii

influenced both from a practical and academic

perspective. Déirdre is currently programme manager for

various Masters, Higher Diploma and Diploma level

programmes in the areas of Human Resource

Management, Learning and Development, Career Needs

Assessment Planning and Support and Team

Management and Development, Social Enterprise and

Community Development Practice. These programmes form part of a new and

innovative Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Hub within the University. In

the past, Déirdre has managed a number of transnational EU projects in areas

concerned with the design and development of access educational and training

programmes for early school leavers.

Dr Luigia Simona Sica, Psychologist, is a post-doctoral

researcher in developmental psychology at the University

of Naples ‘Federico II’, Italy. Luigia received her PhD in

the area of psychology sciences. Her main research

areas are related to developmental psychology and

narrative approaches. More specifically, Luigia strongly

focuses on identity development, creativity, the impact of

new technologies on the definition of identity and normative and non-normative

biographical transitions during adolescence and emerging adulthood. Luigia has

been involved in the S-Cube project since its inception.

Ms Liz Thomson is a Computing Officer within the

Plymouth University Faculty of Business Specialist IT

Team. She is also an Associate Fellow of the Higher

Education Academy. She supports Specialist IT

Teaching, Learning, Research and Administration in the

Faculty. Her research interests include Internet

Information Services, Communications and Multimedia for

teaching, learning, research and administration in Higher Education.

ix

Dr Paul Walsh is Research Director of the Department of Computing, Cork Institute

of Technology and is a Research Fellow of the National Advanced Research Centre

NIMBUS. His research interest lies in game based

learning, and has been published by the IEEE Advanced

Learning Technologies Conference & the European

Conference on Games Based Learning (ECGBL). Paul is

active in the dissemination of research, sits on the

editorial boards of numerous peer reviewed publications

and is Chairman and co-founder of the Collaborative

European Research Conference (CERC) (http://cerc.h-da.de). His recent research

activity includes Enterprise Ireland's Innovation Partnership project with SEFTec Ltd.

to produce game based training and simulation software; ELVIN (European

Languages Virtual Network), a European Union (EU) Lifelong Learning Programme

Project aimed at creating an informal social network to support and facilitate

language learning; National Digital Learning Resource (NDLR) Projects; and the EU

Interreg IVB programme IMCORE Project, where game based software was

developed.

_______________________________________ The S-Cube Partners

All partners on the S-Cube project have EU transnational experience of transnational

research collaboration, as well as experience of using simulation, gaming and role

play in training settings. They each have specific expertise within the S-Cube

project, which allow synergies in delivering an integrated, role play training product

and methodology for soft skills development in social enterprises. The project

partners come from a number of EU countries where they are involved in a wide

range of education and training provision; the UK, Ireland, Italy and Germany.

Plymouth University is the largest university in South West of England, with over

32,000 students and is 9th largest in the United Kingdom by total number of

students. It is a large employer in the region, with a staff

over 3,000. Plymouth is a university built on a rich heritage

dating back to 1862 and has grown in terms of size,

reputation and impact. The University delivers higher

education through its network of 18 partner Colleges

across the South West and is a founding partner of the

Combined Universities in Cornwall. Gaining university status in 1992, it provides a

wide range of undergraduate and post graduate courses as well as doctoral study.

Plymouth is the first university in the world to be awarded the Social Enterprise Mark

in recognition of working as a genuine social enterprise, caring for communities and

protecting the planet. The award was announced by the Social Enterprise Mark

Company, which provides the only officially-defined registration for social enterprise.

Plymouth University is the lead partner of the S-Cube project and is represented by

Dr Jonathan Moizer, Dr Jonathan Lean, Dr Elena Dell'Aquila, Ms Elizabeth Thomson

and Ms Roberta Asperges.

xi

Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) is one of the largest third level technology

institutes in Ireland. With a student population of 16,000 the institute is spread

across four campuses in Cork City and County. The main campus of some eighty

acres is situated in the western suburbs of Cork city. The

Institute offers a full range of Higher Education

Qualifications, including Bachelor Degree and Honours

Bachelor Degrees, as well as Masters and PhD degrees.

CIT courses cover Business, Engineering, Science,

Computing, Humanities, Media, Art, and Music. The

Institute has an enviable record of providing students with

excellent employment opportunities and a firm basis for future career development.

Effective contact with industry has been a key objective of the Institute since its

inception. The benefits of the links which have been established with industry in the

region are reflected in the high levels of student placement and in the research and

development contracts won by the Institute.

CIT fosters enterprise and innovation in that it hosts the Rubicon Centre, the largest

enterprise incubation centre in Ireland. It has enabled creation of enterprises

through its GENISIS program. It has researched game based learning, with national

and EU funded projects such as an EU Lifelong Learning Programme Project,

National Digital Learning Resource Projects and EU Interreg IVB projects.

CIT's personnel on the S-Cube project are Dr Paul Walsh, Ms Déirdre O'Byrne and

Mr Alfie Keary.

Università of Naples Federico II - UNINA is one of the oldest universities of the

world, dating back almost eight centuries. Nowadays,

the size of the university is such that its buildings and

are spread throughout the city of Naples and its

immediate environs. With a student population of over

94,000 it is a very large university, offering a vast

number of degrees at primary, masters and doctorate

levels and offering high profile training paths across a broad array of disciplines.

xii

More specifically within the university, the S-Cube project is partnered with the

Department of Theories & Methods of Human & Social Sciences (TEOMESUS). It

consists of 60 staff members. TEOMESUS brings together researchers from across

different humanities disciplines to create distinctive, interdisciplinary studies

concerning human beings & human communities. The research activities are

primarily developed in the fields of psychology, pedagogy, philosophy, linguistics,

economics, statistics & demography. The various components provide multiple

insights, methodologies, & disciplines that have been developed & applied to

understanding human complexity.

TEOMESUS has a strong experience in EU funded projects, where technologies

dedicated to distance learning are employed. They have developed a number of

software platforms and related training methodologies to support role play gaming.

These games have been applied in different learning contexts.

The S-Cube team at the university is headed up by Professor Orazio Miglino, Mr

Andrea Di Ferdinando and Dr Luigi Sica.

GeProS - German Project Solutions GmbH is a German

consultancy firm based in Dieburg which offers an

international team of experienced experts who offer a unique

combination of methods, skills and knowledge as part of its

business and project solutions. GeProS possesses a rich

experience in a wide range of skills such as executive coaching, transformation

management and intercultural coaching of international projects across multi-

locations. With active research in cooperation with the University of Darmstadt and

Cork Institute of Technology, the company maintains and up to date knowledge in

virtual project work. It thus insures its solutions are well grounded, supported by

applied research and on the pulse of time while specialising in virtual project work. A

feature of GeProS work is in interactive workshops and made-to-measure seminars.

GeProS seminar leaders and coaches work virtually from their global locations, and

facilitate, through their training delivery, the development of virtual project

organisations, which are agile and have the capacity to change rapidly.

xiii

The S-Cube representatives from GeProS are Mr Ralf Friedrich, Ms Sandra Müller

and Ms Andrea Keil.

1

_________________________________________________________

SECTION ONE: BACKGROUND TO THE S-CUBE PROJECT

Chapter One

S-Cube: Context of the Project

Jonathan Moizer & Elena Dell’Aquila

Project Background and Aims

The S-Cube Project represents the collaboration of four transnational EU education

and training providers; Plymouth University (UK); Cork Institute of Technology

(Ireland); UNINA (Naples, Italy) and GeProS (Germany). The name S-Cube

represents the three S's associated with this project, namely: Soft Skills for Social

Enterprises. The S-Cube development project secured EU Leonardo Transfer of

Innovation Funding in January 2011 to create an e-learning tool to support the

development of soft skills for social enterprises and was completed during the period

January 2013 to December 2014.

The Leonardo Programme objectives on which funding was granted and which are

comprehensively addressed by the S-Cube Project were as follows:

Leonardo Programme General Objectives Addressed in the S-Cube Project

a) To support participants in training and further training activities in the

acquisition and the use of knowledge, skills and qualifications to facilitate

personal development, employability and participation in the European labour

market.

b) To support improvements in quality and innovation in vocational education

and training systems, institutions and practices.

c) To enhance the attractiveness of vocational education and training and

mobility for employers and individuals and to facilitate the mobility of working

trainees.

2

Leonardo Programme Operational Objectives Addressed in this Project

a) To improve the quality and to increase the volume of co-operation between

institutions or organisations providing learning opportunities, enterprises,

social partners and other relevant bodies throughout Europe.

b) To facilitate the development of innovative practices in the field of vocational

education and training other than at tertiary level, and their transfer, including

from one participating country to others.

c) To improve the transparency and recognition of qualifications and

competences, including those acquired through non-formal and informal

learning.

Practical Application of Objectives to the S-Cube Project

The overall mission of the S-Cube project was to spread the use of online learning

(through open source provision) as a way of providing a training experience to

enhance the soft-skills of individuals working within social enterprise settings.

Working methodologies in the project involved the use of a state of the art approach

which contributed to the enhancement of ‘learning-by-doing’ practice for soft skills

training. A dedicated need analysis was conducted at the trans-European level to

identify soft skill needs for a range of social enterprises and social enterprise

stakeholders.

Social Enterprises have dual purposes of producing a profit to achieve organisational

sustainability while also fulfilling a social mission. Their activities often benefit

groups of people who are disadvantaged, including for example, the unemployed,

ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. Existing research shows that social

enterprises face a number of operating challenges, and in order for them to compete,

up-skilling of their staff may be necessary. They are often small and working under

condition of sparse resources. This can preclude them from developing or gaining

access to educational, management, technical and training expertise. Many such

enterprises can benefit from additional support in the development of skills critical to

their success.

3

'Soft skills' are particularly important. These are related to the way that people

interact with others, how they understand their social environment, how they manage

relationships and address problems.

The S-Cube project aimed to develop and test an online platform, designed to

enhance and improve the soft skills of individuals working and supporting social

enterprises. Additionally, the project aimed to develop and test the associated

methodology for training delivery and evaluation. These aims were realised through

transferring and adapting an existing 3D graphic multiplayer platform - EUTOPIA

(developed by the Relational Sciences Department of the Università of Naples

Federico II - UNINA) - and the product outcomes of a previous Transfer of Innovation

(TOI) Leonardo Project (EUTOPIA-MT) to the new environment of the Social

Enterprise.

The EUTOPIA role-play software has been used as an online mediation tool in

community settings affected by conflict (for example, Northern Ireland and Cyprus).

The 3D graphic tool for communication modelling is based on Educational

Multiplayer Online Role Play Games (EMORPG). The EUTOPIA programme was

led by two aims: to enhance the e-learning approach and to contribute to soft skills

training through 'learning by doing' practice. The free online training package

allowed both geographic and resource barriers to training access to be overcome.

The S-Cube project sought to utilise the strengths of the EUTOPIA software to

address a new set of challenges, specifically those faced by social enterprises. The

project brought together a range of complementary strengths, capabilities and

perspectives which were drawn from across the four project partner institutions. The

consortium of partners synergised their efforts to develop, test and disseminate a

low-cost, high utility set of trainer supported soft skills scenarios via an online role

play product named S-Cube. The consortium sought to develop a cost efficient, high

impact vocational education and training (VET) Learning Programme that would

propagate good practice in how soft skills are applied to running different aspects of

European social enterprises, and which could also be widely disseminated and

exploited.

4

This mission was set within international/national policy parameters which define the

current training needs of social enterprises within the wider EU and are driven by the

global demand for skills and technology transfer. The training needs which emerge

for the development of intrinsically important soft skills are also located within the

significant growth of relatively new productive organisational work environments:

social enterprises. Significant issues and challenges arise for public policy nationally

and internationally in order to exploit the exciting possibilities for employment and

social inclusion that social enterprises present. The successful exploitation of these

opportunities is itself contingent on improving the organisational capacity,

effectiveness and efficiency of social enterprises. Soft skills have been identified as

a key area for improvement to achieve this. Enhancing the dynamic performance of

social enterprises delivers a win-win scenario for the wider EU citizenry by exploiting

the under-developed potential that social enterprises have to offer in economic,

social, cultural and environmental spheres across the EU. This in turn is dependent

on: improving their management systems; leadership and development

methodologies; the building-up of resilience and trust within social enterprise teams

and between these teams and the state, plus other business and societal

stakeholders; enhancing communication and interpersonal skills. The S-Cube

project has shown how such improvement in soft skills can be achieved by the use of

role play in a virtual environment through the use of 'serious games'. The

development of this tool and its dissemination is an important mechanism to improve

soft skills for social enterprises across the EU is an end-stage outcome of this

project. It is hoped that it can be used as a technology transfer method/tool to

deliver improved soft skills in social enterprises EU-wide, and ultimately deliver

performance benefits for these enterprises, thereby improving their ability to fulfil the

economic, social and environmental objectives which are at the heart of the mission

of many social enterprises.

The next three Chapters (Social Enterprise Policy in the European Union; Defining

Soft Skills and Their Added Value to Social Enterprises; Role Playing in Virtual

Environments) address the issues and challenges that arise within these wider

critically important contexts and within which the overall mission of the S-Cube

Project is centrally embedded.

5

Chapter Two

Social Enterprise Policy in the European Union

Déirdre O'Byrne & Jonathan Lean

Introduction

This chapter seeks to review the current state of social enterprise in the EU and to

discuss key aspects of emerging policy. Whilst the general picture across the

European Union (EU) shows an increasingly significant role for social enterprise in

economic and social activity, the sector has developed at different speeds across

member countries. Viewing social enterprise as an important means to address

issues of social exclusion and poverty through social innovation, the EU has

developed a renewed policy focus in this area in recent years. Presented here is an

overview of social enterprise, the ‘Third Sector’ and the ‘Social Economy’, drawing

on case examples from across the EU. It develops a critical assessment of current

EU policy related to social enterprise, focusing in particular on the Social Business

Initiative (SBI) and resultant proposals. It concludes by arguing that social enterprise

represents an important mechanism to address policy priorities within the EU and

that the agenda set by the SBI should be a key area of focus for EU policy over the

coming years.

Case illustrations are drawn from partner countries involved in the S-Cube project:

the UK, Ireland, Germany and Italy.

Background to Social Enterprises

Increasingly in almost all industrialised countries, we have seen the remarkable

emergence of a new type of socio-economic model of business, the social

enterprise. In the 1970s, with increased unemployment and falls in economic growth

across Europe1, many states experienced crisis. Retrenchment followed, which was

often characterised by privatisation and a stark reduction in public spending on

public services provision by governments (Mosher-Williams 2006; Borzaga and

1During this period, unemployment levels rose across Europe from three and four percent to ten per

cent. Into the 1990s, up to forty percent of unemployed people were classed as long term (in excess of twelve months). (Defourny, Favreau, Lavelle, 2001)

6

Defourney, 2001; Borzaga and Santuari, 2003). This situation gave rise to an

unprecedented rise in the development of social enterprises to help meet this

inadequacy in social needs provision and rising unemployment. These enterprises

were mainly established by civil society or third sector organisations and groupings

(Nyssens and Kerlin, 2005). They included a wide array of initiatives focused on

such areas as childcare, employment programmes for the unemployed, care for

elderly people and social information provision. The extent and nature of how

individual countries responded through third sector organisations to the emerging

increased social need differed, dependent on the particular circumstances of

individual states (Mosher-Williams, 2006). There have been significant differences

across countries in terms of the activities of social enterprises. For instance, there

has been a marked predominance of social enterprise activity in health, social work

and education in Hungary and Romania, while countries such as the UK and

Sweden have seen a significant increase of social enterprises in areas such as

community and social services. In Italy the main fields of activity are work integration

and welfare service provision (EU Commission 2013).

Given that these enterprises were not established by either the public or private

sectors, their source of emergence consequently bears a strong influence to their

sectoral residence, i.e. the third sector also referred to as the social economy. In

understanding the concept of social enterprises, it is therefore important to

understand their sectoral context.

The Third Sector and the Social Economy

National economies are considered to have three sectors. The first sector is the

private sector which is centred on profits for private purposes and the second sector

or the public sector is overseen by governments. However, national economies

have a third sector that doesn’t fit into either of the preceding categories and is also

seen as part of what is known as the social economy. The social economy pursues

social goals and provides services and goods by using market economy strategies.

Although there is quite a distinct difference between the social economy and the

social market economy, they both play a crucial role in defining the European social

and economic model. "The term 'social economy' is used to define a specific part of

the economy: a set of organisations (historically grouped into four major categories:

7

cooperatives, mutuals, associations and, more recently, foundations) that primarily

pursue social aims and are characterised by participative governance systems."

(EU, 2013:12). Whereas, the social market economy is often seen as a mid-point

between, on the one hand, laissez faire capitalism, where the state does not interfere

in market activities and on the other hand, centrally planned economies in which the

state directs all economic activity. In a social market economy, the role of the state

is to correct any negative outcomes from free market activity by regulation,

legislation and implementing social policy in the direction of social protection. The

principles of the social market economy are embedded in the European Union

Treaty2.

There are two bodies of thought governing social enterprises and their relationship to

the third sector and the social economy. The first places the social enterprise within

the third sector at boundaries between co-operatives and non-profits and

characterises them as sub-groups of the social economy (Defourny, 2001).

Conversely, US thinking places social enterprises nearer to the private and public

sectors rather than at the core of the third sector (Leadbeater 1997; Westall 2001).

However, EMES3 offers a further perspective which gives still greater insight into the

third sector. For EMES, the central criterion for situating organisations within this

sector is, “....the fact that the organisation is governed in a way that ensures that the

potential surplus is used and reinvested alongside social criteria. ...such

organisations would then not have to be non-profit, but they would have to be not-

for-profit” (Evers, A. 2012).

The Spear (2002) describes the Social Economy thus: “The social economy is a

thriving and growing collection of organisations that exist between the traditional

private sector on the one hand, and the public sector on the other” (Spear, 2002: 9).

2 Article 3 of the European Union Treaty states, "The Union shall establish an internal market. It shall

work for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment. It shall promote scientific and technological advance". http://www.eurotreaties.com/lisbontext.pdf 3 EMES, European Research Network. The letters E-M-E-S represent Emergence de l’Enterprise

Sociale. EMES is a research network of established university research centres and individual researchers whose goal is to gradually build up a European corpus of theory and empirical knowledge, pluralistic in disciplines and methodology around third sector issues. The organisation is based University of Liège, Belgium.

8

However, in the context of the EU it is important to note that the concept of the social

economy is relatively new, and member states have come from different starting

points and are at different stages of development in this context. According to the

European Economic and Social Committee, social economy enterprises represent

10% of all European businesses, with two million undertakings and 6% of EU’s

employment, (EESC 2013). This growth is not confined to Europe but is reflected

across the globe as exemplified by data on worldwide co-operatives (Euricse and the

International Cooperative Alliance, 2012). These developments demonstrate that

the Social Economy has become a key element of the European social model and a

key player in attaining the objectives set out in the EU 2020 Strategy4. Therefore,

the dimension of the social economy is of significant value for Europe in striving to

combat poverty, increase social inclusion and impact positively on employment

rates.

Demonstrating its growing policy relevance, the EU Commission (2013) has recently

issued a comprehensive guide to the social economy and social entrepreneurship.

The guide outlines the context in which the social economy and social

entrepreneurship are situated. It defines the characteristics of organisations within

the social economy, new forms of organisations and new emerging legal forms to

accommodate these. It goes on to provide an exposition of new data, explaining the

scale and scope of activities within the sector and the impact of the present

economic situation. Significant changes in organisational behaviour relating to

finance, economic activity, social impacts and corporate responsibility are explored

along with key challenges for the sector, the role of public policy and the outlook for

the social economy. Essentially, what emerges here is that social enterprises

operating within the social economy occupy a place in member state economies that

is distinct from the more traditional private and public sectors and is extremely

important in the European context.

4 The Europe 2020 Strategy is the current EU reform agenda for growth and jobs. Driven by a long-

term vision, this policy strategy was driven by the European Commission, and agreed by the European Council in June 2010.

9

Defining the Social Enterprise

Although there is strong evidence to suggest that social enterprises have existed

pre-1970s, (Borzaga et al. 2008; Anheier 2005; Westall 2001; Defourny & Develtere

1999; Banks 19725) it was only around this time that socio-economic models of

business which did not fit neatly into the confines of the traditional public and private

sectors began to develop in any great numbers. Concurrently, it was also around

this time that a theoretical framework of literature began to emerge and consequently

develop into a large body which examined this model and began to define it. In

exploring the definitions, it is not intended to confine the debate to legal status and

legal definitions but to examine the social enterprise in terms of its nature, its

operation and social impacts. Some practical examples will also be given here.

From the EU definition outlined below, we see that profits from the enterprise are

closely intertwined with social objectives. The nature and activity of the enterprise is

named as the 'provision of goods and services for the market' which is sufficiently

broad to include all sorts of market activity. This reflects the growing diversity of

commercial activity amongst social enterprises that we now see emerging across EU

countries.

The European Commission Definition

“A social enterprise is an operator in the social economy whose main objective is to

have a social impact rather than make a profit for their owners or shareholders. It

operates by providing goods and services for the market in an entrepreneurial and

innovative fashion and uses its profits primarily to achieve social objectives. It is

managed in an open and responsible manner and, in particular, involves employees,

consumers and stakeholders affected by its commercial activities”.

The Commission applies the term social enterprise to the following types of

business:

“those for which the social or societal objective of the common good is the

reason for the commercial activity, often in the form of a high level of social

innovation,

5 Banks (1972) for instance referred to Robert Owen as a 'social entrepreneur' who was widely

credited as being a philanthropist who pioneered the co-operative movement in the UK in the 1820s.

10

those where profits are mainly reinvested with a view to achieving this social

objective

and where the method of organisation or ownership system reflects their

mission, using democratic or participatory principles or focusing on social

justice.” (European Commission, 2011:2)

In recent times, definitions and attendant literature have emerged from the EMES, a

leading research institute concerning social enterprises. The criteria they use for

defining social enterprises contain a combination of economic and social factors. If

we consider this definition, we see some striking similarities with that of the EU

definition, as outlined above. Both definitions put a strong emphasis on making a

strong entrepreneurial and social impact on economies and consequently on society.

This is sometimes referred to as achieving the ‘double bottom line’ in contrast to the

‘bottom line’ (financial profit only) criteria for private enterprise. The EMES definition

is as follows:

EMES Definition

"Organisations with an explicit aim to benefit the community, initiated by a group of

citizens and in which the material interest of capital investors is subject to limits.

They place a high value on their independence and on economic risk-taking related

to on-going socio-economic activity." (Defourny & Nyssens, 2006:5)

Clann Credo is a leading social enterprise in Ireland which provides social finance for

social enterprises. As may be seen from its definition of social enterprise, they

stress the concept of the social and economic criteria in line with previous definitions.

However, similar to many other definitions, Clann Credo also introduces the concept

of the ‘triple bottom line’ which includes the environment as a factor. This third

factor is not uncommon in definitions and contributes to the collective and social

nature of the social enterprise.

Clann Credo- Social Finance – Ireland.

