Regeneration: improving the quality of life of the marginalised
We ended 2011 debating the role of
corporations towards social interventions – I along with my partner in crime
Kamil went down to Footscray for the Footscray Community Luncheon to see
firsthand exactly what these big corporations were giving back to society. It surprised
me when the large corporations I was expecting didn’t materialise – but instead
a whole host of local institutions and businesses were lending their hand for
such a note worthy course.
A wide ranging group of businesses
and institutions donated their time, money and facilities to put on the event.
There were the big institutions such as Victoria University, City West Water
and the Western Bulldogs who provided the location and their staff with the support
of the primary sponsor, The Melbourne Wholesale Market who provided the food.
In addition there were local businesses such as Burnham real estate agents and
a local patisseries all of who either provided their time and or their
services. Each one of these entities has something different to gain from being
involved in this event, but one thing they all have in common is that they are already
established within the local community. Each one of these businesses has strong
roots within Footscray and the broader western region of Melbourne. This was
something that did surprise me as my initial expectations were for
organisations from outside of the region to be more greatly involved. In past
years, organisations such as Grocon and the St George Bank have provided
valuable support for this cause, which lead me to believe that more
organisations that wanted to create a greater profile within a new target
market but didn’t have a specific dialogue with the local community would seek
to participate in this event.
During my time at the function, I
spent time talking to the various people that volunteered their time to get an
understanding of why they participated and what relationship they had with
either the Maribyrnong City Council or Western Region Heath Centre. I noticed a
couple of key points, namely that:
- Volunteers that participated form large organisations tended to be from the marketing or social departments
- Many of the smaller organisations came with all their staff
- Nearly everyone said they wanted to be there because they wanted to give something back to their community
‘There
are a number of social and moral reasons why individuals volunteer their time
and money towards charitable causes, but do those same reasons motivate corporations
towards social responsibility. [1]’ From my experiences here, I believe
the institutions involved didn’t provide their time or services for any
specific moral reasons but rather for social and institutional reasons given
that the majority of the staff were required to be there as part of their
employment requirements.
However in a number of ways the
reason why an institution provides its time and resources for such a function
is not important. What is far more
important is the relationship and dialogue between institutions and their local
community (community and not only patrons) being established where both parties
are mutually benefiting. In previous blogs, I have spoken about the economic
definition of ‘Value’ which can be broken down in to two key concepts, Return on Investment (ROI) and Utility … hence to put it into simple terms ROI is a measure of
economic value whilst utility is a measure of happiness[2]; when such a relationship is developed between two
parties there is a measurable ROI for the institution, whilst and a visible
utility for the staff and community. By being part of such a function,
individual participants can provide a ‘meaningful, positive impact on the community, meet a
diverse range of people, create motivation and sense of achievement amongst
other things[3] which all have long term implications for the social
health and wellbeing of the staff and in turn the institution. For the local
population there is an opportunity to be part of something bigger without
feeling like being at a function imposed on them, or specifically highlighting
them because of their strata in society.
The economic value to an
organisation on the other hand can be broken down in to short term and longer
term gains – some of the short term gains include the welfare of their staff
and increased morale within the working environment. However there are
significant gains to be made long term.
Institutions such as City West Water, The Western Bulldogs and Victoria
University need to be seen as willing participants within their local
community; the same applies to smaller companies such as Barnham Real Estate.
All the institutions involved have a close affiliation with the West of Melbourne,
and by engaging with the community they increase the chance that both the
institution and the community has of success.
Survival of a number of these organisations is based on economic growth
– economic growth is directly related to increased patronage – increased
patronage is directly influenced by increased wealth within the community. In a
catchment area such as Footscray increased wealth of the community can be
achieved in two ways:
- Change in the demographics of the population by increasing the number of wealthier individuals
- Increase the collective wealth of the existing population
Basic economic theory suggests that
by increasing the wealth of a society, the most marginalised members and
members from a lower socio-economic background will have greater access to
social services , which will help break the cycle of social issues. Whilst this
concept is debateable, if we take this position it becomes critical for
business and institutions to be seen to be part of their community and develop
a long term relationship with their community. Ultimately as the collective
wealth of a community increases the more relevant the institution needs to be;
this could potentially mean a larger market share or decreasing the potential
for competition deteriorating any market share.
So for Footscray the big question
is where do we go from here? In my past blog, entry I spoke about the exciting
times ahead for the area and all the investments earmarked for the regeneration
of the area. One of the biggest challenges facing regeneration of this
magnitude is what happens to the lower socio-economic groups? The biggest
threat to any form of regeneration is gentrification that will put more
pressure on marginalised groups. As the collective wealth of a community
increases so does property and asset prices; which in turn forces a change in
retail and business uses. So the milk bar on the corner now becomes an organic
grocery store. The danger of such a change is that services that are normally
accessed by people of a lower socio-economic background are forced away because
these services are no longer viable. This is where the relationship between commercial
organisations and their community is critical. By having a pro-active co-operative
approach between commercial organisations and their community, marginalised
groups stand a better chance of increased economic prosperity without becoming further
marginalised.
Part 1 of this series was
first posted on 15 December 2011; the follow up Part 2 video of the event was
first posted on 28 April 2012.
[1] Corporate Social
Responsibility, Ajith Kuruvilla, http://archpeace.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/corporate-social-responsibility.html
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