ANNOUNCEMENTS
A business’ ability to forge relationships with the local and global community is no longer limited to the idea of being a responsible corporate citizen. Rather, it has become an indispensable factor for economic success in this era. Although community engagement in its essence should imply nothing short of engagement with the community, the business-community relationship is much more complex and dynamic. The objective of this study is to explore the different routes available to a business to forge such a relationship and the rationale behind each route. The three routes studied include (1) undertaking community engagement in the absence of a community engagement policy (CEP), (2) undertaking community engagement in the sector that provides cost-effective entrance (sector-sector non-alignment) and (3) undertaking community engagement in the sector of one’s operations or expertise (sector-sector alignment).
The three models are analyzed against the backdrop of the CEP landscape. The analysis is carried out in two phases. The first phase includes studying the adoption of CEPs by a heterogenous sample of 40 US-based companies on a year-on-year basis. A community engagement policy goes beyond a mere public disclosure of community engagement activities. Presence of such a policy would mean that responsible community engagement is in fact a business commitment. Findings reveal 2019 to be a defining year in the policy landscape because the number of companies that have adopted a CEP has significantly gone up post 2019. Such a trend analysis is further studied against the backdrop of sector-wise trends that reveal that health-sector has experienced a significant growth in terms of adoption of CEP. Similar trends are showcased by the consumer non-durables and technology services sectors as well.
Through formulation of relevant criteria and extensive review of publicly disclosed materials such as company sustainability reports and official company websites, the second phase of this study tries to understand the sectoral composition (education, affordable housing, water & sanitation, public health, community food programme, entrepreneurship, social reform, human rights etc,.) of community engagement activities of the sample companies. The findings reveal (1) EDU to be the most cost-effective or, the minimum resource allocation sector and, (2) the health sector to be the sector with most sector-sector alignment.
Although routes (2) and (3) seem to suggest that long-term benefits of community engagement can be achieved, the value of this study lies in suggesting the rationale behind why route (3) can be viewed as a more ideal route as it appears to be a more direct approach to achieving the ultimate goal of being a ‘business with purpose’. Finally, the value of this study lies in drawing managerial insights from the various routes and rationales.
Keywords: Community Engagement, Community Relations, Employee Volunteerism, Employee Engagement, Social Sustainability, Community Giving, Community Impact, Giving Back.