“Social Enterprises are organisations or business that are driven primarily by social

and/or environmental motives and engage in trading to pursue these objectives.

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Ownership of the enterprise is within a community, or amongst people with a shared

interest. Surpluses generated by the enterprise are re-invested to further their social

objectives. Social Enterprise has a strong job creation focus to help local people and

communities.” (Clann Credo 2012)

If we look at the UK, we see that social enterprises have been by and large

incorporated into the mainstream of economic recognition and activity. The UK

government (DTI, 2002) has also put forward its definition of the social enterprise. In

listing its characteristics, additionally to social and economic impacts, it also refers to

the potential positive impacts of environmental factors that social enterprises can

focus on. In its documentation, it cites the Eden Project which is renowned for its

environmental sustainability while commercially reinvesting into the project to ensure

its future both at economic and social levels (DTI 2002: 14).

The UK Government Definition

“A social enterprise is a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses

are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather

than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners.” (DTI

2002:13)

As may be seen from the definitions outlined here, it is apparent that all definitions

agree that double or triple bottom line operating criteria strongly define what is meant

by a social enterprise. The activity of the enterprise must have positive social and

economic outcomes with hallmarks of re-investment and an absence of payment to

shareholders.

Social Enterprise in Practice

The increasing significance of social enterprise in the economies of EU member

states is illustrated by the examples below which are drawn from three of the S-Cube

project partner countries.

Ireland: Speedpak is based in Dublin and was established in 1995. It is a

commercial entity providing packaging services to the local business community.

12

Speedpak has a diversified business portfolio and has extended its business to

include the manufacturing of rosettes that are used for equestrian, agricultural and

dog show events across the country, the management of warehouse and storage

facilities and it also generates funds by renting training, educational and seminar

facilities to other companies and community organisations.

The social mission of the company utilises integrated training programmes to help

long term unemployed people back to work, providing work experience in a fully-

fledged commercial and work supported environment. The Speedpak model aims

to rebuild confidence and self-esteem in the individual who has been out of work for

a long period and helps to build and promote behaviour skills required in the

modern day work place. The company's workers can take up nationally accredited

training courses and benefit from special one to one support from the company's

occupational psychologists and core staff mentors.

Source: www.speedpak.ie

The UK: The Eden Project is located in Cornwall in the South West of England.

The project has been described as a global garden with enormous biomes that

emulate global climatic regions, housing plants from all over the world. Originally the

area was a large disused clay quarry and has been dramatically transformed into a

visitor’s centre that is focused on the project's mission to: "To promote the

understanding and responsible management of the vital relationship between plants,

people and resources, leading towards a sustainable future for all." Herein we find

the social and environmental focus of the enterprise. The mission has been

progressed with the implementation of transformational social and environmental

projects both at a local and international level. These are in addition to the valuable

research into plants and conservation. The entire operation has been designed with

a central focus of minimising the carbon footprint of its activities. The Eden Project

opened its doors in 2000 and has enjoyed over 13 million visitors from that time. It

has contributed £1bn to the Cornish economy and has sustained over 500 jobs in the

region

Source: www.edenproject.com

13

Italy: In Concerto Consortium was founded in 2002 in Castelfranco Veneto (North

East Italy). The consortium has almost 1,300 employees with an estimated one sixth

of those employed, experiencing disability or social disadvantage. The consortium is

comprised of 25 social enterprises. The mission of the consortium is concentrated

into two areas: care for the elderly and to develop services aimed to rehabilitate and

include into the labour market, disadvantaged people, many of whom have mental ill

health. The business activity includes carpentry, care for the elderly, home

healthcare, warehousing, personnel management and the provision of logistics

services.

The consortium has a turnover in excess of €47m. and in 2010 had 13% growth,

despite the European economic downturn. The member groups contribute €0.10 for

every work hour resulting in €150,000 being available every year which is reinvested

into the development of the member groups' organisations.

Source: Borzaga & Paini, 2011. Translated by Carla Ranicki

One of the earliest writers to identify the potential of social enterprises was David

Billis of the London School of Economics (Billis, 1993). In his frequently cited work,

Organising Public and Voluntary Agencies, Billis drew on the work of Drucker (1990)

amongst others in explaining the unique identity of the social enterprise as a hybrid

agency which actively interacts with citizens in the third sector; government officials

in the public sector; and with business people in the private sector. Billis’s typology

suggested as far back as the 1990s that ‘entrepreneurial agencies’ (social

enterprises) within the third sector had the best chance of long-term sustainability.

By ‘entrepreneurial’, he meant that the social enterprise identified with and was

funded by: the government, in terms of grants; the private sector, with whom it did

business as a real enterprise and received revenue or from whom it received a

donation/sponsorship; and thirdly civil society itself, by way of raising money through

charitable donations, membership fees or charges for specific services or goods

(Billis, 1993).

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Hence, and as illustrated by the case examples above, the most successful social

enterprises have entrepreneurialism writ large in the sense that they are innovative

at raising funds, are prepared to have a blended identity and are willing to engage in

a diverse array of activities which range from the production of goods and services to

self-help groups, or to providing social services on behalf of the government (Billis

1993). Certain social enterprises are more specialised in working more specifically

as government service providers or charities or community businesses. However,

the intersection of any one social enterprise with civil society, government or the

private sectors makes the totality of the activity within the non-profit sector

entrepreneurial in nature. This is in addition to specific organisations which are

heavily entrepreneurial and whose revenue and work spans all three sectors.

Billis’s assessment has proved remarkably astute. In the 2000s, the entrepreneurial

nature and diverse activity set of social enterprises, either as distinct entities or

incorporating the non-profit sectors as a whole, has been well documented, as has

been their contribution to the overall economy. An assessment by Hart and

Houghton (2007) of the 2007 Report of the UK Office of the Third Sector states:

“....Official research from the DTI (2005) shows that social enterprises employ more

than 775,000 people in the UK and are operating in a diverse range of trades. The

research shows that UK social enterprises have an annual turnover of £18 billion....”

The EU and Policy Development

The International Centre of Research and Information on the Public, Social and Co-

operative Economy (CIRIEC) (2009: 48) reports the share of the population involved

in social entrepreneurship as 4.1% in Belgium, 7.5% in Finland, 3.1% in France,

3.3% in Italy, 5.4% in Slovenia and 5.7% in the UK. Given the frame of the

emergence of social enterprises and in particular their scale in the European and

global context, the development of policy within the EU as a response to new

challenges being posed by old and new social needs, has been and continues to be

crucial. (EU, 2011) Policy developments have been noted in funding, legal

frameworks, management, training and education, identity and other critical factors.

These observations inform the basis for the current section.

15

The importance of social enterprises and their potential to develop millions of jobs

across the European Union, alongside meeting major social and environmental

objectives (the triple bottom line), received a major impetus with the publication of

The Delors EU Commission White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and

Employment (1993). The Delors Report (as it is often referred to) recognised the

growing importance of the third sector in creating jobs and contributing to economic

prosperity. In particular, it identified significant job opportunities in the social

economy, with a strong emphasis on service sector employment potential.

Most social enterprises find themselves in the small to medium enterprise (SME)

category and part of the EU 21 million SMEs (EU, 2011a). The EU’s Europe 2020

growth strategy sees social enterprises as key for diminishing poverty, social

exclusion and other societal problems. These are increasingly being seen by the EU

as major assets for sustainable growth and job creation. An increasing emphasis on

creating new social enterprises to address unemployment and to provide both

balanced and sustainable social development can be gleaned from the 2011 EU

Commission's ‘Social Business Initiative’ (SBI) document to parliament and the

council. It is entitled, 'The Social Business Initiative: Creating a favourable climate for

social enterprises, key stakeholders in the social economy and innovation’.

The SBI was introduced “in order to promote a 'highly competitive social market

economy', the Commission has placed the social economy and social innovation at

the heart of its concerns, in terms of both territorial cohesion and the search for new

solutions to societal problems, in particular the fight against poverty and exclusion."

(EU Commission, 2011:3).

The SBI points to the fact that one in four of the working population are ‘now involved

in social entrepreneurship’ (EU Commission, 2011:3) and a quarter of all businesses

in the EU are now categorised as social enterprises. It further reports that social

enterprises are increasingly becoming more competitive and ‘smart’ and are to be

lauded in offering balanced economic and social objectives. It adds that there are

now over 11 million people working in the social economy throughout Europe and

this is growing. The SBI gives a strong flavour of the mix of social enterprises in the

services sector to a large extent, but also in the manufacture of goods.

16

The SBI's main focus is on the stimulation of social business within the EU area.

The eleven priority areas are spread across three governing areas. These are

outlined here in summarised form:

I. Improving access to funding

1) A regulatory framework for social investment funds to be set up to

facilitate access to the financial markets for social enterprises.

2) In addition to easing access to micro-credits through the Progress

Microfinance Facility, to improve analysis, promotion and development

of the legal and institutional environment for micro-credits.

3) The provision by the Commission of €90 million euro to facilitate start-

up, development and expansion of the social enterprises by way of

investment in solidarity invest funds.

4) Investment priority for social enterprises to be expressly introduced in

the ERDF and ESF regulations from 2014.

II. Increasing the visibility of social enterprise

5) To investigate best practices and replicable models by developing a

comprehensive map of social enterprises in Europe.

6) To create a public database of labels and certifications applicable to

social enterprises in Europe to improve visibility and comparison.

7) To promote mutual learning and capacity building of national and

regional administrations.

8) To create a single, multilingual electronic data and exchange platform.

9) To promote and increase accessibility of Community programmes in

support of social entrepreneurs.

III. Improving the legal environment

10) To present a proposal for simplification of the regulation on the Statute

for a European Cooperative Society.

11) To propose a regulation for a European foundation statute, in order to

facilitate foundations' cross border activities.

12) To initiate a study on the situation of mutual societies in order to

examine their cross-border activities.

17

13) To further enhance the element of quality in awarding contracts in the

context of the reform of public procurement.

14) To simplify the implementation of rules concerning state aid to social

and local services. (EU, 2011)

I Improving access to funding

Being a unique form of enterprise, it is not surprising that social enterprises

experience particular kinds of barriers in generating investment6 (Gallup, 2009) and

problems that involve economies of scale, launching new products, strengthening

their infrastructure and increasing employment. Lending institutions, for instance,

have particular difficulties in assessing risk related to what is seen as a ‘hybrid' form

of enterprise, somewhere between charities and the for-profit sectors (EU, 2011:5).

Most financial institutions recognise a single bottom line only and are not concerned

with a social or environmental added value or return on their investments.

Additionally, access to public funds is frequently impeded by systems that are seen

as rigid or too bureaucratic.

The SBI has been designed to remove or minimise unintended and unnecessary

barriers to the channelling of investment into the sector. On this basis, in December

2011, the Commission proposed a new regulation of European Social

Entrepreneurship Funds (ESEF), designed for the formal institutional recognition and

regulation of social investment funds. This EU regulation (346/2013) came into

being in July, 2013.

In 2011, the EU Commission issued a regulatory proposal (EU, 2012) to set up the

ESEF, a new EU investment fund for social enterprises. The branding of this fund

was designed to attract large experienced investors as a way of raising the

necessary capital for the fund:

'The Regulation adopted today creates a common brand: the “European Social

Entrepreneurship Funds”. With this label, investors will know that the majority of their

investment is going into social businesses. In addition, the common EU-wide brand

6 According to the 2009 Gallup Eurobarometer study, access to finance is seen to be the second most

important obstacle to business growth.

18

will make it much easier for investors throughout the EU to locate these funds'. (EU

press release, 7.12.2013)

This new fund is the fulfilment of a commitment made in the EU SBI document

(2011) whereby the Commission proposed ‘a 90-million euro European financial

instrument to be set up to facilitate access to funding' (EU, 2011:8). The mechanism

for raising the €90 million investment fund, from which social enterprises could apply

for funding, was through a private finance vehicle.

The final step in the delivery of the ESEF came with the publication of Regulation

No: 346/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Social

Entrepreneurship funds on April 17, 2013. This regulation puts clear legal regulatory

arrangements in place for the establishment and functioning of the new fund.

Essentially, private investors will provide the necessary capital to make up the fund,

for which they will receive a financial return, (though the regulation does not provide

any specific information on the likely magnitude of such a return) and this capital will

then be used to provide valuable investment streams to various social enterprises

across the EU. The spur to doing this seems to be that the EU has learned some

lessons from the banking and financial crises since 2008:

'Such investment funds provide funding to social undertakings that act as drivers of

social change by offering innovative solutions to social problems, for example by

helping to tackle the social consequences of the financial crisis, and by making a

valuable contribution to meeting the objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy set out

in the Commission Communication of 3 March 2010 entitled, ‘Europe 2020: A

strategy for delivering smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’. (EU 2013a: Section

1)

Common rules governing the criteria that investors will have to observe have been

established to guarantee consistency and uniformity; essentially a level playing-pitch

for investors across the EU:

'It is necessary to lay down a common framework of rules regarding the use of the

designation ‘EuSEF’ for qualifying social eligible investment targets, the investment

19

tools they may employ and the categories of investors that are eligible to invest in

them by uniform rules in the Union entrepreneurship funds...' (EU 2013a, Section 2).

Essentially this is a common framework of rules regarding the use of the designation

'EuSEF' for qualifying social entrepreneurship funds, in particular ‘investment targets,

the investment tools they may employ and the categories of investors that are

eligible to invest in them by uniform rules in the Union'. (EU, 2013, Section 2).

An enterprise that applies for funding needs to prove that it is a 'social enterprise' in

that:

'It operates by providing goods and services for the market and uses its profits

primarily to achieve social objectives. It is managed in an accountable and

transparent manner, in particular, by involving employees, consumers and

stakeholders that are affected by its commercial activities’ (EU, 2013a, section 12).

Under Section 14 of the regulation, (346/2013), specific types of social enterprises

are given as examples of best-practice economic activity areas. These include:

I. Services for marginalised people in: housing, healthcare

II. Services to elderly or disabled people

III. Childcare

IV. Employment and training activities

V. Environmental protection

VI. Anti-pollution measures

VII. Re-cycling

VIII. Renewable energy

IX. Other

The overall fund would be divided up into many separate funds across the EU with

the specific requirement that each fund would invest a minimum of 70% of its

investment capital into social enterprises/businesses. The final outcomes might be

considered to represent a win-win scenario for investors and social businesses:

'The creation of positive social impacts in addition to the generation of financial

returns for investors is a key characteristic of investment funds targeting social

20

undertakings, one which distinguishes them from other types of investment funds'

(EU, 2013a, Section 28).

II Increasing the visibility of social entrepreneurship

The SBI document (EU, 2011:8) recognises the importance of the visibility of social

entrepreneurship. It recognises the need for easy access to information on social

enterprises concerning impacts, social performance, best practice and evaluation. It

suggests an example of '...using the experience of Member States which have set up

satellite accounts to gather statistics on social enterprises, in particular cooperatives

and mutual societies.' It recognises that these needs may be met by creating a

multilingual information and exchange platform for social entrepreneurs, business

incubators and clusters and social investors.

In addressing the problem of the current low visibility of social enterprises, it points to

the potential of the use of labelling and certification to meet these challenges. To

this end, the SBI advocates the use of a public database of labels and certifications

applicable to social enterprises in Europe.

The Commission also sees an important factor in achieving a higher level of visibility

for social enterprise as being its promotion among the younger generations. It

recognises that skills are needed to manage and grow social enterprise and it

therefore wishes to promote cross-fertilisation between innovative social

entrepreneurs, academics and researchers (EU 2011:9). An important factor here is

the inclusion and promotion of accessibility to Community Programmes such as

ERASMUS, ERASMUS for Young Entrepreneurs, TEMPO, 'Youth in Action' 2007-

2013 (in particular the 'Youth Initiatives' activities) and HORIZON 2020.

III Improving the legal environment

As we can see from different areas covered in this paper, for social enterprises to

reach their potential, they have many barriers to overcome. Many of these barriers

are intertwined, are complex and very often structural in nature. These require a

multi-pronged approach by policy makers if they are to be overcome.

21

One of the obstacles that social enterprises encounter relates to legal complexities

and obligations. In particular, these relate to national laws that were designed for the

more traditional companies, i.e. investor driven and capitalistic companies that do

not have a social remit and operate the ultimate goal of a single bottom line. For

example, the difficulty in implementing Regulation 1435/2003 on the Statute for

European Cooperative Society (SCE) has been highlighted7 (SCE, 2010). The SBI

has recognised these difficulties and has posited the idea of the simplification of the

implementation of the SBI.

National regulations and criteria for the awarding of public contracts to social

enterprises very often only relate to returns on investment but a central remit of a

social enterprise is the social return on investment. In most instances, this additional

criterion does not feature as part of the evaluation process. Both European and

national laws may impact on this and this problem has been compounded in some

instances by the practice of ‘gold-plating’.8

As illustrated below with reference to the four partner countries represented within

the S-Cube project, the issues described above need to considered within the

diverse national legal frameworks that exist within the EU. These accounts also

highlight the varying stages of development of the social enterprise sector across

countries. They also show how there has been a shift to develop different legal

forms across Europe to cater for newer models of business.

Social Enterprise and Legal Frameworks across the S-Cube Partner Areas

Italy

In 1991, the Italian parliament pioneered legislation (Law 381/1991) to create a

specific legal form for ‘social co-operatives’9 (cooperative sociali); the latter going on

to develop extraordinary growth. In 2003, there were approximately 6,500-7,000

social co-operatives, employing over 200,000 people (more than 1% of total

employment) and benefiting more than 1.5million people (Borgaza et al., 2008:21).

7 Study on the implementation of the Regulation 1435/2003 on the Stature for European Cooperative

Society (SCE), 5 October, 2010. 8 the practice of implementing rules tougher than the minimum required by the EU.

9 The social co-operative is distinguished from the standard cooperative by its broader social aim and

the multi-stakeholder governance model which it operates. (EC 2013:35)

22

With an annual growth rate of between 10 and 20% in the number of such

organisations, 2005 saw the introduction of further legislation (Law 118/2005). In

2005, there were over 7,300 social co-operatives, employing 244,000 workers.

These laws permit organisations to obtain the legal identity of social enterprise with a

proviso that they comply with a non-distribution constraint and organise the

representation of certain categories of stakeholders which include workers and

beneficiaries (Defourny & Nyssens 2008). The Italian system defines the social aim

of the social enterprise as, "Production or exchanges of services in the sectors of

social and health assistance, education and training, environmental protection, social

tourism, cultural services or work integration of disadvantaged persons

independently from the field of activity of the enterprise" (EC, 2013:43). Interestingly,

the definition of social enterprise within the 2005 legislation is similar to that of EMES

as cited previously.

The United Kingdom

The UK, in line with national policy development, has introduced legislation to deal

with the growth of social enterprises. In 2005, the Community Interest Company

(CIC) legal form was created specifically for enterprises. ‘Asset lock’ constraints

contained in the legislation are designed to ensure that the assets of the CIC are

used for the benefit of the community. The asset lock not only relates to the life of

the company but also to its dissolution or sale. The CIC also has to submit an

annual Community Interest Report to the regulator. Within this structure, there are

different available formats which give flexibility to customise the CIC to particular

needs. The Regulator of Community Interest Companies annual report of 2011/2012

shows that there are over 6,000 CICs operating across a number of sectors,

including arts, education, environment, health, industry and transport. (EU 2013:34)

More recently, the UK has introduced the The Public Services (Social Value) Act,

2012 which became live in January, 2013. This legislation is aimed at businesses to

support them to be competitive in gaining public service contracts. The Act seeks to

embed social value in public procurement. The Act, for the first time, places a duty

on public bodies to consider social value ahead of a procurement. It addresses the

following, which encompasses the triple bottom line considerations:

23

"(a) how what is proposed to be procured might improve the economic, social and

environmental well-being of the relevant area, and

(b) how, in conducting the process of procurement, it might act with a view to

securing that improvement." (National Association for Voluntary and Community

Groups -NAVCA, 2013).

However, it should be noted that social enterprises, depending on the nature of their

business, choose from a variety of legal forms. In the UK, social enterprises may

choose to be charities, CICs, companies limited by guarantee and industrial and

provident societies.

Ireland

There is no specific legal form for social enterprises in Ireland. However, many social

enterprises use the legal form of a company limited by guarantee, with a smaller

number using legal forms such as industrial and provident societies (O’Shaughnessy,

2008:24). Additionally, social enterprises may also avail of charitable status from the

revenue commissioners which provides them with certain exemptions in their tax

returns. The Charities Act (2009) has more recently come into effect, which when fully

implemented, will include many social enterprises and will act as a form of regulation

for charities.

Similar to Ireland, Germany does not have any specific legal form for social

enterprises. According to Birkhölzer (2008:22) this is largely due to politicians and

public policy ignoring concepts such as the social economy or social enterprises.

However, that is not to say that they do not exist. In spite of this difficult context and

although not labelled as such, many social enterprises are working with economically

and socially disadvantaged groups across many areas of work and enterprise.

Conclusion

Social enterprises are clearly of paramount importance in EU and national policies

going forward. It is apparent that the objectives of social enterprises are inextricably

linked to emerging policy priorities at the national and pan-national level within the

EU. The SBI represents policy level recognition of the significance of social

enterprise to the future development of the EU. The important question which

24

remains is when can we expect to see the implementation of the SBI proposals? It

should be noted here that the SBI is the first step towards implementing measures to

create a friendlier European environment that enables and supports the growth of

social enterprise and will ultimately impact on national economic growth, increase

employment opportunities and reap social and environmental dividends in member

states. We have seen some areas of the SBI come into regulation, for example,

Regulation (346/2013) which gives formal institutional recognition to social

investment funds. It is expected that outstanding proposed measures will be

adopted over time via green and white papers. However, this chapter has shown

that at the current time, social enterprise development across some EU member

states remains haphazard, and in many cases lacks national policy direction. As

Europe emerges from the economic problems of recent years and seeks to address

the resultant social consequences in a way that does not add to the financial

burdens borne by member states, social enterprise offers a potentially powerful

means to support economic, social and environmental wellbeing. In this context, the

implementation of the SBI proposals is clearly a policy priority.

25

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28

Chapter Three

Defining Soft Skills and Their Added Value to Social Enterprises

Déirdre O'Byrne & Elena Dell'Aquila

Introduction

This chapter addresses the question of what is meant by the term soft skills and

draws on various sources in the literature to define the concept. It explores how soft

skills are important for enterprise and are an essential instrument in a wider toolbox

in the management of people within a business community and their interaction with

the stakeholders of a business. Soft skills have been recognised by the European

Parliament and Council as intrinsic, not alone for effective learning and training

coupled with continuing professional development, but equally to the development of

innovation and as a strong spur to employment growth. It identifies soft skills as "...

necessary for personal fulfilment, active citizenship, social cohesion and

employability in a knowledge society." (EU 2006:4). This chapter does not attempt

to explore how soft skills in the private sphere of our lives can impact positively in our

relationships, but the reader may make these links themselves as the implications

are clear.

