With his Harvard Business Review article Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility in 2006, Michael Porter arguably established widespread awareness of corporate social responsibility and enumerated its importance to a company's sustainability and competitive viability. This was later refined into the idea of creating shared value (CSV), a call to recognize the criticality of generating stakeholder value over shareholder value in order to build and maintain a successful company.
"The concept of shared value recognizes that anchors and their communities are inextricably bound together" purports an article published by Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), titled Anchor Institutions and Urban Economic Development: From Community Benefit to Shared Value. The underpinnings of CSV are clearly visible throughout ICIC's publication, but it should be of no surprise. ICIC was founded by Porter in 1994.
The urban community has become more dependent on anchor institutions as vacancies in service offerings are left by city governments and non-profits struggling with economic turmoil. ICIC has created a framework in order to understand, evaluate, and grow the relationship between anchors and their surrounding communities in a way that provides value for all parties. The framework outlines seven strategic capacities (see diagram) of anchors in the community such as employer or workforce developer. Through these capacities, or roles, anchors may drive a shared value for their stakeholders and their business.
"The concept of shared value recognizes that anchors and their communities are inextricably bound together" purports an article published by Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), titled Anchor Institutions and Urban Economic Development: From Community Benefit to Shared Value. The underpinnings of CSV are clearly visible throughout ICIC's publication, but it should be of no surprise. ICIC was founded by Porter in 1994.
The urban community has become more dependent on anchor institutions as vacancies in service offerings are left by city governments and non-profits struggling with economic turmoil. ICIC has created a framework in order to understand, evaluate, and grow the relationship between anchors and their surrounding communities in a way that provides value for all parties. The framework outlines seven strategic capacities (see diagram) of anchors in the community such as employer or workforce developer. Through these capacities, or roles, anchors may drive a shared value for their stakeholders and their business.
When a hotel was first being established along DC's New York Avenue, the owner of the now long-standing Fairfield Inn & Suites (Marriott) exercised the institution's role as a workforce developer. At the Greater New York Avenue Gateway Group symposium in early September, Bill Conway of SharCon Management spoke of how the site had once housed a rundown motel known to be a breeding ground of illegal activity. To prepare a workforce for the new hotel, he created a "hotel bootcamp" to train area residents. Some of them, he says, were once those who made use of the old motel. Though there was a 50% reduction in bootcamp participants by the end of the program, all graduates were hired. As a small developer who is not looking for a massive return on investment, and who has established a handful of anchor institutions in Metro DC, Conway argues he is more likely to align with the balanced perspective of stakeholder value through activities like the bootcamp. ICIC's framework would serve to highlight the mutually beneficial aspects of Conway's approach: residents gained access to local jobs and Conway had a strong applicant pool who in turn were more likely to become committed employees. The Fairfield Inn & Suites' engagement with the community was beneficial to both parties. |