Soft skills, also commonly known as ‘soft competencies’ or 'people skills', are

recognised as personal attributes or a cluster of personal traits that optimise, enable

positivity and enhance people’s interactions and relationships with each other. They

are in everyday use by most people, are at different levels of existence and are

commonly regarded as a combination of competencies that contribute to better

express how people know and manage themselves, as well as their relationships

with others.

Defining Soft Skills

In the literature it is difficult to find a universal definition of soft skills or an all-

encompassing definition which provides a succinct insight. It is a broad concept that

subsumes many dimensions of the personal sphere development. Soft skills are

related to the interpersonal and intrapersonal areas. Consequently, there is a

29

relational dimension involved. Due to the intrinsic complexity of the relational

dimension, it is arduous to define and what to include or exclude within a definition.

However, it is useful to explore different approaches to defining soft skills in relation

their use and related concepts such as competence, emotional and social

intelligence, multiple intelligences and communication.

According to the definition given by the psychologist Daniel Goleman (1995), soft

skills are a combination of competencies that contribute to how people know and

manage themselves, as well as their relationships with others. Goleman (1995)

considers, in the context of success, soft skills to be twice as important as

intelligence quotient (IQ) or technical skills. Gardner (1983:17) describes the IQ

movement as being blindly empirical, basing their outcomes on the ability to reach

the correct answer while not addressing the process. Soft skills are related to a

person’s personal sphere such as ways of interacting with others, an understanding

of the social environment, a knowledge of how actions and behaviours affect and

impact on others, managing relationships, addressing problems, planning, and more

general communication.

Conversely, the concept of hard skills relates to technical, professional knowledge

and abilities, usually referring to a skill that has been learned through training and

educational programmes. Hard skills refer to occupational requirements of a job and

other activities. Hard skills are related to the ability or capability of an individual to

perform a specific task within a specific area or domain. Hard skills and soft skills

are never meant to compete with each other, but should ideally be complementary.

Soft skills are very often viewed as behavioural competencies (Boyatzis, 1982),

referring to personal attributes or characteristics that contribute to how a job is done

or the process of the job or task, as opposed to the end product of the completed

job. Boyatzis (1973: 45) describes a competency thus: "… an underlying

characteristic of an individual, which is causally related to effective or superior

performance in a job which could be a motive, trait, skill, aspect one's of self-image

or social role, or a body of knowledge which he or she uses.". McClelland (1973:47)

first referred to competency as "a critical differentiator of performance" and portrayed

by the same author as a significant predictor of employee performance and success.

30

Soft skills include interpersonal capabilities such as proficiencies in the area of

communication, conflict resolution and negotiation, leadership, personal

effectiveness, active listening, creative problem solving, strategic thinking, decision

making, team building, influencing skills and selling skills, just to name a few.

Woodruffe, (1991) also relates soft skills to the concept of competency while further

relating hard skills to the concept of competence. Dubois, (1998) concurs with these

delineations while defining competency as a set of skills, knowledge, attributes, and

desirable behaviours thought to be required for successful performance. He

describes competence as being a work-related concept which refers to areas of work

at which the person is required to have hard skills to perform: what people have to

be able to do and expected to know in order to effectively perform in their work.

Emotional Intelligence

Boyatzis (2007), after a long partnership with Goleman, stated that emotional and

social intelligences are the key competencies in leadership performance. Emotional

intelligence (EI) is a phrase used to focus attention on a particular aspect of human

talent. Even though ‘emotional intelligence’ is a simple phrase, it incorporates the

complexity of a person's capability. Earlier psychologists who have explored the

area of ‘social intelligence’ (Thorndike in the 1920s and 1930s) and Goleman (1995)

offered the notion as being a single concept. More recent psychologists have

appreciated its complexity and described it in terms of multiple capabilities (Bar-On,

1992, 1997; Goleman, 1998; Saarni, 1988). Gardner (1983) theorised within a

broader spectrum of the individual possessing multiple intelligences while including

the areas of intra-personal and inter-personal intelligences as part of a suite of

intelligences. The area of multiple intelligence (MI) will shortly be explored. Salovey

and Mayer (1990) first used the expression 'emotional intelligence' and described it

in terms of four domains incorporating knowing and handling one's own and others'

emotions. Other concepts and theories have used labels such as 'practical

intelligence' and 'successful intelligence' (Sternberg, 1996). These often blend the

capabilities described by the other psychologists with cognitive abilities and anchor

the concepts around the consequence of the person's behaviour, notably success or

effectiveness.

31

The work of Salovey and Meyer (1999), Caruso and Salovey (2004), and Goleman

(1995) on the theory of emotional intelligence have striking similarities to Gardner’s

work. The construct of EI incorporates the complexity of a person's capability. The

model introduced by Daniel Goleman focuses on EI as a wide array of competencies

and skills that drive leadership performance. In fact, Goleman describes EI as "a

trait not measured by IQ tests, but as a set of skills, including control of one’s

impulses, self-motivation, empathy and social competence in interpersonal

relationships." (Goleman,1995:73). Goleman further warns that managers in the

workplace, who do not have high degrees of EI, are usually not very good for their

organisations. Goleman's work has been highly acclaimed by the Harvard Business

Review, TIME Magazine, the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal,

acknowledging him as being as being one of the most influential business thinkers of

our time. Goleman (1995) argues that a person’s ability to manage oneself and the

ability to relate to others, matters twice as much as technical skills for job success.

Goleman (1998) basing further claims on extensive studies on more than five

hundred organisations found that factors such as self-confidence, self-awareness,

self-control, commitment and integrity, not only created more successful employees

but more successful business. In particular, he affirms that a high level of individual

success at work is characterised by EI, or skills of social awareness and

communication. Typically, these include the ability to motivate and influence others,

to give effective feedback, to develop relationships, to monitor one’s own behaviour,

to manage emotions both of self and others and read interpersonal situations.

Following the research undertaken by Goleman, employers appear to be more

willing to invest in soft-skills development, especially at the higher management

levels. In recent years, because the corporate environment has drastically changed,

there has been a growing awareness of the importance of soft skills. The process of

evaluating and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of employees can help

implement transformative learning and in so doing, enhance key skills. Moreover,

Goleman’s study reveals not only that EI is important, but also demonstrates that the

skills that contribute to emotional intelligence can be taught and developed over

time.

32

Multiple Intelligences

The internationally acclaimed psychologist, Howard Gardner (1983) who has

researched and written extensively on the theory of multiple intelligences, the

powerful notion that as human beings, we have several separate intelligence

capacities, has identified two areas of intelligence that are closely related to soft

skills10. These are inter-personal and intra-personal intelligences. Inter-personal

intelligence Gardner explains, builds on a core capacity to notice distinctions among

others, i.e. temperament, contrasts in moods, motivation and intentions. He cites the

example of Anne Sullivan struggling to communicate with Helen Keller, a young girl

who could not hear, see or speak (Gardner, 1993). Success was only achieved

when Sullivan gained an insight into the ‘person’ of Helen Keller which did not

depend on language as a means to communicate.

In more advanced forms of this intelligence, Gardner claims the human being can

excel in areas such as communication (verbal and non-verbal), be able to see

situations from other perspectives, create positive relationships with others and

proficiency in resolving conflict with others. Intra-personal intelligence is seen to be

strong in the individual when one’s own emotional state, feelings and motivations are

self-recognised, analysed and acknowledged. The individual practices self-

reflection, explores his/her relationships and can assess with a degree of accuracy,

personal strengths and weaknesses. According to Gardner a high quotient of intra-

personal intelligence indicates a high degree of self-awareness. Although, he

acknowledges that genetics or the 'G factor' as he terms it, has a strong influence on

all intelligences. He is joined by Goleman (1995) in holding the view that while all

intelligences are present, individual or all can be nurtured and strengthened by

different interventions, one example of which is training and education. For this

reason, Gardner, although a psychologist, has had profound influence, spanning

recent decades, on educationalists and pedagogical practices across the globe.

Communication, people interaction and leadership

Carnegie (1936), who has been referred to as the grandfather of people skills,

believes that the ability to communicate effectively, value others and make them feel 10

Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences in all include seven areas: Logical/Mathematical, Musical, Linguistic, Bodily Kinaesthetic, Spatial, Inter-personal and Intra-personal.

33

appreciated is essential not just at a personal level but also in the world of business.

Although Carnegie’s, now famous publication, How to Win Friends and Influence

People is sometimes seen as a self-help book, it is also valued by business

audiences and was originally written as a guide for increasing sales. It has close

links and usage in the analysis of the importance of human relationships within the

workplace. Financial success, Carnegie believed, is due to 15 percent of

professional knowledge and 85 percent to the ability to express ideas, to assume

leadership, and to arouse enthusiasm among people. (Carnegie, 1936: xiv).

In addition, Brent and Dent (2010) stress how creating effective working relationships

and being able to positively influence people are the most powerful ways of

achieving success on business objectives. They also emphasise the importance of

being able to understand oneself and the effect on how (positively or negatively)

‘self’ relates to and impacts on others. In reaching this understanding, it is then

possible to develop skills in how to manage relationships. These ideas have a clear

resonance on Gardner’s (1983) theory of MI; intra-personal and inter-personal

intelligences and also Goleman's EI (1995).

Kurt Lewin has been internationally recognised as one of the leading influences on

modern social psychology. He has exposed the world of psychology to group

dynamics and ideas of ‘field theory’ with its assertions that human interactions are

strongly influenced by both people and their environment. In his theory of ‘force field

analysis’ and ‘unfreeze-change-refreeze’ he provides deep insights into how change

management can operate effectively within organisations. He lays a large emphasis

on how people within it understand the change process and how they can be won

over to the idea of change. He stresses the importance of incremental change and

communication, understanding people’s fears, leadership skills and finally

appreciation and the celebration of success (Lewin & Gold, 1999). Though Lewin

didn’t use the term soft skill, his references to such traits are strongly evident in his

work. Lewin et al. (1939) have analysed the personal traits of leaders and how they

pertain to leadership roles within organisations, given that the function of leadership

includes basic values, articulated goals, organizing resources, reducing tensions

between individuals, creating teams, coalescing workers, and encouraging better

performance, the personal traits of a leader are crucial to organisational success.

34

Lewin concludes that there are three styles of leadership: autocratic;

participative/democratic and laissez-faire. These styles are all determined by human

personal traits, which contribute substantially to effectiveness or non-effectiveness

within the organisation.

So why do we need soft skills?

Soft skills are important for many reasons. They are important to students, as they

are linked to performances and career development; crucial for employees to

manage their interactions and emotions in order to interact effectively with customers

and to become engaged with the workplace missions; and essential for management

and leadership skills, as they help leading teams towards common and shared goals,

accomplish organisational missions and support organisations in their future

directions and visions.

It is worthy of note that since early 2000 there has been a growing interest around

the concept of soft skills and competencies within the reports of the EU Commission.

There are new emerging requirements in the labour market and recruitment criteria,

which emphasise soft skills along with educational credentials and experience. It is

widely accepted now that in the world of work, from entry level at employee to senior

management, soft skills can boost the effectiveness of an organisation (EU 2012).

Soft skills are being increasingly sought by employers in the work place in addition to

qualifications and hard skills. Enhancing the soft skill set of a workforce will

undoubtedly lead to increased organisational effectiveness and performance and will

help meet the challenges for any organisation.

"It is now widely accepted that ‘soft’ skills like creativity and entrepreneurship for

innovation, or other ‘soft’ skills (such as interpersonal relations) are just as important

for the expanding employment sectors..." (EU 2012:40).

Similarly, a study by Cedefop (2011: 44) emphasises that " the crucial point is not the

level of formal qualification that is growing in demand but the increasing demand for

‘soft’ skills."

35

When a workforce is competent in technical skills, but has a lack of soft skills, a

competency gap emerges and can impact drastically in all areas of business.

Recruitment is a costly procedure while positive human relationships within the

organisation can lead to low staff turnover while additionally a happier workforce can

by implication, be more productive and effective. Lowering levels of staff turnover

combined with up-skilling and continuing professional development benefits the

organisation. Maintaining a client base and initiating and expanding a new one will

also be positively impacted upon. Soft skills have the potential to turn managers into

leaders. Soft skills play a vital role within the unit of the team, which is increasingly

being relied upon by modern business for the success of business. These are just

some examples where soft skills have an impact on success within the organisation.

Added Value of Soft Skills to Social Enterprises

There is an even increased added value in the development of soft skills within the

third sector. The strong social emphasis in the third sector informs the enhanced

closeness of fit between those working there and the benefits of soft skills

development, which gives those in the sector a stronger capacity to work effectively

and manage themselves and their enterprises (Martin & Thompson, 2010). Drucker

(1990) has been to the fore in understanding to process of management within non-

profit organisations. In his writing, he consistently emphasises the critical

importance of groups working together, managing conflict and developing a shared

vision in their work planning, mission statements and future growth strategies. Soft

skills are clearly highlighted as the mechanism for social enterprises as the key

dynamic in the management process by which these objectives can be met. Social

enterprises need to enhance their soft skills so people can be empowered to work

more effectively, using skills such as teamwork, work-sharing, problem-solving,

brain-storming, planning, auditing, and many other soft-skills which make the

organisation work.

Given the critical importance of soft skills, we have observed earlier that these are

being embodied in ‘New Public Management’ practices which are diffusing from the

statutory and private sectors in to social enterprises. For Ridley-Duff and Bull

(2011), soft skills allow people to manage social enterprises and are the key to

‘strategic management and planning’. The authors illustrate that any successful

36

social enterprise will have to manage a ‘balance’ across all its four broad areas of

management, namely:

I. “Return: multiple bottom line: from budgeting, social value, measurement,

social accounting through to sustainability.

II. Internal Activities: From communication structure, quality systems, flexibility

through performance.

III. Stakeholder: From focusing on stakeholder needs, sector knowledge, image

and branding, promotion, budgeting, through to evaluation.

IV. Learning: From training and development, team working and participating,

knowledge, culture, leadership, through to continuous improvement.”

(Ridley-Duff & Bull, 2011:165).

Given this difficult four-fold balancing act, it is the fourth area, ‘learning’ that will

provide the social enterprise with the tools to develop a vision for problem solving

and consensus on solutions, through engaging soft skills such as team working,

training, knowledge improvement and many others. The process, if successful will

deliver the empowerment necessary for those involved in the social enterprise to be

successful across all its bottom lines, economic, social, environmental or other. The

process has been described by Beresford and Croft (1993) as ‘citizen

empowerment’. Successive reports by Audit Scotland (on behalf of the Auditor

General for Scotland) in the UK are empowering social enterprises in this way in

delivering community health and social services (Audit Scotland 2011)11. The

Scottish experience is visionary in this respect. However, one of the central

messages from the Audit Scotland (2011) report is the need to build stronger

systems of capacity, empowerment and accountability within the enterprises, who

work in partnership with the state in providing health and social care services to

various communities. Quality information also has been identified as a key

requirement to improve these areas. These are all soft skills. Their importance is

hard to over-estimate.

So much work still needs to be done on soft skills in the Scotland for those working

with social enterprises. However, the Scottish case is typical of the wider European

Union as evidenced by the EU (2008) Conclusions on Promoting Creativity and

11

Report prepared for the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission.

37

Innovation through Education and Training. Having identified gaps in education and

training across the EU, the report invites members to:

“1. Consider how to foster greater synergy between knowledge and skills on the one

hand and creativity on the other, as well as how best to promote, monitor and assess

creativity and innovative capacity, at all levels of education and training.” (EU

2008:3)

“3. Promote a learning culture through the development of broader learning

communities, by facilitating and supporting networks and partnerships - involving civil

society and other stakeholders - between education and related areas such as

culture on the one hand, and the working world and the other.” (EU 2008:3)

So, having identified the importance of soft skills such as creativity and innovation on

the one hand (no.1) and promotion of a learning culture (another soft skill), a key part

of the solution is to work with new communities of learners in civil society who may

also be part of the working world. Social enterprises are unique in that they best

positioned in civil society to develop learning communities and also are placed within

the aforementioned working world. The rationale for the S-Cube Project is clearly

embedded in recent EU policy.

Further, the report states:

“10. Since an increasing share of learning occurs at the workplace, in non-formal

contexts and in leisure time - often through new ICT-based learning tools and

methods - the development of creative and innovative capacities has relevance for

all aspects of lifelong learning.

11. Greater research, supported by data sharing, is needed on methods for

identifying, defining, measuring and recording learning outcomes in soft transversal

skills such as creativity and innovative capacity.” (EU 2008: 3)

The rationale for the S-Cube Project is further bolstered by the identification by the

EU Council that this emphasis on soft skills in new ‘communities of learner in civil

society’, should increasingly be facilitated through the use of ‘ICT based learning

tools’ (no.10 above) and that the ICT usage be applied to developing the soft skills of

‘creative and innovative capacities' alongside other soft skills in the guise of

‘transversal skills such as creativity and innovative capacity’ (no.11 above).

38

Conclusion

In this chapter we have outlined prominent theoretical writing, emanating from

psychological and educational fields and out of which has developed the recognition

for the need of soft skills within the workplace. With this exploration, we have

endeavoured to add to the definition of soft skills, which can be difficult for those who

are embarking on this educational journey for the first time. We have also shown

how prominent EU policy also value soft skills as necessary for economic and social

development. In addition, we have shown and demonstrated practically how the

effective use of soft skills within the management of business and people can have

positive impacts on business processes and outcomes which inevitably contributes

substantially to the success of commercial and human endeavours. Clarification has

been provided that there is a real and pressing need for the development of skills in

social enterprises; that these enterprises are best-placed to develop this potential;

and that these skills will strongly enhance performance and the achievement of their

economic and social objectives. This section has laid bare the reality that the EU

policy firmly recognises the central place that the third sector/social economy and

social enterprises therein possess, in enhancing and further developing soft skills

going forward.

Finally, in this context, the rationale for the S-Cube Project in developing soft skills in

partnerships with social enterprises has been clearly confirmed.

39

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Gardner, H. (1993) Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice. Basic Books:

New York.

Goleman, D. (1995) Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter. Bantham: New York.

Goleman, D. (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence. Bantham: New York.

Lewin, K., Lippit, R. & White, R.K. (1939) Patterns of Aggressive Behavior in

Experimentally Created Social Climates. Journal of Social Psychology. Vol.

10, pp. 271-30.

Lewin, K. & Gold, M. (1999) The Complete Social Scientist: A Kurt Lewin Reader.

American Psychological Association: Washington, DC.

Martin, F. & Thompson, M. (2010) Social Enterprise: Developing Sustainable

Businesses. Palgrave Macmillan: London.

McClelland, D.C. (1973) Testing for competence rather than for “intelligence".

American Psychologist. , Vol. 28, Issue 1, pp.1-14.

Ridley-Duff, R. & Bull, M. (2011) Understanding Social Enterprise: Theory and

Practice. Sage Publications: London.

Salovey, P., & Mayer, J.D. (1990) Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition,

and Personality, Vol. 9, pp. 185-211.

Saarni, C. (1988) Emotional competence: How emotions and relationships become

integrated. In R.A. Thompson (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation,

Vol. 36, pp. 115-182.

Sternberg, R.J. (1996) Successful Intelligence: How Practical and Creative

Intelligence Determine Success in Life. Simon and Shuster: New York.

Thorndike, E. (1921) The Teacher's Word Book. New York Teacher's College,

University of Columbia: New York.

Thorndike, E (1932) The Fundamental of Learning. New York Teacher's college,

University of Columbia, New York.

Woodruffe, C. (1991). Competent by any other name. Personnel Management, Vol.

23, Issue 9, pp. 30-33.

41

Chapter Four

Role Play in Virtual Environments

Luigia Simona Sica, Orazio Miglino, Andrea Di Ferdinando

Contextual Background

The aim of this chapter is to introduce an exploration of the potential of games in the

educational sector. The use of digital technology opens up many new avenues for

learning, education and training. Through the technologies of connective typology,

learning does not translate into a solitary relationship between the user and his or

her computer, but it becomes a real social dimension. In this context, and due to its

characteristic of a pervasive technology, instead of being regarded as a

circumscribed topic or a group of assets defined narrowly within a course of study

(Technology Enhanced Learning), it may be perceived as a more comprehensive

and far-reaching in its impact on learning and teaching (Jessel, 2011). In this

context, the use of learning from experience is a privileged model for study because

it allows the use of simulation and game environments as technologies for training

and education (Miglino et al., 2012; 2013). Through digital device connection games

the technology can easily involve multiple players, creating a social context within

which it is necessary to articulate ideas and make decisions based on the goals to

be achieved (Gee, 2004). With game-based learning via computer or digital

connectivity, the social dimension may also work towards teamwork and/or promote

the acquisition and management of socio-relational skills and soft skills (Williamson,

2009).

Educational research in this area has generated many methodologies, tools and

practices exploiting the potential of technology (Sica, Delli Veneri, Miglino, 2012).

Despite technical and methodological progress, for the most part, e-learning still

consists of video-lessons and page-turning web sites.

The dynamics of teaching, learning and/or training through multimedia tools is,

instead an active process that takes into account different general principles of

cognitive control (Mayer, 2001): the dual coding (Paivio, 1991); the cognitive load

42

(Chandler & Sweller, 1991); and the active processing (Mayer, 2001). This process

produces in turn its own specific principles: the integrated mental model (multimedia)

that is rich in clues and recovery (Mayer & Anderson, 1991); the spatial and temporal

proximity of stimuli that facilitate learning (Mayer & Anderson, 1992); the relevance

or consistency of the material proposed (Harp & Mayer, 1998); the different ways of

transmitting information (Mayer & Moreno, 1998); and the customisation of the

teaching or learning dynamic (Mayer & Gallini, 1990).

The use of computer games to foster learning and training processes is a relatively

new input to the world of education; the interest in exploiting the educational

potential of computer games is increasing as instructional games involve a direct

focus on the learner’s active participation. Alessi (2000) stresses the importance of

game-based learning, clarifying that it is a balance between conceptual (teaching

about) and procedural (teaching how to do) knowledge. Computer games address

many of the limitations of traditional instructional methods; games have the ability to

motivate learning, increase knowledge and skill acquisition and support traditional

teaching methods.

Much attention has been given to so-called ‘serious gaming’ (the use of commercial

or ad hoc games for serious educational purposes) (Ives & Junglas, 2008). The

effectiveness of a serious games based approach lies in these words of Van Eck:

“The extent to which these games foil expectations (create cognitive disequilibrium),

without exceeding the capacity of the player to succeed, largely determines whether

they are engaging. Interacting with a game requires a constant cycle of hypothesis

formulation, testing, and revision. This process happens rapidly and frequently while

the game is played, with immediate feedback. Games that are too easily solved will

not be engaging, so good games constantly require input from the learner and

provide feedback” (Van Eck, 2006: 5).

Moreover, serious games promote those levels of attention and concentration that

teachers and trainers imagine people should apply within their own learning process.

Therefore, this begs the question of what can the vocational and educational sectors

learn and derive from these games in order to enhance the learning process by

enjoying oneself?

43

Developing Digital Games for Formative/Educational Goals

Game-Based Learning (GBL) is the use of digital games with serious goals (i.e.

educational and training objectives) as tools that support learning processes in a

significant way. It is also known as educational gaming. Studies in the field of GBL

show a clear relationship between playing digital games and learning. Digital games

can provide challenging experiences that promote the intrinsic satisfaction of the

players, keeping them engaged and motivated. Moreover, players have fun while

playing a game. Indeed, in games, the challenge usually increases as the game

progresses. Therefore, players need to improve their skills and learn new strategies

to complete the game successfully.

Another feature of digital games that is remarkably aligned to good learning is that

games provide short feedback cycles. This allows players to explore the game

environment freely, trying out their hypotheses, learning by trial-and-error and obtain

immediate information that they can use to re-define any wrong assumptions made;

all within a risk-free environment. Therefore, video games are an ideal medium to

promote authentic learning and ‘learning by doing’ processes. In this sense digital

games can provide meaningful learning experiences by simulating highly interactive

scenarios that professionals encounter in actual settings, where they face open-

ended, real-world problems (Miglino & Sica, 2013).

For the reasons mentioned above, an increasing number of trainers and teachers

recognise the value of digital games in education. Most of the successful GBL

experiences have used mainstream games, usually referred to as ‘Commercial-Off-

The-Shelf’ (COTS) games, because they are ready to use.

Thus, what is the point of creating our own educational games, if there are resources

out there ready to be used? There are clear benefits that come from using custom

designed games developed directly by educators instead of using COTS; one reason

being that barriers to the implementation of GBL in formal learning settings have

been identified. For example, the lack of integration of most games with a current

curriculum and the lack of appropriate assessment frameworks inhibits the

contribution that can be made through these forms of GBL. Indeed, COTS games

are developed to be entertaining, not educational. In addition, COTS games

44

invariably do not meet formative standards that might be required for educational or

training purposes.

Many educational games available in the market generally do not meet trainers or

educators’ expectations. It is therefore important that educators and trainers can

input into the development of games that have direct relevance to their teaching or

training objectives and students’ trainees’ profile, whilst also meeting the

requirements of their own institutions or training and educational standards.

However, it needs to be stressed that the creation of high-quality games can be a

challenge, with multiple approaches and possibilities available.

Field experiences: “ProActive” and “T3 -Teaching to Teach with Technology”

(UNINA Projects)

In order to overcome the afore mentioned challenges, two projects were developed

in past times by UNINA in order to propose a framework in which teachers and

trainers would design and implement their own learning games, using the Eutopia

software - or at least, actively contribute to this process (Miglino et al., 2012). The

two projects funded by the EU Leonardo Da Vinci Life Long Learning Program were

‘ProActive’ (www.proactive-project.eu) and ‘Teaching to Teach with Technology - T3’

(www.t3.unina.it). This work was designed to validate an innovative teacher-trainer

programme, whilst demonstrating realistic ways of exploiting advanced techniques

within the real constraints facing teachers in their work.

The ProActive project tackled creativity in the context of lifelong learning by

stimulating creative teaching practices through the use of different learning

metaphors in various educational levels. Through a constructivist approach, the

project created learning contexts where teachers and trainers could apply creativity

in designing their own GBL scenarios through using digital tools. ProActive offered

teachers and trainers the possibility to use GBL as an innovative and imaginative

approach in their teaching practices, enabling them to create learning environments

which had the potential to be interesting and engaging for their students. As regards

final product outcomes, ProActive produced guidelines on designing and including

learning creativity which is enhanced by GBL and disseminated a database of GBL

scenarios and related active learning culture within the EU education community.

45

The ‘Teaching to Teach with Technology (T3)’ project designed and validated an

innovative teacher-trainer program, demonstrating realistic ways of exploiting

advanced techniques within the real constraints facing teachers in their work. Key

features of the programme included:· theoretical classes discussing the features and

advantage of the new technologies;· practical workshops in which learners

(university teaching staff, teachers and trainers) simulated learning sessions and

familiarised themselves with the technologies;· project work in which learners

prepared learning projects for use in their own classes, implemented the project and

evaluated the results; and joint assessment of the results by participants in the

programme was conducted. The final output of the project was a set of freely

available tools, designed to encourage the uptake of new learning technologies to

employ in universities, schools and professional training.

The EUTOPIA Platform: from “Sisine” to “S-Cube”

EUTOPIA is an online 3D role-playing environment similar to other virtual

environments like Second Life™. With this platform educators and trainers can

create virtual scenarios where students or trainees play a role and simulate a

specific situation. EUTOPIA can be used, for example, to improve negotiating skills

and intercultural awareness of professional trainers and staff in contact with the

public. The game development process within EUTOPIA is quite straightforward.

Teachers just need to select one of the predefined 3D scenarios (e.g. a city or a

meeting room), select the roles to be undertaken (i.e. define the personality and

choose a predefined avatar for each character) and assign them to each participant

or student. Then the teacher or trainer must set up a virtual session (i.e. a

simulation) on a server using the created scenario. Participants and tutors then join

the role play scenario session and interact with each other, following the teacher’s or

trainer’s plan.

EUTOPIA S-Cube represents the current development of a previous experience in

developing an Information and Communication Technology: SISINE, developed by

the Natural and Artificial Cognition Laboratory. SISINE (Miglino et al., 2007) was

used to provide innovative training practices and to improve negotiating skills and

intercultural awareness of professional trainers, front-office staff and other staff in

contact with the public. The training offered focused on the kinds of negotiation

46

workers engage in during their everyday professional activities (rather than on

classical managerial negotiation). The training methodology was based on a

blended strategy, combining classroom learning with e-Learning based self-study.

Both the classroom learning and the self-study sessions made intensive use of a

novel simulation environment. The environment incorporated technologies from

Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MORPG) (Okamoto et al., 2007). The use

of simulation ensured that users could ‘learn by doing’ at home as well as in the

classroom (Miglino, 2007). EUTOPIA, in fact, is an online platform that allows the

production of a particular type of serious game: an educational Multiplayer Online

Role Playing Games (e-MORPG). From the formative-teaching side, EUTOPIA has

the role to transfer the methodological tradition of the psychodrama (Moreno, 1946)

from the real world into a virtual 3D world. The platform provides the normal

functionality expected of a MORPG (Madani & Chohra, 2008), as well as additional

functions that allow a trainer to set up games, intervene during the game, record

specific phases of a game, annotate recordings and discuss aspects of the role play

with the players. Trainers or teachers can write scripts for online multiplayer games.

In designing a multiplayer game they can choose the roles, goals, bodies and

personalities of individual players. Once the game is in progress, they can watch

what is going on from any viewpoint, intervene at any moment, send messages to

players, or activate special ‘events. When the role play is completed, they can

critically analyse, lead a group discussion and analyse the strategies adopted by the

players through a reflective learning mechanism. This step of debriefing becomes

fundamental for the learning process.

As well as preparing scripts for online games and assigning characters to users,

there are two other ways in which teachers or tutors can intervene in the learners'

interactions with EUTOPIA. One is to take the role of one of the characters in the

simulation and the other is to act as an invisible stage director. In this second role,

tutors can: a) invisibly observe the interactions among players; b) access the players'

‘private characteristics’; c) listen to private messages (‘whispers’) between players;

d) ‘broadcast’ messages visible to all players; e) exchange private messages with a

specific user; and f) activate events, changing the course of the simulation.

Learners that play out the scenarios reach the virtual stage-set where they can

47

interact with each other through controlling a virtual alter ego, the avatar (see Figure

3.1).

Figure 3.1: Physical Appearance of the Eutopia Avatars

Once logged in, the learners join a 3D graphical environment in which they are

represented by avatars, and can use them to explore the role play environment.

Players communicate via short texts as well as using different forms of para-verbal

and non-verbal communication. For instance, they can control how loud they want to

speak (shown by the size of characters text used in the bubble cartoons) and in what

tone of voice (shown by the shape of the bubble). Players can control avatars’

gestures and body movements. They can also ‘whisper’ messages to each other:

These are audible only to the other partner in the conversation and to the tutor.

Finally, they can communicate with the tutor to ask for advice or clarification or to

raise any other question that concerns them. In particular, the EUTOPIA kit is made

up of three software components with different functions:

1. Editor - Creation of group sessions and of the elements needed for the training.

The Editor is used by the tutors.

2. Client – Interaction with other users inside the role play group sessions. The

client is divided into two areas: a ‘Master’ for the tutors and ‘Player’ for the users.

3. Viewer – Visualise the previous recorded group interaction sessions, recorder

editing and add personal comments. The Viewer can be used by users. The

environment is represented in 3D graphics allowing participants to move around in

the space and to approach other avatars (see Figure 3.2). The first step is to create

a storyboard or script which defines the starting point for a story. All scripts are

based on a standard structure which determines the way it is stored in the database.

Each script has a name (a brief definition which defines the activity), a description of

48

the activity, a story (a detailed, perhaps even quantitative description of the scenario,

of the events related to the training session issues, and of possible outcomes), a

maximum available role play time, group goals and success criteria (information

about one or more goals common to all participants in the interaction).

Figure 3.2: The 3D Environment

Each script has a ‘general goal’. The success of the training course depends on the

progress that is made in achieving this goal. Additionally, the script describes partial

goals for each online session. All partial goals are related to the general goal.

The software gives the opportunity to choose and define the personality of the

different characters that will be involved in the role play session. For each character

we can define:

Features (sex, age, social status)

Characteristic elements (physical aspects)

Role in the story

Personal story

Personality aspects (associated with specific non-verbal

communication capabilities)

Individual goals

49

Starting from a script chosen by the tutor, each participant plays the role of one of

the characters, associated with an avatar. Each participant knows the story in which

his or her character is involved, knows the goals shared by all participants, and

knows the goals of his or her character and their own individual story (which is not

known by the other participants).

During the simulation, the tutor can introduce new elements which may influence the

interaction: unforeseen difficulties and new resources. All these events are foreseen

in the script, which provides a description of the event and the way it should be

presented. The tutor activates events, at what he or she deems to be the most

appropriate moment in the simulation. An event could be either a text (letter, fax or

document) which appears on the screen, or be represented by an avatar character

that enters the scene and delivers a message (text and other non-verbal elements).

In the S-Cube version of EUTOPIA, tutors also have the possibility to bookmark a

situation during the session. This provides the opportunity to rewind the session to

that bookmark when needed for debriefing purposes (see Figure 3.3).

Figure 3.3: The Bookmark Function

At the end of the interaction, the tutor watches the simulation recording, notes his or

her impressions and conclusions, and analyses the results (if necessary in

50

quantitative terms). It is very important that they assesses whether the group and

individual goals have been achieved and to what extent.

The tutor sums up the most important aspects of the role play session and the way in

which the participants have conducted themselves within the session. He or she

makes it clear whether, and to what extent, the participants have achieved their

individual and group goals. Feedback can be provided immediately after the

simulation or in a later meeting. The discussion of the results of the session is

conducted within the simulation environment, in free chat mode. During the training

experience, players are asked to complete questionnaires on their learning process

and outcomes to contribute to data collection an analysis of the final outcomes. It is

possible to use either 3D or 2D environments (Figure 3.4) to achieve this. The latter

can be likened to a normal chat room. The tutor may choose the better one

according to training aims and goals.

Figure 3.4: The 2D Environment

Conclusion

The S-Cube version of EUTOPIA is a comprehensive and highly functional

simulation role play, flexible in its capacities to create and then teach or train with a

51

range of bespoke avatar based e-Learning scenarios. Importantly, for learning

purposes, EUTOPIA allows tutor intervention in-game as well as post-game to create

multiple debriefing opportunities.

The next three Chapters (The Training Methodology; The Training Needs Analysis;

Evaluation of the Online Role Play Trials) describe first, a set of methods used to

develop and trial the impact of the S-Cube Learning Programme on social enterprise

stakeholder soft skills; next the training needs analysis approach adopted and its

findings are reported, and finally an evaluation of the trial outcomes is discussed.

52

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_________________________________________________________

SECTION TWO: DEVELOPING THE S-CUBE LEARNING

PROGRAMME

Chapter Five

The Training Methodology

Elena Dell’Aquila & Jonathan Lean

Introduction

This chapter describes and illustrates the methodological approach adopted for the

design and evaluation of the S-Cube Learning Programme. Full methodological

materials were developed within the project to allow trialling of the e-Learning

Programme across three partner countries (United Kingdom, Germany and Ireland)

through introducing a soft skill-social enterprise orientated online role play learning

scenario to some 116 European volunteer social enterprise stakeholders for

evaluation and feedback12. The scenario was supported by surveys to measure both

the actual impact of the Learning Programme on participant soft skill development in

these volunteers, and their perceptions of the fidelity, utility and effectiveness of the

online role play vehicle.

Specifically the whole training process comprised of the following stages:

Training Needs Analysis

Self-reflection stage (before the online trialling)

Two sessions of online trialling

Final self-reflection stage (after the online trialling)

Evaluation of the trialling stage

This training approach is described in the Overall S-Cube Methodology Process

(Figure 5.1).

12 English and German language versions of the S-Cube Learning Programme were developed and trialled.

55

Training Needs Analysis

The Training Needs Analysis identified where European social enterprise

stakeholders considered the extent to which soft skills shortfall were perceived to

exist for those working within social enterprises (see Chapter Six for a full description

of the Training Needs Analysis).

Self-Reflection Process

To obtain any meaningful evaluation of the potential of the S-Cube Learning

Programme to promote the development of soft skills in social entrepreneurs, it was

critical to recruit a large enough cohort of volunteer participants to be trained in each

country. It was agreed that at least seventy participants in total across the three

countries would need to be involved in an integrated process of training that

comprised of assessment, trialling and evaluation stages (a high figure but based on

the assumption that there would be volunteer participant dropout at stages within the

Programme).

SELF-REFLECTION (See Stage 2 in Figure 5.1)

In each trial country the facilitators briefed the participants on the objectives of the

self-reflection and trialling processes and what their engagement with the Learning

Programme would comprise of. A ‘Pre-Trial Briefing Document’ was issued to all

participants (see Supplement 5.1). It was highlighted that many social enterprises

recognise the importance of nurturing the actual and potential contributions of

employees and show interest in maximising the value that each individual can add to

an organisation. The self-reflection process was designed to allow participants to

identify particular strengths related to their soft skills alongside areas for potential

enhancement. They were reassured that they would be involved in a non-

judgmental process, as the attention was focused on how they could best apply

personal strengths.

At this stage participants were asked to complete the following:

A. Self-reflection questionnaires

B. Open-ended qualitative questions

56

The surveys comprised of self-reported questionnaires, instead of ‘personality

evaluation questionnaires’. This meant that they could help individuals learn more

about themselves (although any survey of this nature can only provide partial

insight). For the purposes of this project, the initial self-reflection, combining both

quantitative and qualitative data, provided a picture of an individual against which the

impact of the S-Cube trial could be measured through a further terminal self-

reflection (i.e. Stage 5 in Figure 5.1).

The self-reflection instruments can be found in Supplement 5.1.

A. Self-reflection questionnaires:

The design of the two quantitative surveys was informed by two widely used

personality and soft skill frameworks, namely; the ‘Johari Window Model’ and the

‘Boyatzis Competency Model’.

Johari Window Model

The adapted Johari questionnaire allowed survey participants to reflect on various

personality areas, specifically self-awareness, personal development, group

development and understanding of relationships in the form of a series of scaled

statements.

Soft Skill Questionnaire

This self-assessment questionnaire incorporated the soft skill parameters of the

Competency Model and featured a series of scaled statements. It was designed to

capture measures of the soft skills parameters surveyed in the earlier Training

Needs Analysis.

B. Open-ended qualitative questions

The aim of these questions was to add to the information gathered by the two

assessment tools and allow participants to provide more qualitative input about

personal motivations for participating in the trial and perceptions regarding the value

of e-learning for soft-skills development.

57

Figure 5.1: Overall S-Cube Methodological Process

58

TRIALLING (See Stages 3 and 4 in Figure 5.1)

After the self-reflection phase, participants engaged in two cycles of trialling within a

specific learning scenario labelled – Futurepositive (the detail of the scenario is

discussed in the next section of this Chapter - ‘Learning Programme Description’). It

was agreed across partners that for the role play scenario test, there would be at

least 23 participants from each of the three countries involved in the trial (≈70

required participants needed for a representation of European social enterprise

stakeholders). Each partner worked hard to recruit trial participants and the actual

number of volunteers at the start of the process was 40 in the UK, 53 in Ireland and

23 in Germany respectively. The 116 participants entering the trial in the first cycle

would likely ensure that at least 70 would complete the whole training process.

The trialling with the participants was carried out over an extended period of time

using facilitators. For each trial event, a cohort of five participants engaged in the

online role-play with the Futurepositive scenario. This number of participants was

chosen as it could bring about the emergence of group dynamics within the role play

and render evaluation of any learning observations (by the Facilitators) possible.

Moreover, the same scenario was adopted and administered in the trial countries in

an identical way so that a full comparative analysis could be more readily achieved.

This could help to ascertain similarities and/or differences between how the Learning

Programme was experienced in the three countries where it was being trialled. Two

experienced facilitators managed the dynamics of each scenario trial. They

undertook orientation training first on how to facilitate an S-Cube online role play

session.

After the first trial (Stage 3), feedback was gathered from participants regarding the

effectiveness of the learning scenario and the software usability through a ‘Post Trial

Evaluation Survey’ comprising of closed, scaled and open questions (see

Supplement 5.2) at the ‘Feedback and Revisions’ point of the methodological

process (see Figure 5.1). This was administered via an online survey immediately

after the trial and debriefing activity was completed. So as to attain a comparative

analysis of all trials in each country, an evaluation protocol with clear guidelines was

followed by each partner in order to have comparable results.

59

A debriefing process followed the initial scenario trials where the perceived

effectiveness of the scenario design and delivery mode was evaluated. This

feedback informed the subsequent revisions to the scenario make-up and facilitation.

In addition, observations from S-Cube facilitators were also used to inform the series

of revisions made across the whole Learning Programme. Recordings of each role-

play session were made to assist facilitators in their observational evaluation of the

S-Cube trials.

Once the revisions to the Learning Programme and software environment were

made, the second cycle of trialling (Stage 4) then followed with the same structure as

the first trial (Stage 3), within which the remaining 77 participants (38 in the UK, 26 in

Ireland and 13 in Germany) re-trialled with the Futurepositive learning scenario. One

addition was the development and introduction of a more comprehensive S-Cube

Futurepositive Scenario Learning Programme. This comprised of a series of

modules of study that allowed participants to reflect on their own soft skills, debrief

on the soft skills used by the characters in the learning scenario, and take a

prospective view of how to further develop their own soft skills (see ‘Learning

Programme Description’ section for a fuller outline). As participant time was

precious, it was decided to allow the volunteers 20-30 minutes to evaluate the design

and development of the modules, with oral feedback received to permit final

revisions to the content.

FINAL SELF-REFLECTION (See Stage 5 in Figure 5.1)

After the second phase of trials, an adapted version of the self-reflection surveys

used before trial 1 was completed by participants. Changes in the self-assessed soft

skills of participants were measured at this juncture. By comparing ‘before’ and

‘after’ data across the trial cohorts, an assessment of the impact of the S-Cube trial

on participants was established. This formed one element of the overall evaluation

of the trial (see below).

OVERALL EVALUATION OF THE S-CUBE TRIALS (See Stage 6 in Figure 5.1)

In addition to the self-assessed impact of the trial on the soft skills of participants

(see above), further evaluation took place during this stage. This assessment drew

60

on survey results focussed on the learning effectiveness of the Futurepositive

scenario and the usability of the S-Cube software (gathered again via the ‘Post-Trial

Evaluation Survey’). In addition, facilitator observations and qualitative feedback

from trial groups helped to inform the final evaluation of the trials and preparation of

the final S-Cube Learning Programme.

Learning Programme Description

The Training Methodology provided a process through which the S-Cube Learning

Programme could be trialled and developed with the volunteer participants. The

Programme was designed and developed to allow self-learning to occur in a way that

integrated understanding of soft skills use in the vocational and concrete setting of

the trainees’ workplace, alongside a more simulated workplace situation that can be

captured within any chosen S-Cube role play scenario.

The Programme is modular and comprises of material to help a trainee to:

self-audit their soft skills in Module One (pre-role play);

reflect on how soft skills were applied by characters in the online role play

scenario in Module Two (post-role play); and

guide the future development of their own soft skills in Module Three (post-role

play).

The three learning modules are generic in nature and can be used with any S-Cube

soft skills scenario13. The overall Learning Programme was developed as a trilingual

resource (with English, German and Italian language versions) so as to reach the

maximum numbers of European social entrepreneurs possible within the S-Cube

project constraints.

Structure of the Learning Programme

The modular learning would engage a trainee in soft skills learning for a period of

between four and six hours (see full outline of the Programme in Supplement 5.3). A

summary of each of the module’s composition is outlined next.

13

Module Two does mention the specific scenario name which can simply be inserted according to which off-the-shelf or new scenario is chosen for the Scenario Learning Programme.

61

Module One: Soft Skills Self-Audit

The initial module covers the following learning outcomes:

understanding of soft skills and why they are important in social enterprises;

self-assessment of trainee’s soft skills; and

reflection on trainee’s soft skills strengths and weaknesses.

The trainees gain insight into what soft skills are and why they are needed in

European workplaces and why they are particularly important within social

enterprises. They are then inducted into how reflective practice works in training and

education. They then participate in two exercises. The first requires them to identify

and describe a set of soft skills that are important to a social enterprise with which

they are familiar; the second involves them in assessing their own soft skills

strengths and weaknesses using a soft skill framework.

Module Two: Active Learning and Reflection through Playing the S-Cube Online

Role Play

This module covers the following learning outcomes:

how to learn using an avatar character within a multi-player online role play;

practicing using soft skills within an online role play scenario; and

reflecting on the use of soft skills within an online role play scenario.

The trainees are introduced to the use of role play simulations and their application

in training and education. Next, they are orientated to the purpose and parameters

of S-Cube training software: download and installation, software navigation and

getting started with using an avatar character. The trainees next participate in one of

the online role play learning scenarios and find themselves immersed in a simulated

scenario where they are allocated a character and required to get into role and

interact with other characters, with the aim of using their soft skills to achieve stated

character goals. Post-play, trainees are requested to complete a reflective analysis

on the application of soft skills evident in the role play, how well they achieved their

characters goals, and where the challenges were to be found in applying them.

62

Module Three: Applying Soft Skills in Context

This final module covers the following:

identifying which soft skills are particularly important in the trainee’s own work

practice;

using the soft skills assessment completed by the trainee in Module One to

establish priorities for their own further soft skills development; and

the trainee outlining a brief development plan to enhance prioritised soft skills.

Trainees are asked to identify and reflect on the types of soft skills used in their own

job roles. Following on from this they go about prioritising their own soft skill

development needs. Next the trainees’ plan for how they are going to meet any

shortfalls between their job role soft skill needs and their current capabilities against

timescales.

The Learning Programme in summary provides the trainee with understanding of

what soft skills are, allows them to assess their own soft skills and which soft skills

are needed to effectively fulfil their job functions, finishing with the opportunity to craft

a development plan for enhancing their own soft skills. The combination of

synchronous online learning and asynchronous off-line self-study provides a full

blended learning package. The engagement with the role play scenario brings the

theory into practice and allows soft skills learning to be brought to life in an

enjoyable, dynamic social enterprise setting.

Conclusion

This chapter outlined a rigorous methodological design for the trial and development

and evaluation of a relevant soft skills development Learning Programme. The detail

of a modular Learning Programme has been described along with its potential to

impact on the soft skills of the EU social enterprise community in a positive way.

63

References

Clayton M. (2008) Super models. Training Journal. Downloadable at:

http://www.mikeclayton.co.uk/DownloadFiles/Johari.pdf. [Accessed 20.02.14]

Luft, J. (1969) The Johari Window: a graphic model of awareness in interpersonal

relations. NTL Human Relations Training News. National Education

Association. Downloadable at:

http://www.library.wisc.edu/edvrc/docs/public/pdfs/LIReadings/JohariWindow.

pdf. [Accessed 20.02.14]

Srinivas K. (2004) Human Resource Management in Practice: With 300 Models,

Techniques and Tools. Prentice-Hall of India: New Delhi.

West R. & Turner L. (2010) Understanding Interpersonal Communication: Making

Choices in Changing Times (2nd Edition). Wadworth: Boston, MA.

Websites

http://www.businessballs.com/johariwindowmodel.htm

64

Supplement 5.1

Pre-Trial

Briefing Document

Introduction

Thank you for your participation in the trial of S-CUBE. The purpose of this briefing

document is to:

Provide some background information on the S-CUBE project;

Tell you about the trialling process and how it will work;

Collect some data from you to enable us to assess the impact of the S-CUBE

training activity;

Tell you what will happen next.

About S-CUBE

S-CUBE is a project that has been funded by the EC to develop soft-skills training for

social enterprises through online role-play. Participants are given characters to play,

represented by avatars, and they act out a scenario using the online e-learning

platform. When you participate in the role play, you will be playing with three to four

other players, each of whom will take on a different role.

The aim of S-CUBE is to provide an engaging training experience through which

participants are able to reflect on their soft skills development needs, particularly

65

those relating to communication and relationship building. The S-CUBE e-learning

platform is easy to use and an online User Manual is provided.

After the trialling period, S-CUBE will be freely available for trialling participants to

use in their organisations. New scenarios can be developed tailored to your own

training and development needs.

About the Trialling Process

S-CUBE is a training product under development, so we need your feedback to

make it as useful to social enterprises as possible. Between now and Spring 2013,

we will be undertaking trials with various social enterprises and social enterprise

stakeholders in the UK, Ireland and Germany. The trial will be in two phases. After

the first trial we will ask for your feedback (via a short online survey) so that we can

make improvements to the software. Two to three months later, we will ask you to

trial S-CUBE for a second time before asking for your final feedback on the

enhanced version. Each trial (when you will be playing the online role-play) will last

for approximately one hour. Including the time you give to complete the feedback

surveys, we expect that the total amount of time you will spend on this project will be

around 3 hours across a period of 4 - 5 months.

Assessing the effectiveness of S-CUBE

To evaluate the impact of S-CUBE, we are asking participants to complete some

questionnaires. Some will focus on your views about the S-CUBE software and

others relate to your perceptions about certain soft-skills. To start the evaluation, we

ask you to complete the survey contained within this briefing document. The survey

should take no more than 15 minutes to complete and all responses will be held in

the strictest confidence.

What’s next?

Once you have read this document and completed the survey, you are ready to

participate in the first trial. If arrangements have not yet been made, we will be in

contact with you soon to schedule the trialling session (communication may come via

a nominated contact person in your organisation).

IMPORTANT – if you are participating in the trial from your own home or work

PC/laptop, you will need to download the S-CUBE software and check that it works

66

BEFORE the trial date. Where you do not have administrator rights, you may need

the assistance of your IT administrator to set things up. If you encounter any

problems, please email jonathan.moizer@plymouth.ac.uk (UK), Paul.Walsh@cit.ie

(Ireland) or anna.sturm@gepros.com (Germany).

To download S-CUBE, please follow these instructions:

1) Go to http://eutopia.unina.it/scube/

2) Download the S-CUBE Client. There are two versions: normal (with setup) and

portable (without setup, just with the executable file). The first is suggested, the

second is for people that don’t like installing too many applications on their computer.

Note that you can also download the User Manual from this location.

3) Run the S-CUBE Client. Notice: on Windows Vista and 7 operating systems, it

could be necessary to open the program with Windows XP SP3 compatibility, or

alternatively as Administrators (right click on the program icon and then press "Run

as administrator").

Thank you once again for participating in this trial. We hope that you enjoy the S-

CUBE experience!

Now please complete the attached survey form.

67

S-CUBE Pre-Trial Survey

All information collected will be held in the strictest confidence.

PART 1: About You

Name &

role …………………. ………………………………………………………………….

Organisation …………………. …………………………………………………….

Date …………………. …………………………………………………. ……………………

….

Contact details (tel. no/Skype contact) in case we need to contact you direct

………………………………………………….………………………………………………

….

PART 2: Soft Skills Self Evaluation A

Instructions

Use the following ten-point scale to rate yourself on the twenty situations, as

described on the next page. Read over the descriptions and determine how much it

characterises you in your relationships with other people.

68

Rating scale

10 EXTREMELY CHARACTERISTIC I do this consistently

9 VERY CHARACTERISTIC I do this nearly all the time

8 QUITE CHARACTERISTIC I do this most of the time

7 PRETTY CHARACTERISTIC I do this a good deal of the

time

6 FAIRLY CHARACTERISTIC I do this frequently

5 SOMEWHAT CHARACTERISTIC I do this on occasions

4 FAIRLY UNCHARACTERISTIC I seldom do this

3 PRETTY UNCHARACTERISTIC I hardly ever do this

2 QUITE UNCHARACTERISTIC I almost never do this

1 EXTREMELY UNCHARACTERISTIC I never do this

69

Descriptions

Rating

(1-10

see

above)

1. I am open and candid in my dealings with others, as opposed to being

closed, cautious, and under wraps in my relationships.

2. I hear, respect, and accept the comments and reactions of others, as

opposed to responding defensively, dismissing them as of little value, or

turning a deaf ear on their observation.

3. I specifically test for agreement and commitment to joint or team decisions,

as opposed to assuming that all are committed if no one openly disagrees.

4. I readily admit to confusion or lack of knowledge when I feel that I have

little information about a topic under discussion as opposed to trying to bluff,

feigning understanding, or insisting that my opinions are right.

5. I show my concern that others know where I stand on relevant issues, as

opposed to being basically indifferent to others knowledge of me or just

unrevealing in my comments.

6. I take the initiative in getting feedback from other members, as opposed to

waiting passively for others to offer their comments of their own accord.

7. I “level” with others and describe how I feel about what they do and how

they do it, as opposed to covering up, taking tolerance or denying any

reaction.

8. My comments are relevant and pertinent to the real issues at hand in the

team, as opposed to being “frothy” and off-target or attempts at camouflage.

9. I try to understand how others are feeling and work hard at getting

information from them, which will help me do this, as opposed to appearing

indifferent, showing superficial concern or being basically insensitive.

10. I value and encourage reactions equally from others, as opposed to being

selective in my quest for feedback or treating some contributions as inferior.

11. I am openly affectionate toward others when I feel I like them, as opposed

to being inhibited, restrained, or acting embarrassed.

12. I help others participate and work to support and draw everyone into a

70

P. Varghese, Training & Employee Development; Scribd 2011. Based on Johari Windows

Model. Not to be sold or published.

The authors accept no liability.

group discussion, as opposed to fending only for myself and leaving

participation up to each individual.

13. I take risk with others and expose highly personal information, both

emotional and intellectual, when it is pertinent, as opposed to playing it safe,

as if I don’t trust others.

14. I welcome and appreciate other’s attempts to help me, no matter how

critical or direct their feedback, as opposed to acting hurt, sulking,

indifference, or rejecting them outright.

15. I openly try to influence an individual or a group, as opposed to being

manipulative.

16. I press for additional information when they, anger me as opposed to

acting unaffected, restrained, or over controlled.

17. I am openly hostile towards others when they anger me, as opposed to

acting unaffected, restrained, or over controlled.

18. I encourage collaboration on problems and solicit others definitions and

solutions on mutual problems, as opposed to insisting on mechanical decision

rules or trying to railroad my own judgment through.

19. I am spontaneous and say what I think no matter how “far out” it may

seem, as opposed to monitoring my contributions so that they are in line with

prevailing through or more acceptable to others.

20. I give support to others who are on the spot and struggling to express

themselves intelligently and emotionally, as opposed to letting them flounder

or trying to move on without them.

71

PART 3: Soft Skills Self Evaluation B

Please read the following definitions of soft skills and rate yourself on a scale of 1 to

5 (where 1 is Very Strong and 5 is Very Weak) according to how you perceive

yourself against each skill. For each skill, tick one box.

SKILL

1

Very

Strong

2 3 4 5

Very

Weak

EFFECTIVE

LEADERSHIP the ability

to motivate people to

work effectively towards

goals in a collective

fashion

COMMUNICATION

being able to impart

information in a clear,

precise and

unambiguous way.

CONFLICT

RESOLUTION the ability

to facilitate a process

whereby conflict is

resolved between

parties.

ABILITY TO

INFLUENCE the ability

to offer reasoned debate

on a subject, so as to

persuade and gain

agreement.

72

PERSONAL

EFFECTIVENESS the

ability to consider one’s

own personal effect on

matters and measure

effectiveness in that

context.

ACTIVE LISTENING

being able to engage

with others in a way that

assures them that you

are listening, fully

understanding and

considering what is

being said (ideas,

feelings, thoughts)

CREATIVE PROBLEM

SOLVING being able to

approach problems from

a number of

perspectives, thus

increasing the

possibilities of successful

solutions.

STRATEGIC THINKING

contextualizing thinking

into a wider sphere, so

all possibilities and

outcomes are visible.

DECISION MAKING

being able to reflect on

all implications and

considerations and arrive

73

at an informed decision.

1

Very

Strong

2 3 4 5

Very

Weak

TEAM BUILDING being

able to generate a

positive spirit and

attitude amongst

workers which

incorporates positivity,

happiness and positive

outcomes for the

organization.

BEING ABLE TO

CONVINCE the ability to

win people over to one’s

own way of thinking by

presenting rational and

best ideas that show a

better route and

outcome to a concept or

action.

FLEXIBILITY being able

to display an

understanding that

situations can change

and consequently plans

may have to be re-

visited. Rigidity when

dealing with human

beings can be

problematic

74

UNDERSTANDING

RELATIONSHIPS the

ability to understand the

dynamics between

individuals and groups

so as to read the ‘sub-

text’ of how people are

inter-acting and re-acting

CONSULTATION

appreciating the

significance of people’s

opinions, particularly

when important

decisions are to be

made.

SELF AWARENESS the

ability to know oneself,

both physically and

mentally at any given

time and the effect that

is having on oneself and

others.

JUDGEMENT the ability

to consider and

comprehend all factors

relating to reaching an

understanding of a

situation.

RESILIENCE being able

to ‘bounce back’ and

resume effectiveness in

the face of a set back or

failure.

75

PART 4: Open Questions

1: What benefits do you hope to gain from participating in this trial? (please answer

in the space below)

2: What is your current view regarding the potential of e-learning as a method of

training for soft-skills development? (please answer in the space below)

Thank you for completing the pre-trial survey.

76

Supplement 5.2

Post-Trial Evaluation Survey

All information collected will be held in the strictest confidence.

PART 1: About You

Name …………………………………………………………………………………………

……

Age: (Please tick)

< 18 yrs 19 – 35 yrs 36 – 50 yrs

51 – 65 yrs 65 > yrs

Sex:

Male Female

Your

Organisation ………………….………………………………………………………..…..

Job

Role ………………………………………………………………………………………….

Contact details (tel. no/email) in case we need to contact you direct

………………………………………………….……………………………………………

Date of Trial…..……………

77

PART 2: About your experiences of S-Cube

The following section contains a number of statements relating to your experience of

using the S-Cube e-learning software. For each statement, please indicate the extent

to which you agree on the 1-5 scale provided.

Strongly

Agree

1

Agree

2

Neutral

3

Disagree

4

Strongly

Disagree

5

Game Play Experience

The

experience

was immersive

The

experience

was

challenging

Interactions in

the game were

fraught &

tense

I was able to

achieve the

goals set in the

game

I remained

focused on the

game

throughout

The overall

experience

was positive

Learning Experience

The learning

78

goals of the

game were

clear

The game

provided

opportunities

to receive

feedback

The game

scenario had

relevance to

the issue of

communication

skills

development

The game

required me to

use my

communication

skills

Using online

role play is an

appropriate

way to develop

communication

skills

In-Game Guidance

The pace of

the role play

was too fast

The tutor

interventions

were helpful in

79

focusing my

attention

The tutor

interventions

helped to

develop my

confidence

Usability

It was easy to

get started

with the

software

The gesture

and mood

functions were

useful

The survey

function

(posing

questions

during the

game) aided

my reflection

The User

Manual was

well written

and clear

I learnt how to

use the

software

quickly

The user

interface was

80

easy to use

It was easy

move around

It was easy to

create

dialogue

It was easy to

change

character

moods and

gestures

It was easy to

interact with

other

characters

It was easy to

respond to the

in-game

survey

questions

Fidelity

The playing

environment

was visually

appealing

The animated

characters

were visually

appealing

I can identify

with the

characters in

the game

81

I can identify

with the story /

scenario in the

game

The

experience felt

real

Interest & Value

I found the

game

stimulating

I recognise the

value of the

game as a tool

for learning

Organisation of Trial

The trialling

session was

well organised

The trialling

session was

too short

My location for

the trialling

session was

adequate

82

PART 3: Your comments on S-Cube

In order to enhance the S-Cube software, we would value your feedback.

In the box below, please provide us with your view on the strengths of the S-Cube e-

learning experience:

In the box below, please provide us with your views on the limitations of the S-Cube

e-learning experience:

In the box below, please indicate what improvements and changes you would like to

see to the S-Cube e-learning software:

Thank you for participating in the S-Cube trial evaluation. We may wish to follow up

this survey with a short telephone conversation to clarify any of your feedback.

83

Supplement 5.3

S-Cube Futurepositive Scenario

Learning Programme

Jonathan Lean, Jonathan Moizer, Elena Dell’ Aquila (Plymouth University, UK)

Paul Walsh, Deirdre O'Byrne, Alfie Keary (Cork Institute of Technology,

Ireland)

Ralf Friedrich (GeProS, Germany)

Orazio Miglino, Andrea Di Ferdinando Lugia Sica (Unina, Italy).

84

Module One: Soft Skills Self-Audit

Learning Outcomes

Through this module you will:

Gain an understanding of soft skills and why they are important in social

enterprises.

Assess your own soft skills.

Reflect on your soft skills strengths and weaknesses.

What do we mean by Soft Skills and Why Do We Need Them?

Soft skills are commonly known as ‘people skills’, and are recognised as personal

attributes that enhance people’s interaction with each other. Contemporary changes

in the organisation of work, i.e. a move away from the traditional model of command

and control incorporating vertical structures, to more flatter, horizontal structures

demands a focus on higher proficiency of workers in the areas of soft skills. These

newer structures, very often include working in teams, having more autonomy in

decision making but also higher accountability in terms of effectiveness and

efficiencies. These structures are now emerging as a critical feature for

organisational success, particularly in the area of business.

In order to operate these newer organisational structures effectively, demands on

increased proficiencies are made in areas such as; communication, conflict

resolution, negotiation, effective leadership, strategic thinking and team building.

These are just some of the soft skills that are needed in a modern business and

industry.

It is generally accepted that in the world of work, from employee entry to senior

management levels, soft skills can boost the effectiveness of an organisation. They

have been recommended by the European Parliament and Council as intrinsic to the

development of innovation and as a strong spur to employment growth. Soft skills

are being increasingly sought by employers in the work place in addition to

qualifications and hard skills. Enhancing the soft skill set of a workforce will

undoubtedly lead to increased organisation effectiveness and performance and help

to meet the challenges for the organisation in an increasing competitive environment

of the global market.

85

It is also worth remarking here that an important survey undertaken by the Gallup

Organisation14 on behalf of the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of the

European Commission which highlighted the increased need in this area. This

survey of employers was undertaken across 27 member states of the EU, and

across all industries and sectors. In an extensive survey, a total of over 7,000

interviews were undertaken. The results showed that the following were in the top-

ranked skills identified by employers as being ‘very important’ or ‘rather important’;

team-working skills; ability to adapt and act in new situations; analytical and problem

solving skills and communication skills.

Why are Soft Skills Important to Social Enterprises?

Using the single, double and triple bottom lines as hallmarks to distinguish between

the traditional corporate business model and the social enterprise, we can clearly

see that both models have strong commonalities. The social enterprise, similar to

the corporate model has to be competitive and sustainable to succeed. Given the

strong social emphasis within a social enterprise, it is evident there is an enhanced

closeness of fit between the social enterprise and the development of soft skills. An

improved development of soft skills within a social enterprise contributes to human

resource employment practices that are aligned to a more socially responsible work

environment. It also helps to create and develop a culture of business practice that

is socially and corporately responsible which affects all stakeholders and ultimately

contributes substantially to the social aims of the social enterprise.

Reflective Practice in Training and Education

In training in the area of Soft Skills, the learner will be asked to reflect on her/his own

experience and practice. In so doing, the learner will assess her/his own strengths

and weaknesses in the various aspects of professional and personal practices as

they pertain to the use of Soft Skills.

The practice of reflection as a technique for aiding and reinforcing learning is a

powerful tool in training and education environments. It supports and develops the

ability of critical thinking, linking theory to practice and promotes personal and

14

Gallup Organisation. (2010) Employers’ Perception of Graduates’ Employability: Analytical Report. Flash EB: Series no:304. Gallup

86

professional growth in the individual. Educationalists and psychologists such as

John Dewey15, Donald A.Schön16 and others have been writing and talking about

reflection in learning since the 1930s. Dewey explained the concept simply when

he wrote, “We don’t learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.”

Reflection is an internal practice conducted by the individual that facilitates

exploration and examination of what we are feeling, thinking and learning. It is a

process by which we deepen our understanding of our practice and our learning. It

is a thoughtful consideration of personal experiences, interpersonal relationships and

academic learning.

Through reflection, we challenge our assumptions, ask new questions and try to

make sense of our experiences. We become active creators of our own knowledge.

We learn to change and improve those practices and behaviours that we consider

need changing and improvement, while retaining those that are useful and work well

for us.

A Soft Skills Classification

Table 1 below provides an overview of different soft skills and some useful

definitions:

1 Effective leadership

The ability to motivate

people to work effectively

towards goals in a collective

fashion.

2 Communication

Being able to impart

information in a clear, precise

and unambiguous way.

3 Conflict Resolution

The ability to facilitate a

process whereby conflict is

resolved between parties.

4 Ability to influence

The ability to offer reasoned

debate on a subject, so as

to persuade and gain

agreement.

5 Personal effectiveness

The ability to consider one’s

own personal effect on

matters and measure

effectiveness in that context.

6 Active listening

Being able to engage with

others in a way that assures

them that you are listening

and considering what is

being said.

7 Creative problem 8 Strategic thinking 9 Decision making

15

Dewey, J. (1933). How we think: A relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. Chicago: Henry

Regnery. 16 Schon, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner. New York, NY: Basic. Schon, D. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

87

solving

Being able to approach

problems from a number of

perspectives, thus

increasing the possibilities

of success.

Contextualising thinking into

a wider sphere, so all

possibilities and outcomes

are visible.

Being able to reflect on all

implications and

considerations and arrive at

an informed decision.

10 Team building

Being able to generate a

positive spirit and attitude

amongst workers which

incorporates positivity,

happiness and positive

outcomes for the company

11 Being able to convince

The ability to win people over

to one’s own way of thinking

by presenting rational and

best ideas that show a better

route and outcome to a

concept or action.

12 Flexibility

Being able to display an

understanding that

situations can change and

consequently plans may

have to be re-visited.

Rigidity when dealing with

human beings can be

problematic.

13 Understanding

relationships

The ability to understand

the dynamics between

individuals and groups so

as to read the ‘sub-text’ of

how people are inter-acting

and re-acting

14 Consultation

Appreciating the significance

in considering people’s

opinions, particularly when

important decisions are to be

made.

15 Self awareness

The ability to know oneself,

both physically and mentally

at any given time and the

effect that is having on

oneself and others.

16 Judgement

The ability to consider and

comprehend all factors

relating to reaching an

understanding of a

situation.

17 Resilience

Being able to ‘bounce back’

and resume effectiveness in

the face of a set back or

failure.

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ACTIVITY ONE

Consider your own social enterprise or a social enterprise that you know well.

With reference to the above table, identify up to five soft skills that are

particularly important to this organisation and make a brief note of why.

Soft Skill One:

Soft Skill Two:

Soft Skill Three:

Soft Skill Four:

Soft Skill Five:

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Assessing Your Own Soft Skills

Soft skills can be assessed in various ways. One method is through a survey based

self-assessment. These provide a quick and accessible means by which you can

consider and reflect upon your own skills across different areas. The responses can

be used to help you to reflect upon your skills set and help in planning your training

and development activities. Such methods do have limitations. For example, the

results may vary according to your mood and they are not a substitute for a full

independent psychological evaluation; however, they can serve well as a self-

reflection tool.

ACTIVITY TWO

Go to Appendix One and complete the Soft Skills Evaluation. Following on

from this, please answer the following questions:

Which are your strongest soft skill areas?

Taking one of these skills, describe a work-based situation where you

have applied it effectively.

Which are your least strong soft skills?

Can you describe a situation where the above has impacted on your

work.

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Next Steps

Through completing this short module, you should now understand what soft skills

are and have an appreciation of your own soft skills. In Module Two, you will be able

to practice using some key soft skills in an online simulated role play.

Before proceeding, you may wish to deepen your knowledge further by accessing

some of the resources below:

http://www.cipd.co.uk/blogs/cipdbloggers/b/john_mcgurk/archive/2012/08/09/

Soft-Skills-Stop-the-Soft-soap.aspx.

http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/press-release-service/2012/10/soft-

skills-overtakes-leadership-as-top-ld-priority-claims-survey.html.

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCDV_34.htm.

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Appendix 1: Soft Skills Self-Evaluation

Please read the following definitions of soft skills and rate yourself on a scale of 1 to

5 (where 1 is Very Weak and 5 is Very Strong) according to how you perceive

yourself against each skill. For each skill, tick one box (refer to Table 1: Soft Skills

Classification for a definition of each one of these soft skills).

SKILL 1

Very Weak 2 3 4 5

Very Strong

EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

COMMUNICATION

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

ABILITY TO INFLUENCE

PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS

ACTIVE LISTENING

CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING

STRATEGIC THINKING

DECISION MAKING

TEAM BUILDING

BEING ABLE TO CONVINCE

FLEXIBILITY

UNDERSTANDING RELATIONSHIPS

CONSULTATION

SELF AWARENESS

JUDGEMENT

RESILIENCE

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Module Two: Active Learning and Reflection through Playing the S-

Cube Online Role Play

Learning Outcomes

Through this module you will:

Learn how to use an avatar character within a multi-player online role play.

Practice using soft skills within the role play scenario.

Reflect on the use of soft skills within the role play scenario.

Online Learning and Skills Development

Role play simulations have seen growing application in training and education, not

least due to its capacity to promote vocational learning. Online learning systems can

provide a solid platform upon which role play simulations can be used to promote

soft skills development. This type of active learning can provide a valuable tool for

training staff in social enterprises and other third sector organisations, many of whom

have limited access to training resources and developmental opportunities.

The S-Cube Training Software

S-Cube is an avatar based role play simulation gaming environment aimed at

developing the soft skills of individuals working in and with social enterprises. This

training product is instructor led where participants are given characters to play,

represented by avatars, and they act out a scenario using an online learning platform

which features the opportunity to use and develop soft skills.

The S-Cube software has a number of benefits for users which include:

The capacity for multiple users to apply soft skills in a real time setting.

The ability to practice skills remotely and anonymously using avatar

characters.

An innovative learning experience where the learning takes place in a risk free

online role play setting – where mistakes can be made with no real world

consequences.

An easy to use interface supported by a player guide and orientation video.

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Within the S-Cube software you will be playing out a scenario with other players

each of which will adopt the role of an avatar based character. Each character will

need to achieve certain goals. In order to meet the goals of your character, you will

need to give some thought to the type of soft skills required within your role (refer to

Module One, Table 1 for an overview of the scope of soft skills). Each character

may need to use a different range of soft skills during the course of the role play and

part of the challenge for you a participant is to work out which skills will be important

for your character.

ACTIVITY ONE

Watch the video through the link below.

http://www.S-Cubeproject.eu/gettingstarted

This video will

Guide you through downloading the S-Cube software and

installation on your computer.

Provide an overview of the S-Cube environment and the software

features.

Help you to get started with operating your avatar character within a

role play.

Additional guidance on downloading, installing and operating the software

can be sourced in the User’s Manual which accompanies the software.

ACTIVITY TWO

After watching the video and reviewing the User’s Manual you will be ready

to use the S-Cube software under the direction of a trained facilitator.

Everything you will need to know about your training session will be

contained within the S-Cube software environment. Your facilitator will be

in touch to schedule a time for participating in this multi-player online role

play scenario. If you have any queries about the role play session or

encounter any problems installing and setting up the software then please

communicate with your session facilitator.

After you have completed the online role play exercise, you will be ready to

complete the rest of the tasks within this module.

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Post-Role Play Reflection

Now that you have participated in the role play scenario you are in a position to

reflect upon the experience. Each avatar character in the scenario was set individual

goals to achieve within the playing time. In order to achieve these goals, each player

needed to employ one or more soft skills at different points in the life of the scenario.

Within Activity Three below you will be asked to map these skills across the

characters.

ACTIVITY THREE

In the Grid below, indicate with an “X” which character you think needed to

use which soft skills in order to achieve their public goals. If you need to

remind yourself of all the character’s goals then please refer to Appendix

1: S-Cube Futurepositive Scenario.

Jane Ralf Trevor Giles Andy

Effective Leadership

Communication

Conflict Resolution

Ability to Influence

Personal Effectiveness

Active Listening

Creative Problem Solving

Strategic Thinking

Decision Making

Team Building

Being Able to Convince

Flexibility

Understanding Relationships

Consultation

Self-Awareness

Judgement

Resilience

Continued overleaf.

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ACTIVITY THREE (continued)

Please reflect upon and respond to the following questions:

What challenges did you experience in trying to achieve your goals and how did

you use your soft skills to overcome these difficulties?

If you were to participate in the role play again, how might you use your soft

skills more effectively?

Did you observe good practice in the use of soft skills amongst other

characters? If so, what was it about the characters’ soft skills that were so

effective?

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Appendix 1: S-Cube Futurepositive Scenario.

S-Cube Scenario: Futurepositive

Training Needs Analysis conducted as part of the S-Cube project identified that soft

skills relating to the following areas were rated as being ‘important’ or ‘very

important’ by a large proportion of respondents from social enterprises:

communication (83.7%), consultation (66.7%), ability to influence (68.1%), and ability

to convince (65.8%). However, existing skills in these areas were rated to be low.

Therefore, the scenario that has been developed aims to provide an opportunity for

participants to develop key communication skills in a social enterprise context. The

scenario context is designed to facilitate reflection, discussion and practical

application concerning aspects of the 7 step ‘Cultivation Cycle’ – see

http://www.fundraisingresearch.info/page6.htm

Context & Playing Instructions:

Futurepositive is a role play scenario that has been developed by partners from

across Europe. The purpose of the Futurepositive scenario is to provide participants

with the opportunity to take part in a role play exercise focused on the use of

communication skills, particularly those of persuasion & influence.

The role play scenario concerns a new social enterprise venture called

Futurepositive. Full details about the scenario & the role play characters can be

found on the remaining tabs within this screen. Please spend the next 5 minutes

reading this information and familiarising yourself with the scenario. You will receive

a message from the tutor when it is time to begin the role play exercise.

Please note that you can recall the Information screen by clicking on the “i” button at

any time.

A new social enterprise is being launched in Corfranmouth, a large provincial

European city with a population of 500,000. Bradstock, an area to the east of the

city, suffers from problems of social and economic deprivation. In addition, crime

levels are high and there is a particular problem with youth offending. Many in the

local community believe that part of the solution to Bradstock’s problems lie in

97

providing opportunities for young people to develop work skills that will enable them

to contribute positively to the community, earn an income and gain a sense of

purpose and direction. Futurepositive is a new social enterprise set up to provide

short, paid work placement opportunities for young people living in Bradstock. It

targets ex-offenders and young people felt to be at risk of offending. Futurepositive

also provides free pre-placement training and on-going mentoring, and this aspect of

its work is supported by a two year grant from the local authority. However, they

recognise the need to avoid over-reliance on public sector funding. Hence, they are

seeking the support of local employers to (i) provide paid placement opportunities for

young people (and in so doing provide revenue to cover operational costs through

placement arrangement fees) and (ii) provide substantial sponsorship beyond the

next two years to support pre-placement training.

Futurepositive is holding a launch party and has invited a number of local employers

who they think could be good supporters for their organisation. The two Directors of

Futurepositive (Jane Brown and Ralf Peterson) have opened the event with a formal

presentation and for the rest of the evening, there is an opportunity for networking

and informal discussions over drinks and canapés.

Characters:

Character Description Goals

Jane Brown

Public information:

Futurepositive Director. Jane is passionate

about supporting young people and addressing

the social and economic problems of the area.

She has a training background and is driven by

the social mission of the organisation and has

less interest in the ‘business model’ and the

money side of the social enterprise.

Private Information:

Jane believes that many of the employment

and training problems that young people in

Bradstock are facing is due to the excesses of

Public Goals:

Get people to

support the social

mission of

Futurepositive

Harness the support

of passionate

supporters

Private Goals:

Persuade people of

the social good of

the work placement

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capitalism and the activities of private sector

organisations like Rivitco. Jane finds it difficult

to get along with corporate people and has

been known to get into debates on ideology

with such individuals. Jane sometimes worries

that Ralf is willing to compromise his principles

in order to secure a deal.

project

Identify those whose

values are aligned to

those of

Futurepositive

Ralf Peterson

Public information:

Futurepositive Director. Ralf has a strong focus

on the organisation’s business model, and is

seeking to place the business on a firm footing.

He wants to build up the client base of

employers quickly and explore opportunities for

longer term sponsorship or partnership.

Private Information:

Ralf has major concerns about the long-term

financial sustainability of the organisation,

particularly if the local authority stops providing

funding.

Given the opportunity, he would sign up client

employers tonight. Ralf sometimes worries

that Jane is so focused on the social mission of

the organisation that she neglects the need to

ensure that revenue streams are sustained.

Public Goals:

Get employers to

commit to offering

placements

Generate fee

revenue by

harnessing the

support of

employers most able

to provide a high

volume of placement

opportunities

Private Goals:

To secure

opportunities even if

this means

compromising on

who offers the work

placements

Trevor Sparks

Public information:

Trevor runs a small optometrist firm which

employs one other person. He is very

passionate about the vision of Futurepositive

and his talkative nature means that he would

be happy to chat all evening about what could

Public Goals:

Engage in

stimulating

conversation about

the social mission of

Futurepositive

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be done to support young people and the area.

He is a well-known and liked character in the

local business community.

Private Information:

Trevor’s business generates just enough

revenue to maintain a good income for Trevor

and his employee. Whilst he is full of good

intentions, he is not in a realistic position to

commit financial resources to supporting work

placements. He is well placed to broker

relationships within the small business

community through his links with the local

Chamber of Commerce. Trevor is inclined to

enter into long monologues about himself, and

can take conversations off track.

Help to support the

aims of the social

enterprise

Private Goals:

Help to support the

aims of the social

enterprise but not in

a way that involves

a financial

commitment

Voice his passion for

pro-social action in

the community so as

many people as

possible can hear it

Giles Green

Public information:

Giles is CEO of a major employer in the city, a

manufacturing company called Rivitco. He

holds a traditional view of business and though

he is aware of the importance of social

responsibility in business, it is not something

that interests him a great deal. Rivitco has

recently had some bad PR about its supply

chain operations in Vietnam concerning the

environmental contamination of a local

watercourse. Rivitco were involved in

rectifying the problem and made a financial

contribution towards the clean-up.

Private Information:

Giles dislikes being given the ‘hard sell’, but is

willing to spend money if he sees a clear

benefit to Rivitco. He has the authority to make

Public Goals:

To explore the

possible benefits to

Rivitco of working

with Futurepositive

To show Rivico’s

support for pro-

social action

Private Goals:

To be seen to be at

the event for PR

reasons

Go home as soon as

possible to get on

with some important

work

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decisions that could provide a large number of

placement opportunities for young people. He

is accompanied by Andy Swift, HR manager at

Rivitco whose opinion he values.

As a consequence of their bad PR in Vietnam,

they will consider different ways to improve

their corporate social responsibility but only if

there are clear organisational benefits. Giles

has some pressing business to attend to this

evening, and is keen to move on from this

event after around 30 minutes. Having worked

hard to achieve all he has in life with no help

from anyone, he is not naturally empathetic

towards those who argue for social

intervention.

Andy Swift

Public information:

Andy is HR Manager at Rivitco and works very

closely with Giles in an advisory capacity. He

grew up in an area similar to Bradstock, but

gained a scholarship for grammar school

before going to University and then gaining a

graduate position at Rivitco. Andy is quiet and

thoughtful.

Private Information:

Andy listens a lot but is not the easiest person

to engage in conversation. He is keen to get

promotion at Rivitco and wants to do

something to make an impression, but doesn’t

want to risk his reputation for reliability and

clear thinking through making a bad

recommendation to Giles. He has no decision

making authority in relation to resourcing

issues but has strong influence over Giles.

Public Goals:

To learn about the

social and business

missions of

Futurepositive

Private Goals:

Make a good

impression on Giles

Listen carefully to

sensible proposals

Make

recommendations to

Giles on the basis of

what he hears

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Module Three: Applying Soft Skills in Context

Learning Outcomes

Through this module you will:

Identify which soft skills are particularly important in your own work practice.

Use the soft skills assessment you made in Module One to establish priorities

for your own further soft skills development.

Outline a brief development plan to enhance prioritised soft skills.

Identifying Soft Skill Needs

Having completed the first two modules, the aim of this module is to help you to

apply some of the learning achieved to benefit your own work activity. In order to do

this, you first need to consider the key soft skill needs of your own job role.

ACTIVITY ONE

Go to Appendix One and complete the Soft Skills Needs Assessment.

Following on from this, please answer the following questions:

Which are the most important soft skill needs within your job role?

For the soft skills identified above, please outline why they are

particularly important within your job role?

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Prioritising Your Own Soft Skill Development Needs

Having assessed your own soft skill strengths and weaknesses in Module One and

the needs of your job role in the exercise above, you are now in a position to identify

any skill gaps. For instance, you may have identified ‘conflict resolution’ as an

important soft skill within your job role but recognised that this is not an area of

strength for you.

ACTIVITY TWO

Go to Appendix Two and complete the Calculating Soft Skill

Development Priorities grid.

For scores that are equal to or less than -1, this indicates that your

capability with the particular soft skill is currently more than adequate in

relation to the importance of that skill area within your job role.

For scores that equal 0, this indicates that your capability with a

particular soft skill currently matches the importance of that skill area

within your job role.

For scores that are equal to or greater than +1, this indicates that your

capability with the particular soft skill is currently not adequate in relation

to the importance of that skill area within your job role.

Following on from your calculation of scores, please answer the following

questions:

Which of your soft skills best match the needs of your job role the

most?

Where is there a soft skills mismatch between the needs of your

role and your current skills, and therefore a need for professional

development?

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Planning Your Soft Skill Development Priorities

You have now undertaken an assessment of your soft skill development needs.

Next, you need to plan for how you will enhance the soft skills where you have

identified a shortfall between the skill requirements of your job role and your current

capabilities.

ACTIVITY THREE

In the grid below, please list up to five soft skills that you have prioritised

for future development. In the middle column, make sure that you

identify an action or actions that you will be able to take, e.g. on-the-job,

internal or external training participation in order to sufficiently enhance

the skill. Finally, in the third column provide an indicative timescale for

developing the soft skill.

SOFT SKILL PROPSED ACTION FOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT

TIMESCALE FOR

DEVELOPMENT

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Learning Programme Summary

Thank you for completing the three modules. You should now have:

A clearer understanding of what soft skills are.

Recognition of your soft skill strengths and weaknesses.

An understanding of the soft skill needs of your job.

The means to formulate a development plan to address your soft skill job

needs.

“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission,

Agreement Number: UK/11/LLP-LdV/TOI-419, Project Number: 2011-1-GB2-

LEO05-05526. This learning material reflects the views only of the authors,

and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be

made of the information contained therein.”

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Appendix 1: Soft Skills Needs Assessment

As in Module One, please read the following definitions of soft skills and on this

occasion, please rate the importance of each skill in relation to your job role on a

scale of 1 to 5 (where 1 is Very Unimportant and 5 is Very Important). For each skill,

tick one box in the grid below (refer to Table 1: Soft Skills classification for a

definition of each one of these soft skills).

SKILL

1 Very

Unimportant

2 3 4 5 Very

Important

EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

COMMUNICATION

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

ABILITY TO INFLUENCE

PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS

ACTIVE LISTENING

CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING

STRATEGIC THINKING

DECISION MAKING

TEAM BUILDING

BEING ABLE TO CONVINCE

FLEXIBILITY

UNDERSTANDING RELATIONSHIPS

CONSULTATION

SELF AWARENESS

JUDGEMENT

RESILIENCE

Appendix 2: Calculating Soft Skill Development Priorities

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Refer back to the scores you have input into the following two tables Soft Skills

Self-Evaluation (Module One, Appendix One) and Soft Skill Needs Assessment

(Module Three, Appendix One).

For each of the 17 matching pair of skills, subtract your self-evaluation score from

the needs assessment score. The score you arrive at for each subtraction should lie

in the range of -4 to +4. Transfer the score into the grid below under the column

heading ‘SCORE’.

SKILL SCORE

EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

COMMUNICATION

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

ABILITY TO INFLUENCE

PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS

ACTIVE LISTENING

CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING

STRATEGIC THINKING

DECISION MAKING

TEAM BUILDING

BEING ABLE TO CONVINCE

FLEXIBILITY

UNDERSTANDING RELATIONSHIPS

CONSULTATION

SELF AWARENESS

JUDGEMENT

RESILIENCE

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Chapter Six

The Training Needs Analysis

Paul Walsh, Déirdre O'Byrne and Elena Dell'Aquila

Introduction

To inform the design and development of an S-Cube Learning Programme for soft

skills development for social entrepreneurs, a systematic investigation and analysis

of the training needs of social enterprises across three partner areas; the UK, Ireland

and Germany was conducted. The S-Cube training needs analysis (TNA) research

was designed to identify and categorise the soft skill needs of a range of social

enterprises and was inclusive of other social enterprise stakeholders such as

educators and trainers and support organisations. The findings of the TNA have

been used to inform the design of a competency model for assessing these identified

soft skills.

Methodological Approach

The methodology that was adopted to conduct the TNA was focused on eliciting the

views of social enterprise practitioners and other multi stakeholder as to the levels of

soft skills perceived to be present in social enterprises and in particular, where any

soft skills shortfalls may lie. The findings would feed into the ultimate design of the

S-Cube Learning Programme under development. This constituted a bottom-up

approach that informed the research.

Aims of the TNA

From the outset, the TNA was planned and undertaken as a critical task in the

overall work of the project. Through a structured methodology, the TNA sought to

achieve the following:

To identify the gap between current perceived existing levels of soft skills

within social enterprises and the perceived levels of importance of those same

soft skills within the enterprises to increase competitiveness and success in

the business and social fields in which they operate.

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To identify the levels of training that was needed to close any soft skill

shortfalls.

To discover and decide upon appropriate approaches and methodologies of

training delivery that best meet and suit the soft skill training needs of

potential users of the S-Cube Learning Programme.

TNA Methods

The TNA was conducted during the earlier phases of the project work. Multiple

methods of data collection were utilised within the TNA to elicit the views of people

working in and with social enterprises. The methods undertaken in the completion of

the task included:

The completion of over twenty one-to-one in-depth scoping interviews with pivotal

social enterprise stakeholders across the partner area (See Supplement 6.1 for

the interview schedule).

The utilisation of an online survey for the collection of data which provided

essential information to inform the development and design of the training (See

Supplement 6.2 for the questionnaire form).

A focus group comprising of managers/workers/other stakeholders individuals

from within social enterprises was also facilitated to elicit views and gain useful

insights and provided nuanced opinions on the training needs of social

enterprises. This focus group proved to be invaluable in the creation of training

scenarios in the software training content.

Additionally, it was intended to use the results of the TNA to create a training

experience that incorporated effective, interactive, non-didactic and immersive

pedagogical approaches for the learner with the use of novel online role play

learning scenarios.

Indications from the Scoping Interviews

Scoping interviews were undertaken across all three partner areas (UK, Ireland and

Germany) to record the extent to which recognised soft skills were developed within

social enterprises, and which of those skills would be the most important for

development.

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During these face to face interviews, a general competency dictionary was shared

and agreed with social enterprise interviewees so to establish a common meaning

and a mutual understanding of the various definitions of the relevant soft skills.

Results of scoping interviews have also informed the design of a social enterprise-

soft skill competency model. The S-Cube competency model comprised of 17 soft

competencies (soft skills) grouped into three clusters. For each competency,

behavioural indicators were identified for a more accurate objective assessment

process.

Utilising a structured questioning approach and by examining the gap between

prevalence and importance ratings of soft skills (mean prevalence minus mean

importance), it was possible to estimate the degree to which a soft skill was under-

represented relative to its importance. A higher positive gap between the two mean

figures indicated two trends: firstly, that the prevalence was less than the importance

attributed to the soft skill; secondly, the bigger gap, the greater the disparity between

lower prevalence when compared to recorded importance.

Overall Results of Scoping Interviews across All Partners

The overall results of the scoping interviews in the main mirrored the results for the

three clusters (three project partner areas) examined. The results established in two

of the clusters (Ireland and the UK) indicated that ‘communication’ and ‘effective

leadership’ ranked highest in terms of importance/usefulness within social

enterprises. These two soft skills also displayed the highest gap with prevalence;

meaning that these soft skills are very significantly under-represented as existing

within social enterprises, despite their expression of overwhelming importance.

Exactly the same can be said for four other soft skills, indicated by similar relatively

large gaps also. These were:

Decision making

Strategic thinking

Conflict resolution

Judgement

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The scoping interviews indicated that the aforementioned six soft skills were

amongst the most highly sought after overall, also across the 22 persons interviewed

with a stakeholder interest in social enterprises, i.e. social entrepreneurs, trainers,

etc. In overall terms, in addition to the disparity between mean prevalence and mean

importance being the highest for these soft skills, the overall figures also

demonstrate that these six soft skills display mean scores putting them as the most

useful soft skills, in exactly the same order.

Online Survey

In addition to the scoping interviews, an online survey was conducted across the

partner region to trawl further views on the training needs of a wider number of social

entrepreneurs in the region of soft skills. Although social enterprises were primarily

targeted, also recorded were the views of the broader stakeholders in the area. A

total of 134 responses to the survey were received across the three participating

countries. Outlined here below are statistics and trends that emerged.

The Findings

Demographics

Occupations and roles. The largest cohort of respondents represented board

members and senior management within social enterprises. Together, this group

corresponded to 60% of input to the survey. Respondents who described

themselves as volunteers and paid workers represented 24.6%; managers

represented 10.8% and supervisors represented 4.6%. Of those who have recorded

their views, 87% of those are directly involved with social enterprises. The remaining

13% are other stakeholders, e.g. trainers, advocates and service users.

The Rural/Urban Split. The ratio of urban to rural respondents was recorded as

slightly over 2:1, in favour of urban social enterprises. The actual percentages were

67.7% urban and 32.3% rural. Results also illustrated there are high diversity levels

in the areas of business with no strong indicator in one direction. Indications were

that respondents had come from diverse areas of business, such as healthcare,

transportation, education, information and communication, manufacturing finance

and the service industry as well as other industries.

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Size measured by employment levels. Just over three quarters (75.4%) of

respondents were associated with SEs that employed less than 30 people, staying

with the trend that SEs generally tend to be small to medium sized businesses.

Communication Skills

In all four areas of Communication Skills, (see Figures 6.1 and 6.2) the findings

indicate that the level of importance assigned to communication, consultation, ability

to influence and being able to convince, all exceed the perception levels of their

actual existence in social enterprises. Across all four areas of Communication Skills,

43.3% of respondents assigned a level 1 (highest) importance status, whereas only

20% expressed this perceived level of existence to those skills in the social

enterprises they are associated with. This indicates that although a high importance

is being assigned to Communication Skills, respondents are indicating that they do

not in fact exist, relevant to the extent of their assigned importance. Taking Figures

6.3 in conjunction with Figure 6.4, (below) we can see that 72% of those surveyed

gave highest importance status to communication skills, (1 of 4 in the overall set) but

only 31% indicated that they felt that communications skills actually existed at that

level.

Figure 6.1: Communication Skills - Importance Rating

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Figure 6.2.: Communication Skills - Perceived Levels of Existence in Social

Enterprises

Total Quality Management Soft Skills

From Figure 6.3 it is possible to calculate that 47.6% of those surveyed assigned

level 1 importance on average across the six soft skills; effective leadership, conflict

resolution, creative problem solving, team building, strategic management and

decision making. This group of soft skills represents the Total Quality Management

soft skill cluster. If we compare the figure of 47.6% to the perceived prevalence of

existence Figure 6.4 of these same skills within social enterprises, (24.2%) it

becomes apparent that a large gap emerged indicating that these soft skills were

significantly under-represented as existing within social enterprises notwithstanding

their expression of high importance in Figure 6.3. Taking individual soft skills, it

becomes apparent that this gap is even larger in some instances with 53.9% of

respondents citing effective leadership as being most important. However, this

contrasts with less than half of that figure, (28.3%) seeing this soft skill in existence

within their social enterprise.

113

Figure 6.3: Total Quality Management - Importance Rating

Figure 6.4: Total Quality Management - Perceived Levels of Existence in

Social Enterprises

Inter/Intra Personal Skills

In the inter/intra personal skills as represented in Figure 6.5 below, 42.1% of those

surveyed assigned level 1 importance across the seven soft skills in this particular

cluster. In terms of how people see these soft skills in existence within social

enterprises (Figure 6.6) it emerges that only 24.3% of respondents assigned a level

1 indication. Once again, we see that a large gap emerges between assigned

114

importance and assigned levels of perception of existence of these soft skills within

social enterprises. On examination of where the largest gap emerges between

assigned importance and assigned prevalence, the soft skill of ‘understanding

relationships' is representative of the highest gap. The assigned rates of importance

and prevalence are 47% and 19.6% respectively, showing a gap of 27.4%.

Figure 6.5: Inter/Intra Personal Skills - Importance Rating

Figure 6.6: Inter/Intra Personal Skills Perceived Levels of Existence in Social

Enterprises

115

Communication Skills Cluster and Personal/Professional Development

When asked how important the Communications Skills cluster was to respondents’

personal and professional development, 45% of those surveyed assigned the

highest level 1 of importance. A total of 55.9% singled out ability to influence within

that cluster as being of highest importance, followed by communications (sub-set of

the overall cluster) at the 48% level. If we combine levels 1 and 2 (rates of

importance), 72% of respondents assign these ratings across all ratings on the scale

of 1-5.

Top Quality Management Skills Cluster and Personal/Professional

Development

Some 58.4% of respondents assigned a level 1 importance rating to effective

leadership, followed by 54.5% who gave a highest importance rating to strategic

thinking as individual soft skills within the Total Quality Management cluster. Some

48% assigned level 1 importance to Top Quality Management soft skills.

Inter/Intra personal Skills Cluster and Personal/Professional Development

When asked if respondents felt that Inter/Intra Personal skills were the most

important group of soft skills, a total of 36.4% agreed with a level 1 ranking. Within

this cluster, the individual soft skill of ‘active listening’ was assigned the highest

ranking from 42.6% of respondents. This was followed by ‘personal effectiveness’ at

40.6% at level 1. Combining both levels 1 and 2 rankings to these two soft skills, an

average of 34.3% of respondents reported these scores as being of the highest

importance.

Training and Education Delivery

The views of interviewees were sought on how and what they considered as

appropriate modes and approaches to the delivery of training and education in the

area of soft skills. As can be seen from Figure 6.7, a high proportion of respondents

either agreed or strongly agreed (78.6%) that training in the area of soft skills is

required. This figure is in keeping with the disparity that emerges from previous

figures which show that while high levels of importance are assigned to the need for

soft skills, perception of their actual existence in respondents’ social enterprises are

quite low. Further questions were also posed in relation to approaches to training.

116

Figure 6.7: Training and the Development of Soft Skills

Role Play in Developing Soft Skills

A high proportion of respondents were in agreement that role play is a useful way to

develop soft skill training with 64.1% either agreeing or strongly agreeing with its

proposed usage.

Utilising Specially Designed Computer Games for Soft Skills Training

As Figure 6.8 indicates, 38.5% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that

computer games aid the development of soft skills. However, over one in four

respondents disagreed with this statement. This may be attributed to computer

games being relatively new in a training context for many people and raises a further

question as to how this correlates with age and/or a digital divide.

Role Play being Developed through Computer Games for Participation of Staff

Some 36.9% (Figure 6.9) of those surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that role play

can be usefully utilised through the development of computer games in which staff

can participate. Similar to the previous question, a significant minority (26.2%) did

not respond to this question, which once again raised further questions possibly in

relation to age and a digital divide.

117

Figure 6.8: Computer Games and Soft Skills

Figure 6.9: Role Play Computer Games Learning for Staff of Social

Enterprises

Modes of Training and Education Delivery

When given a choice of how training would be delivered, most respondents (76.5%)

preferred a combination of all three options; e-learning, workshops and tutorials (See

Figure 6.10). The most favoured individual option was workshops, returning a score

118

(92.1%) of those surveyed. The least individual favourable mode of delivery was e-

learning (47.1%). It may also be noted that the rate of response was 25% less in the

case of e-learning as compared to a combination of training modes. Once again,

this may be attributed to new technologies in teaching not be as well-known as

others.

Figure 6.10: Preference of Training Delivery Modes

Focus Group

The results of the scoping interviews and online survey informed the focus of the S-

Cube Learning Programme and assisted in defining the parameters of the scenario

(called ‘Futurepositive’) developed for subsequent trialling with SE stakeholders. An

important step in the development of the scenario was the running of a focus group

comprising a number of social enterprise stakeholders. By discussing the results of

the TNA and exploring various scenario options, the focus group was pivotal in the

design of this key aspect of the S-Cube Learning Programme, providing a real world

check on the translation of the TNA results into a workable and realistic scenario.

Conclusion

The growth of social enterprises across the EU, the recognition and growing demand

of soft skills in areas of business and the attendant development of public policy at

both national and EU levels, all indicate that the work of the S-Cube project has the

potential to significantly contribute to soft skill development in the third sector.

119

The completion and findings of the TNA produced a base line of information,

systematically and empirically constructed which served to inform the design and

development of an innovative, empowering training tool that has the potential to

contribute to the sustainability of SEs across Europe.

120

Supplement 6.2

S-Cube Project Soft Skills Interview Schedule Preamble

1. Statement of Purpose. A letter, explaining the context of the project is sent in advance to the interviewee. Check with the interviewee that s/he received and understood the contents of the letter. Have a copy to hand and re-cap if necessary.

2. Consent to be obtained from the interviewee via a signed form. Check that s/he understands the interview will be audio taped.

3. From the outset the interviewer will relay the following information to the interviewee:

Confidentiality. The identity of all participants in this research will be treated in the strictest of confidence. Any personal information divulged during an interview will not be associated or identified with any individual.

Research not a Test. The interview is not a ‘test’ of the individual or an organisation. The interview represents an element of research to inform the design of soft skills training for personnel who work in social enterprises (free of charge).

Participant Briefing

It is important that before using this questionnaire with interviewees that a brief

discussion takes place where clarification is given as to how soft skills are being

defined.

Soft skills are “the Inter-personal and Intra-personal skills required to be effective in the workplace”

(Bunk 1994 in FÁS17)

Showcard No 1. (Soft skills 1-18) This is given to the interviewee to read. Allow

time for reading. The interviewer can then give some practical examples of how

some of these soft skills may be used in the work place, using the social enterprise

model as a background.

Teach Back: The interviewer checks with the interviewee to confirm her/his understanding of soft skills to enhance validity. Checklist:

1. Does the interviewee understand the background to the project? 2. Does the interviewee understand the role of soft skills in social enterprises? 3. Has the consent form been agreed and signed by the interviewee? 4. Has audio-tape consent been given by the participant?

17

Downloadable at: http://www.fas.ie/en/pubdocs/SoftSkillsDevelopment.pdf

121

Details Name:_______________________________________________________ Organisation:_________________________________________________ Q1a. Of the soft- skills listed here, on a scale of 1-10, which of these soft skills are

most important/useful to your SE, or which do you think are most important to

SEs in general - those with which you are familiar? 1=most important/useful;

10=least important/useful.

Effective leadership Communication Conflict Resolution

Ability to influence Personal effectiveness

Active listening

Creative problem solving

Strategic thinking Decision making

Team building Being able to convince

Flexibility

Understanding relationships

Consultation Self awareness

Judgement

Resilience Other

Q.1b Of the soft- skills listed here, on a scale of 1-10, which of these skills exist at

the highest levels in your SE or in SEs in general – those with which you are

familiar? 1=most prevalent; 10= least prevalent.

Effective leadership Communication Conflict Resolution

Ability to influence Personal effectiveness

Active listening

Creative problem solving

Strategic thinking Decision making

Team building Being able to convince

Flexibility

Understanding relationships

Consultation Self awareness

Judgement

Resilience Other

122

Q2. Can you identify a soft skill(s) from the supplied list or from your own

knowledge that is/are really important to the effective running of your SE

or SEs in general?

Probe: Why is/are these skill(s) important?

Probe: Can you give an example of how this/these skill(s) is/are important

within [your SE or SEs in general]?

Probe: In relation to this/these soft skill(s), what is your assessment of the

level of competence in [your SE or SEs in general]?

Q3. What other soft skills on the list are important and why?

Probe: any skills left out that are important?

Q4. Thinking about the soft skills areas we've discussed, what is your

overall assessment of the skills for which there is the greatest need for

training [in your SE or amongst SEs in general]?

Q.5 How would you like to see training in soft skills being delivered?

______________________________________________________________

Q.6 Would a combination of the following training delivery types be of

interest to you in soft skills training? (Please indicate yes or no, below)

a) e-Learning, b) Workshops c) Tutorials Yes □ NO □

Q7 If you were to engage in any of the training above, do you have any

special needs to facilitate your learning? If so, please indicate those

needs.

______________________________________________________________

123

Showcard

3 Effective leadership

The ability to motivate people to work effectively towards goals in a collective fashion.

4 Communication Being able to impart information in a clear, precise and unambiguous way.

3 Conflict Resolution The ability to facilitate a process whereby conflict is resolved between parties.

4 Ability to influence The ability to offer reasoned debate on a subject, so as to persuade and gain agreement.

5 Personal effectiveness The ability to consider one’s own personal effect on matters and measure effectiveness in that context.

6 Active listening Being able to engage with others in a way that assures them that you are listening and considering what is being said.

7 Creative problem solving Being able to approach problems from a number of perspectives, thus increasing the possibilities of success.

8 Strategic thinking Contextualising thinking into a wider sphere, so all possibilities and outcomes are visible.

9 Decision making Being able to reflect on all implications and considerations and arrive at an informed decision.

10 Team building Being able to generate a positive spirit and attitude amongst workers which incorporates positivity, happiness and positive outcomes for the company

11 Being able to convince The ability to win people over to one’s own way of thinking by presenting rational and best ideas that show a better route and outcome to a concept or action.

12 Flexibility Being able to display an understanding that situations can change and consequently plans may have to be re-visited. Rigidity when dealing with human beings can be problematic.

13 Understanding relationships The ability to understand the dynamics between individuals and groups so as to read the ‘sub-text’ of how people are inter-acting and re-acting

14 Consultation Appreciating the significance in considering people’s opinions, particularly when important decisions are to be made.

15 Self awareness The ability to know oneself, both physically and mentally at any given time and the effect that is having on oneself and others.

16 Judgement The ability to consider and comprehend all factors relating to reaching an understanding of a situation.

17 Resilience Being able to ‘bounce back’ and resume effectiveness in the face of a set back or failure.

18 Other

124

Supplement 6.2

S-Cube Project: Online Soft Skills Survey

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

132

133

134

135

Chapter Seven

Evaluation of the Online Role Play Trials

Roberta Asperges, Jonathan Moizer, Alfie Keary & Ralf Friedrich

Introduction

This chapter presents and discusses the results of the S-Cube Learning Programme

trials carried out with the UK, Irish and German social enterprise stakeholders.

Firstly, statistics are presented to illustrate the impact that the S-Cube training

intervention had on the soft skills of the trial participants. These results are

accompanied by a data response. Lastly, the statistical and open trial participant

feedback on the utility and effectiveness of the EUTOPIA S-Cube environment is

presented and discussed.

The Trial Parameters

The comprehensive trialling of the S-Cube Learning Programme with the social

enterprise stakeholder participants yielded a full and representative evaluation of the

potential impact that the Programme could leverage over social entrepreneur soft

skill development. Of the 116 volunteers who started the Learning Programme (40

in the UK, 53 in Ireland18 and 23 in Germany), 95 completed both the Self-Reflection

Survey of their soft skills and the Post Trial Evaluation Survey to feedback on

suggested improvements to the S-Cube Learning Programme in Trial Cycle 1. For

each trialling partner country, there were more females than males participating in

the Learning Programme: UK 53.8%, Germany 72.7%, Ireland 52.9%. Regarding

the age categories, both the Irish and German groups recorded the highest

percentage within the age category 19-35 years. The profile of the Plymouth

participants was older with 33% being aged between age 35-50 and 28.2% being

between 51-65 years old.

18

Nineteen of the Irish participants had learning differences and were able to provide equally valuable

feedback on the S-Cube learning experience orally.

136

Seventy-seven participants (38 in the UK, 26 in Ireland and 13 in Germany)

successfully finished the training, with 61 completing the two surveys at the end of

Trial Cycle 2. As might be expected, for these remaining participants, the age and

gender profile of participants was similar to that in the first trials. Again, there was a

greater proportion of females than males and the age profile was slightly older than

in Trial 1 across partners, reflecting the characteristics of those participants who

were available to return for the second cycle.

Within the soft skills survey at Trial 1, participants were asked to provide some

background on their reasons for participating in the trialling and any prior

experiences of online learning. Most respondents were involved in trialling the S-

Cube Learning Programme because they were interested in better understanding the

project and the learning opportunities related to this. Regards the benefits gained

from this trial, some participants wished to understand more about the training

requirements in order to effectively support social enterprise initiatives, while others

were keen to specifically develop their own personal social skills. Only a limited

number of participants had previous experience of e-learning, but this was mainly

limited to specific courses of study such as food and hygiene or health and safety.

For most, it was a new experience. With the potential of e-learning as a method of

training for soft-skills, there was mixed opinion. Some respondents felt that the S-

Cube Learning Programme, for instance, was a new opportunity to learn and

improve their soft skills within a safe environment, while others believed that the

most effective method would be to use traditional face-to-face learning methods.

Trial Evaluation: Impact of the S-Cube Learning Programme on Soft Skill

Levels

The use of pre- and post-workshop trial surveys to assess the self-perceived soft-

skills of participants facilitated an analysis of the impact of the training intervention.

The mean ratings for the 'Soft Skills Evaluation A' and 'Soft Skills Evaluation B' parts

of the survey (administered Pre-Trial 1 and Post-Trial 2) are summarised and

compared in Tables 7.1 and 7.2 below.

137

Table 7.1: Soft Skills Evaluation A

SOFT SKILLS EVALUATION A - ANALYSIS

These questions were rated on a 1-10 scale where 1 = Extremely Uncharacteristic

and 10 = Extremely Characteristic. Hence, an increase in the mean score between

the start of Trial 1 and the end of Trial 2 indicates a positive development in the soft

skill described. In the case of 11 out of the 20 soft skills displayed in Table 1, such

an increase in the mean was observed. In one case there was no change and in 8

I am open

and candid in

my dealings

with others,

as opposed

to being

closed,

cautious, and

under wraps

in my

relationships

I hear, respect,

and accept the

comments and

reactions of

others, as

opposed to

responding

defensively,

dismissing

them as of little

value, or turning

a deaf ear on

their

observation

I specifically

test for

agreement

and

commitment

to joint or

team

decisions,

as opposed

to assuming

that all are

committed if

no one

openly

disagrees

I readily admit

to confusion or

lack of

knowledge

when I feel that

I have little

information

about a topic

under

discussion as

opposed to

trying to bluff,

feigning

understanding

, or insisting

that my

opinions are

right

I show my

concern that

others know

where I stand

on relevant

issues, as

opposed to

being

basically

indifferent to

others

knowledge of

me or just

unrevealing

in my

comments

I take the

initiative in

getting

feedback

from other

members,

as opposed

to waiting

passively

for others to

offer their

comments

of their own

accord

I “level” with

others and

describe

how I feel

about what

they do and

how they

do it, as

opposed to

covering

up, taking

tolerance

or denying

any

reaction

My

comments

are relevant

and pertinent

to the real

issues at

hand in the

team, as

opposed to

being “frothy”

and off-target

or attempts at

camouflage

I try to

understand

how others

are feeling

and work

hard at

getting

information

from them,

which will

help me do

this, as

opposed to

appearing

indifferent,

showing

superficial

concern or

being

basically

insensitive

I value and

encourage

reactions

equally from

others, as

opposed to

being

selective in

my quest for

feedback or

treating

some

contributions

as inferior

Valid 93 94 92 94 94 95 94 95 94 95

Missing 2 1 3 1 1 0 1 0 1 0

7.45 7.62 7.14 7.33 7.12 6.94 6.44 7.26 7.86 7.54

Valid 62 62 61 62 62 62 62 62 62 62

Missing 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

7.40 8.10 7.21 7.73 7.23 7.18 6.85 7.26 7.89 7.52

I am openly

affectionate

toward others

when I feel I

like them, as

opposed to

being

inhibited,

restrained, or

acting

embarrassed

I help others

participate and

work to support

and draw

everyone into a

group

discussion, as

opposed to

fending only for

myself and

leaving

participation up

to each

individual

I take risk

with others

and expose

highly

personal

information,

both

emotional

and

intellectual,

when it is

pertinent, as

opposed to

playing it

safe, as if I

don’t trust

others

I welcome and

appreciate

other’s

attempts to

help me, no

matter how

critical or direct

their feedback,

as opposed to

acting hurt,

sulking,

indifference, or

rejecting them

outright

I openly try to

influence an

individual or

a group, as

opposed to

being

manipulative

I press for

additional

information

when they,

anger me

as opposed

to acting

unaffected,

restrained,

or over

controlled

I am openly

hostile

towards

others

when they

anger me,

as

opposed to

acting

unaffected,

restrained,

or over

controlled

I encourage

collaboration

on problems

and solicit

others

definitions

and solutions

on mutual

problems, as

opposed to

insisting on

mechanical

decision

rules or trying

to railroad my

own

judgment

through

I am

spontaneous

and say what

I think no

matter how

“far out” it

may seem,

as opposed

to monitoring

my

contributions

so that they

are in line

with

prevailing

through or

more

acceptable to

others

I give support

to others who

are on the

spot and

struggling to

express

themselves

intelligently

and

emotionally,

as opposed

to letting

them

flounder or

trying to

move on

without them.

Valid 94 95 94 95 95 94 94 94 95 95

Missing 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0

7.37 7.63 5.93 7.29 7.12 6.53 4.61 7.43 6.23 8.04

Valid 62 62 62 62 62 60 62 62 62 62

Missing 2 2 2 2 2 4 2 2 2 2

N

1 Trial Mean

N

N

1 Trial Mean

N

2 Trial Mean

138

cases there was a decrease in the mean. Although differences between Trial 1 and

Trial 2 were often small, the results in Table 1 indicate that in the majority of areas,

there was either a positive improvement in soft skills or no change following the two

S-Cube Learning Programme workshop trials. The two areas where the biggest

improvements were observed relate to the soft skills of ‘Active Listening’ and ‘Risk

Taking’.

Table 7.2: Soft Skills Evaluation B

SOFT SKILLS EVALUATION B - ANALYSIS

These soft skills were rated on a 1-5 scale where 1= Very Strong and 5 = Very

Weak. Hence, a decrease in the mean score between the start of Trial 1 and the

end of Trial 2 indicates an improved self-perception of the soft skill described. In the

case of 10 out of the 17 soft skills, such a decrease in the mean was observed. It is

significant to note that the biggest decrease observed was in the soft skill area of

'Communication', the main focus of the S-cube on line role play scenario trialled

during the workshops. This indicates that the intervention had a positive impact in

this key area of interest. Again, differences between Trial 1 and Trial 2 were often

small, however the results indicate that in the majority of areas, there was a positive

improvement in participants' perceptions of their soft skills following the two S-cube

workshop trials19.

19

Note that in the case of both Table 7.1 and Table 7.2, the time separation between the two

workshop trials means that it is not possible to rule out the impact of other uncontrolled variables on the results.

Effective

leadership Communication

Conflict

resolution

Ability to

influence

Personal

effectiveness

Active

listening

Creative

problem

solving

Strategic

thinking

Decision

making

Valid 95 95 95 95 95 95 94 95 94

Missing 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1

2.22 2.17 2.37 2.36 2.33 1.87 2.02 2.41 2.18

Valid 62 63 63 62 62 63 63 63 63

Missing 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1

2.16 1.97 2.35 2.32 2.21 1.84 2.13 2.29 2.16

Team

building

Being able to

convince Flexibility

Understanding

relationship Consultation

Self

awareness Judgement Resilience

Valid 93 95 95 95 95 95 95 95

Missing 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

1.96 2.38 1.96 2.06 2.01 2.06 2.21 2.24

Valid 63 63 63 63 63 63 63 63

Missing 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

2.06 2.41 2.08 2.17 2.25 2.11 2.17 2.17

N

2 Trial Mean

1 Trial Mean

N

2 Trial Mean

N

1 Trial Mean

N

139

Impact of Software and Scenario Enhancements on Participant Perceptions of

the S-Cube Programme

Workshop participants were required to complete an evaluation of the S-Cube

software and scenario after both the first and second trials. This allowed an

evaluation to take place of the impact of changes and enhancements made to the S-

Cube Learning Programme (the software environment, scenario and other modular

learning materials) between the trials in response to user feedback.

QUANTITATIVE FEEDBACK

Tables 7.3 and 7.4 below summarise and compare the mean ratings given by

participants. In most cases, the reduction witnessed in the mean score between

trials represents an improved, more positive perception of the Learning Programme.

Overall, the results show a much improved perception of S-Cube between Trials 1

and 2.

Table 7.3: Game Experience

In relation to the ‘Gaming Experience’, the comparison of means in Table 7.3

indicates an improved overall perception of S-Cube between the 2 trials. Trial 2

participants were more inclined to agree that they became immersed in the role play

and remained focused throughout. As might be expected, the experience was less

challenging and fraught for participants the second time around.

Referring to Table 7.4, in all aspects of learning measured there was a clear

improvement between the two trials. This most likely reflects the improvements

The

experience

was

immersive

The

experience

was

challenging

Interactions

in the game

were

fraught &

tense

I was able

to achieve

the goals

set in the

game

I remained

focused

on the

game

throughout

The Overall

experience

was

positive

Valid 95 95 95 95 95 94

Missing 0 0 0 0 0 1

2.37 2.32 3.01 3.26 2.27 2.50

Valid 76 76 75 76 76 76

Missing 0 0 1 0 0 0

2.07 2.41 3.43 2.37 2.12 1.93

N

2 Trial Mean

N

1 Trial Mean

140

made to the learning materials ahead of Trial 2. Also, having mastered the technical

aspects of the activity during Trial 1, it is likely that participants were more focused

on the learning aspects of S-Cube during Trial 2.

Table 7.4: Learning Experience

In relation to 'Game Guidance', a more positive perception of tutor intervention

emerged following Trial 2 as evidenced in Table 7.5. This might reflect

enhancements made to the guidelines for running the S-Cube Learning Programme

and the fact that tutors would have gained more experience in facilitating sessions.

Significant effort was directed at enhancing aspects of the software ‘Usability’ based

on feedback from Trial 1. This is reflected in Table 7.6 by the very positive

improvements in mean scores across all survey items relating to usability after Trial

2.

As with ‘Usability’, a number of improvements were made to the ‘fidelity’ of the

software between the trials. Once again, in Table 7.7, this is reflected in the positive

improvements in mean scores for related measures after Trial 2.

The

learning

goals of the

game were

clear

The game

provided

opportunities

to receive

feedback

The game

scenario had

relevance to

the issue of

communication

skills

development

The game

required me to

use my

communication

skills

Using online

role play is an

appropriate way

to develop

communication

skills

Valid 91 93 95 95 94

Missing 4 2 0 0 1

2.80 2.53 2.38 2.11 2.35

Valid 76 71 76 76 76

Missing 0 5 0 0 0

2.03 2.30 2.16 1.79 2.162 Trial Mean

N

1 Trial Mean

N

141

Table 7.5: Game Guidance

Table 7.6: Usability

The pace of

the role play

was too fast

The tutor

interventions

were helpful

in focusing

my attention

The tutor

interventions

helped to

develop my

confidence

Valid 92 95 95

Missing 3 0 0

2.85 2.17 2.66

Valid 74 74 73

Missing 2 2 3

2.70 1.85 2.23

N

1 Trial Mean

N

2 Trial Mean

It was easy to

get started

with the

software

The gesture

and mood

functions were

useful

The survey

function

(posing

questions

during the

game) aided

my reflection

The User

Manual was

well written

and clear

I learned how

to use the

software

quickly

The user

interface

was easy to

use

Valid 94 93 93 88 95 94

Missing 1 2 2 7 0 1

2.67 2.91 2.72 2.66 2.22 2.33

Valid 75 74 68 65 74 72

Missing 1 2 8 11 2 4

2.19 2.58 2.57 2.12 1.81 1.85

It was easy

move around

It was easy to

create dialogue

It was easy

to change

character

moods and

gestures

It was easy to

interact with

other

characters

It was easy to

respond to

the in-game

survey

questions

Valid 94 95 92 95 89

Missing 1 0 3 0 6

3.03 2.27 2.29 2.39 2.33

Valid 75 73 71 74 70

Missing 1 3 5 2 6

2.29 2.03 2.00 1.93 2.23

2 Trial Mean

N

1 Trial Mean

N

2 Trial Mean

N

1 Trial Mean

N

142

Table 7.7: Fidelity

The enhancements made to both the S-cube software and the related scenario and

learning materials resulted in a higher level of engagement and interest at Trial 2 as

illustrated in Table 7.8. Participants were more likely to recognise the value of the

learning approach.

Table 7.8: Interest and Value

In relation to the organisation of the sessions (Table 7.9), perceptions of Trial 2 were

more positive reflecting the greater experience of facilitators after running two sets of

trials. The view of many participants that trials were too short may be an indication

of the high level of engagement achieved during the second trial and the immersive

nature of S-cube as a learning tool.

The playing

environment

was visually

appealing

The

animated

characters

were visually

appealing

I can identify

with the

characters in

the game

I can identify

with the story /

scenario in the

game

The experience

felt real

Valid 95 95 95 95 94

Missing 0 0 0 0 1

2.83 2.84 2.82 2.45 3.05

Valid 73 75 75 75 73

Missing 3 1 1 1 3

2.49 2.55 2.41 2.31 2.73

1 Trial Mean

N

2 Trial Mean

N

I found the

game

stimulating

I recognise

the value of

the game as

a tool for

learning

Valid 94 93

Missing 1 2

2.60 2.19

Valid 75 75

Missing 1 1

2.31 2.11

N

1 Trial Mean

N

2 Trial Mean

143

Table 7.9: Organisation of Trial

QUALITATIVE FEEDBACK

Following on from Trial 1, in relation to the strengths of the S-Cube Learning

Programme, all respondents judged that the Programme could provide an

opportunity to put yourself into a different mind-set and an effective way to teach soft

skills, and in particular communication skills through a distance learning

environment. Participants also highlighted a number of software limitations, inter

alia: the inability of their character to speak to different combinations of characters;

difficulty in following character conversations because there were too many visible

windows with messages/information on the screen; problems with the movement of

the avatars; and the limited range of gestures and moods open to the avatars. On

the topic of software improvements, the respondents confirmed the above limitations

and provided some recommendations on overcoming these with the software

environment. These suggestions provided a foundation for the enhancements to the

S-Cube Learning Programme ahead of the second cycle of trials.

The following comments represent the views of participants who experienced two

cycles of workshop trials and therefore spent some considerable time engaging with

the Learning Programme – its software, the scenario and the associated learning

materials. Regards the strengths of S-Cube, many participants reported that it was

easy to use and that it was a fun, engaging experience. Such engagement from a

mixed group of users with different levels of experience with computer technology is

a very positive outcome for the project. Other participants commented on the

adaptability of the learning platform across different learning contexts and some

The trialling

session

was well

organised

The trialling

session was

too short

My location for

the trialling

session was

adequate

Valid 95 94 93

Missing 0 1 2

2.22 2.56 2.06

Valid 75 75 75

Missing 1 1 1

1.64 3.07 1.80

N

2 Trial Mean

N

1 Trial Mean

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suggestions were made in this regard as to extending its application to new

environments. With respect to the limitations of the Learning Programme, most

responses focused on technical aspects of the game (e.g. the text/dialogue

functions) or the need to ‘multi-task’ in order to effectively use the various avatar

movement and communication functions simultaneously. There was little feedback

on the scenario under trial itself, though some respondents felt that the goals of the

activity could have been clearer. Going forward, a challenge will be to make the

interface and functions more intuitive within the constraints of available technology.

Suggestions for improvement reflect the limitations identified above and include

comments on how advanced technologies such as facial recognition software might

be integrated into its functionality. It is clear that as more technologies emerge,

there is great potential to enhance aspects of the S-Cube software further to improve

its fidelity and make it more intuitive to use. Additional comments offered by

participants confirm that the software and support resources were noticeably

improved between the two trialling cycles. This demonstrates that the evaluation

and enhancement work conducted by partners has had a clear impact on the user

experience of the participants.

Summary and Conclusion of the S-Cube Learning Programme Evaluation

Overall, a comparison of responses between Trial 1 and Trial 2 indicates that there

was a modest but generally positive impact on participants’ self-perceived soft skills

as a result of the training intervention. Also, participant perceptions of the S-Cube

Learning Programme became more favourable after Trial 2, reflecting the positive

impact of improvements and changes made to the software, scenarios and learning

materials by project partners. The reasons for participation across the partners was

varied but most volunteers either wanted to develop their soft skills or find out about

how to use the Learning Programme to develop the soft skills of others. The

feedback on the software capability was generally positive, but there were

recommendations on how to engineer a more intuitive learning software program.

Importantly, the improved learning environment between Trial Cycles 1 and 2 was

recognised.

The last chapter (Using S-Cube for Training Soft Skills: Lessons Learned and Future

Prospects) draws together the whole project process and outputs and considers how

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the S-Cube Learning Programme and its methodology could be used further to

support the soft skill development of those working in European social enterprises.

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___________________________________________________________________

SECTION THREE: FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR S-CUBE

Chapter Eight

Using S-Cube for Training Soft Skills: Lessons Learned and Future

Prospects

Jonathan Moizer, Luigia Simona Sica, Orazio Miglino, Andrea Di Ferdinando,

Liz Thomson, Paul Walsh & Ralf Friedrich

Introduction

This chapter starts by highlighting the final adaptions made to the S-Cube online role

play environment to improve its application. Next, a review of the impact that the

Learning Programme has had on the soft skills of members of the European social

enterprise community is provided, along with indications of the future sustainability of

the learning approach. Future opportunities for using online role play games to

develop soft skills are then outlined. The chapter concludes with a summary of the

key findings of the S-Cube project.

Adaptions made to the S-Cube Online Role Play Environment

Software adaptions to the S-Cube software environment were directly informed by

the feedback from the trial participants resulting in enhancements to the fidelity,

usability and context relevance. A range of minor software bugs and glitches were

readily resolved between Trial 1 and 2. The participant feedback after Trial 2

reflected the improvements to the software between trial cycles.

The main adaptations to the software were as follows.

For Fidelity

As part of the software functionality, characters have the opportunity to use verbal

(text based) communications and non-verbal communication using emoticons.

Feedback from the trials indicated that a fuller range of emoticons would help

characters to more effectively role play through non-verbal communication. A

number of additional moods and gestures such as a ‘happy expression’ were made

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available to characters during Trial Cycle 2 to better reflect real world personal

interaction. The top left portion of Figure 8.1 below illustrates the emoticon options

available to characters in the final version of the software.

For Usability

At Trial 1, characters were limited to verbal communication with either one other

character or all other characters. Feedback indicated this as a limitation on

communication. Adaptions were made to this functionality with an additional option

to communicate with more than one other character. The right side of the Figure

below illustrates this functionality where Jacqueline is talking to Aravinda and

Francesca but not Bob.

For Context Relevance

To better represent reality in social enterprise, we included a wider range of different

types of characters in Trial 2. These characters are available for inclusion in the final

version of the software for use in other role play scenarios.

Figure 8.1: Adaptions to the S-Cube Environment

Development of New Scenarios

The Futurepositive online role play learning scenario has been successfully trialled

with social enterprise stakeholders in the UK, Ireland and Germany. The scenario

was developed using the EUTOPIA storyboard facility and developed into a full S-

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Cube scenario script before use in the volunteer participant trials. Any trainer is able

to use the EUTOPIA platform to craft and customise their own S-Cube soft skill role

play scenarios. To help S-Cube trainers, three additional soft skill-social enterprise

orientated scenarios have been developed and uploaded to the S-Cube server

(http://eutopia.unina.it/scube/). This resource of four scenarios is freely available as

a downloadable trainer resource in the three partner languages: English, German

and Italian. It is hoped that these role play scenarios can be used by trainers off-the-

shelf or be used to inspire trainers to craft their own S-Cube scenarios.

The three additional scenarios are described below:

Closing the Deal

CommunityMedia has been approached by a mid-size corporate organisation -

Mobile Corp Europe - which wants to develop a promotional film to help sell its

mobile phone services. Mobile Corp Europe has a good corporate and social

responsibility policy and is keen to get social enterprises into its supply chain. They

still need a top quality production. The two parties have had some phone and email

discussions and CommunityMedia has sent a quote of £17k for the work. Both

parties have set up a meeting to finalise what is needed and pin down what

CommunityMedia can provide for what cost. The aim for both sides is to close the

deal and iron out any remaining issues for the contract.

The scenario provides trainees with the opportunity to develop the following soft

skills: communication, ability to influence, and ability to convince.

Creating a Social Enterprise

A number of local people want to form a social enterprise to develop an urban farm

to redevelop the land, sell produce, look after animals and also encourage young

people and families to get involved. The local council (municipality) are keen for

some sort of community use for the land and will also provide £50,000 in capital to

help develop it. However, they are also under pressure from a developer who wants

to purchase the land to build new housing. The group of local people are hoping to

get agreement from the council to transfer the asset to a new social enterprise. The

council has asked for a business plan for the business. Although the group

members are from different backgrounds they are all in agreement that in order to

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create a farm that will have long term benefit they must create opportunities for

earning income. The aims for this group are to agree a simple vision/mission

statement for the new social enterprise business; agree roles in the new company

and elect a chairperson for the new business, set three social outcomes the

business would like to achieve and come up with some income generating ideas for

future development.

The purpose of the UrbanFarm scenario is to provide participants with the

opportunity to take part in a role play exercise focused on the use of the following

soft skills: leadership, listening, decision making, team building and understanding

relationships.

Problem Resolution

Two years ago an interdisciplinary team was put together to restructure the department of

further education at Builditup Company. The objectives are to offer state of the art online

qualification programmes for all employees meeting the company’s requirements in a fast

transforming market. To encourage employees to sign up for the new education

programmes, they should meet the following criteria:

Be offered fir study with flexible hours

Create an inviting study atmosphere

Use modern techniques and training methods

Award certification

Contribute to future company profitability.

For no obvious reason there has not been any progress in attaining the objectives of

the project. The Headquarters has voiced harsh criticism and called for an

immediate fix and binding project plan. So the Human Resource function has

organised a meeting of all project team members to establish what the obstacles are

to signing up employees to the study for the educational programmes and how to

overcome these. The aims for this group are to allow each team member to state

their views on why the project isn’t working and allow the team to suggest solutions

to overcoming the project difficulties.

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The scenario provides trainees with the opportunity to develop the following soft

skills: communication, negotiation, teamwork and ability to convince.

Impact and Sustainability of the S-Cube Learning Programme

Within S-Cube, impact is considered to be retrospective and relates to the direct and

indirect effects that the project outcomes have had on the soft skill development of

members of the European social enterprise community. Sustainability is

prospective, and concerned with maintaining a positive impact on the social

enterprise community going forward.

Impact on the European Social Enterprise Community

A major component of the S-Cube project’s impact revolved around the involvement

of non-delivery partners (project supporters) in trial participation and evaluation of

the S-Cube Learning Programme impact at the European tri-national level: in the UK,

Ireland and Germany.

The target groups for the S-Cube project were those directly working in European

social enterprises and other social enterprise stakeholder group such as trainers and

educators. The direct project impact was on the development of trial participants’

soft skills through their engagement with the S-Cube Learning Programme. At the

project planning stage it was envisaged that some 70 people from these target

groupings would be involved in the trials and benefit from the S-Cube training. In

fact, 113 individuals participated in Trial Cycle 1, with 77 of this cohort taking part in

Trial Cycle 2. Across the three trialling countries, participants represented the broad

social enterprise community and the impact of the training on their soft skill levels

was closely measured. A comparison of mean scores from the pre & post-trial

survey responses provided by the cohort indicated a small but positive impact on

participants’ self-perceived soft skills. To supplement these statistics, qualitative

comments suggested that many participants recognised the value of the training

approach to improve soft skills. Overall, the trials were successful in terms of the

number of people impacted and the nature of the impact on participant soft skills.

Furthermore, survey analysis showed improvements made to the S-Cube software

and scenarios through the project had a positive influence on participant perceptions

of its value as a learning tool. Engagement with social enterprise stakeholders

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throughout the trials has already led to the development of new role play learning

scenario applications for a range of social enterprise contexts.

The indirect impact of the S-Cube Learning Programme extended beyond the trial

participants. There was significant engagement with social enterprise stakeholders

who were not participating in the Learning Programme trial activities. This occurred

through various channels, including demonstrations at events and fairs, meetings

and discussions with social enterprise stakeholders and presentations at

international conferences. This engagement led to expressions of interest in the

Learning Programme emanating from a wide range of stakeholders, mostly

consisting of social enterprise trainers and also educational establishments (for

example, secondary schools were keen to explore potential applications).

Social media and website activity was also an important project element and effort

was made to engage with the wider social enterprise community online. Twitter

(https://twitter.com/SCubeSEproject) and Facebook

(https://www.facebook.com/SocialEntrepreneurshipSoftSkillsTraining) accounts were

created for project dissemination and exploitation purposes. The project website

(http://www.s-cubeproject.eu/) also featured regular blogs (http://www.s-

cubeproject.eu/blog/) by partners and provided a repository of resources and

publications that were well used during the project period and continue to be

available as a legacy resource for consumption by third parties. Such engagement

provided a means to impact on the broader debates surrounding social enterprise,

online training & related policy. The wide coverage of S-Cube achieved through

newspapers & other media has extended the impact & reach of the S-Cube Learning

Programme.

In terms of the impact statistics, impact was measured through documenting the

number of trial participants which, at 113, was 61% greater than the planned 70.

Thirty-five Learning Programme trials were conducted across the three trialling

countries, representing at least 70 aggregate training hours, with most participants

receiving four hours of training. The effect of the trials on the participant soft skills

was evaluated using pre- & post-trial surveys. This approach facilitated an

assessment of the impact of trials on self-perceived participants’ soft skills. Surveys

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also measured the impact of the S-Cube Learning Programme enhancements on

learning. A total of five trial participants were invited to a final international S-Cube

Learning Programme workshop in Rome20, where plans to take forward and deepen

the impact of S-Cube were discussed and measures agreed.

The impact beyond the trial participants was measured in number of ways. The

number of people reached through dissemination activities was significant. From a

qualitative perspective, the prestige of the publications featuring the S-Cube

Learning Programme is important (for example, the Times Higher Education

newspaper is a highly regarded weekly publication in UK higher education sector,

whilst the Irish Guardian is widely read quality newspaper in Ireland). The impact

through social media channels has also been significant. By project end, S-Cube

had over 125 ‘Twitter’ followers (https://twitter.com/SCubeSEprojectfollowers) and a

growing number of ‘Facebook’ friends

(https://www.facebook.com/SocialEntrepreneurshipSoftSkillsTraining). There has

been virtual project engagement via its trilingual webpages (see http://www.S-

Cubeproject.eu/index.html; http://www.S-Cubeproject.eu/indexde.html; http://www.S-

Cubeproject.eu/indexit.html). Web traffic generated an average of 100 ‘hits’ per day

towards the project end with over 12,000 ‘hits’ to date for the S-Cube blog page

(http://www.S-Cubeproject.eu/blog/).

The impact on non-trial participants within the targeted groupings was also

measured through the number of S-Cube meetings held with social enterprise

stakeholders. A total 44 meetings to discuss S-Cube adoption and application were

recorded across all four partners. However, more important than the number of

meetings was the standing of stakeholders engaged with, and the outcomes that

were achieved from these meetings; examples include: McAfee who will use S-Cube

in Ireland to create cyberbullying awareness, Oliver Colville – UK Member of

Parliament who endorsed the efforts of the S-Cube project through the project

website; and Social Entrepreneurs Ireland which play a key role in increasing the

impact of social enterprises in the Irish Republic.

20

At the Rome event, social entrepreneurs from partner countries came together to participate in an international trial of the Problem Resolution role play scenario, and feed-forward on the prospects for using the S-Cube Learning Programme to further engage those working in European social enterprises in their soft skill development.

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A further measure is the number of events and conferences at which partners

presented or demonstrated the S-Cube Learning Programme. A qualitative measure

of impact through this means was winning the Best Paper Award at the Irish

Educators Conference, 2013. Publications have been produced or are currently

awaiting publication, meaning that the project will have an ongoing impact on social

enterprise training, academic & policy debates.

Analysis was undertaken to identify variations in the impact of the workshop trials on

participants across the three trial countries. A comparison of means scores for trial

participant soft skill levels indicates that a positive impact was observed across all

three countries. The ‘starting position’ of the participant groups in the three nations

for mean self-perceived soft skills varied, with Germany generally scoring the highest

mean scores and Ireland the lowest. However, for each country, a small overall

improvement in self-perceived soft skills was apparent. Yet more evident was the

improved perception of the Learning Programme across each of the three countries

between Trial 1 and 2 based on modifications to the software environment, online

scenario parameters and learning materials. These impacts on soft skills and the S-

Cube e-learning platform were further supported by qualitative data. However, it was

noticeable that comments from the UK and Ireland tended to be more positive than

was the case in Germany. The more mixed views on impact in Germany may result

from the fact that there is a less coherent social enterprise sector in this country.

Some of the benefits arising from the workshop trials related to the sharing of the

training experience with people operating within a common community of practice.

In Germany, the relative absence of such a community to share and engage with

during the trials may have affected participants’ overall perceptions of the experience

and the benefits emerging.

Indicators used to measure the impact of the project on trial participants were

consistent across the trial countries. However, in the case of one group of trial

participants in Ireland, a different approach was adopted. The group concerned

worked within an organisation supporting individuals with learning difficulties

integrate into employment. The surveys were not suitable for many of them to

complete, and therefore, qualitative data was collected through interview format.

This group engaged particularly well with the role play learning scenario within the

154

trials and it was evident that the scenario had helped with some aspects of their

socialisation and confidence to communicate with others in work type settings.

Sustainability at the European Level

The S-Cube Learning Programme has proved to have the capacity to help develop

the soft skills of members of the European social enterprise community as evidenced

by the impact evaluation of the training experience. The successful trialling with

social enterprise stakeholders has helped to validate the S-Cube Learning

Programme and has set it on track to sustain as a reusable resource capable of

training social entrepreneurs to enhance their soft skills. At project close, a total of

two organisations through Plymouth University, five through GeProS, one through

UNINA, and nine through CIT have expressed serious interest in providing training

and education using the Learning Programme. From these organisations, it is

estimated that 215 social enterprise stakeholders could benefit through the Plymouth

partner in the first 12 months following the S-Cube launch. For GeProS the estimate

is 70 persons, UNINA indicated a possible 48 persons, and CIT have more

confidently indicated a possible group of 865 people could benefit from the S-Cube

Learning Programme training.

Future developments for Online Scenario Based Role Play: Where to From

Here?

The cumulative results of the S-Cube project (as well as previous projects using

Eutopia: Proactive and T3) are consistent with the simulation literature and they

stress the value of game-based learning, clarifying that it provides a balance

between conceptual (teaching about) and procedural (teaching how to do)

knowledge (Miglino and Walker, 2010; Sica et al, 2011). In brief, advanced games

technologies (computer games, augmented reality, robotics) could address many of

the limitations of traditional instructional methods; games have the ability to motivate

learning, increase knowledge and skill acquisition and support traditional teaching

methods.

The experimental step leads us to believe that the use of new technologies can also

be applied in formative contexts. Systems thinking literature (Senge, 1990) indicates

the cognitive benefits through having spatial and temporal proximity of stimuli to

155

facilitate learning, the relevance or consistency of the material proposed, the

different ways of transmitting information, and the customisation of dynamic teaching

and learning. Indeed, in a recent review article, Selfton-Green (2006) discussed

different definitions of formal and informal learning linked to the context of learning.

Both trainers and trainees have rules, strategies and learning patterns that differ

according to their age. Therefore, it is crucial to identify strategies for using

technology that will be appropriate and consistent with the target of the intervention,

in order to produce effective teaching or training strategies and be able to stimulate a

real path of ‘active processing of information’. In sum, the findings of the S-Cube

project underline efficacy in the use of virtual games in educational and formative

contexts for soft-skills training in line with the results of studies in previous

educational research contexts (Miglino, Delli Veneri, Di Ferdinando, Benincasa,

2008) and the use of more complex interactive games in training settings.

Conclusion

This chapter has evidenced the recent developments to the S-Cube software

environment and demonstrated the levels of impact that the S-Cube Learning

Programme has leveraged over soft skill development in members of the social

enterprise community, and its future potential as an adaptable and sustainable

learning approach. The S-Cube project, with financial support from the EU Leonardo

Transfer of Innovation fund has delivered a Learning Programme that is informed by

both psychological theory and business practice, which has been validated as a

coherent and well integrated approach to soft skills development for social

entrepreneurs. The modular programme is relevant and engaging and underpinned

by an innovative way of using online, avatar based role play to help develop some of

the key competencies and skills required for those situated within social enterprises

to work successfully in their workplaces.

156

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