When Suits Meet Roots: Best Practices in Community Engagement

Dr. Frances Bowen

International Institute for Resource Industries and Sustainability Studies (IRIS)

Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary

A note to Web Viewers

This presentation is designed to accompany the other outputs of the “Engaging with Community” Knowledge Project commissioned by the Research Network for Business Sustainability (RNBS). It is intended to be useful both for university teachers and managers thinking about community engagement.

Some of these slides contain “Notes Pages” which explain the slide content in more detail. You may wish to print off the notes pages first, and then view the slides in “slideshow” view to see the most sensible sequence of material.

Further details can be found in the accompanying academic literature review and in the executive briefing on the RNBS’ website: www.sustainabilityresearch.org

Presentation Outline

What is Community Engagement? “Engagement” and “Community”

How have some firms gained from engagement? The Continuum of Community Engagement Identifying Best Practice in Community Engagement

From Academia: ABC Analysis From Practice: 9 Best Practice Principle Steps Best Practices in Benchmarking and Measurement

Useful Resources

What Does your Community Look Like?

What is Community?

Community is: “a body of individuals”

Oxford English Dictionary

Individuals can be linked by one or more of: Geography: people residing in the same geographic location Interaction: people who regularly interact with each other Identity: people who share a set of beliefs, values or experiences

Community can consist of individuals or of groups organized to represent the interests of a set of individuals

What is Engagement?

Engagement / n. 1. the act or state of promising to marry.

Engagement / n. 4. an encounter between hostile forces.

The Gains from Engagement

Our Knowledge Synthesis

Aim: map and assess existing intellectual territory on community engagement

Explanatory synthesis of the literature Based on over 200 knowledge sources Included academic and practitioner sources (cases,

websites, best practice handbooks etc.) Thorough process of finding, evaluating, coding and

compiling the sources…

Filtering Knowledge Sources

Academicliterature

citation search1

n=586

Practitioner literature

citation search2

n=65

Screen for relevance3

Rejected citations4

n=445

Includedcitationsn=206

Content coding5

Strategic perspective

n=97

HR perspective

n=40

Public policy perspective

n=54

Performance perspective

n=35

Where to Find Best Practice?

GOVERNMENT GUIDELINES

FACILITATOR TRAINING

THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

CORPORATE TOOL-KITS

CORPORATE-NGO ALLIANCES

The Continuum of Community Engagement

GOVERNMENT GUIDELINES

FACILITATOR TRAINING

THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

CORPORATE TOOL-KITS

CORPORATE-NGO ALLIANCES

GOVERNMENT(Ministry of Social Development, New Zealand)

Information provision

One-off consultation

Collaborative processes

Community decision making

TRAINING ORGANIZATION(International Association for Public Participation (IAP2))

Inform Consult Involve Collaborate Empower

VOLUNTARY SECTOR(The Rowntree Foundation, 1994)

Information ConsultationDeciding together

Acting together

Supporting

COMMUNITY STANCE(Hashagan (2002)

Passive Reactive Participative Empowerment Leadership

CORPORATE(Altria Inc)

MonitorPush

communicationsEducate Lobby Engage Collaborate

NON-PROFIT CORPORATEALLIANCES(Rondinelli & London, 2003)

Arm’s lengthInteractive

collaborationsIntensive alliances

Increasing community engagement

The Continuum of Community Engagement

GOVERNMENT GUIDELINES

FACILITATOR TRAINING

THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

CORPORATE TOOL-KITS

CORPORATE-NGO ALLIANCES

GOVERNMENT(Ministry of Social Development, New Zealand)

Information provision

One-off consultation

Collaborative processes

Community decision making

TRAINING ORGANIZATION(International Association for Public Participation (IAP2))

Inform Consult Involve Collaborate Empower

VOLUNTARY SECTOR(The Rowntree Foundation, 1994)

Information ConsultationDeciding together

Acting together

Supporting

COMMUNITY STANCE(Hashagan (2002)

Passive Reactive Participative Empowerment Leadership

CORPORATE(Altria Inc)

MonitorPush

communicationsEducate Lobby Engage Collaborate

NON-PROFIT CORPORATEALLIANCES(Rondinelli & London, 2003)

Arm’s lengthInteractive

collaborationsIntensive alliances

Increasing community engagement

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Three Types of Community Engagement

Dimension TransactionalEngagement

TransitionalEngagement

TransformationalEngagement

Corporate stance “Giving Back”Community Investment

“Building Bridges”Community Involvement

“Changing Society”Community Integration

Communication One-way Two-way Two-way

Number of community partners

Many Many Few

Frequency of interaction

Occasional Repeated Frequent

Nature of trust Limited Evolutionary Relational

Learning Transferred from firm Transferred to firm Jointly generated

Control over process Firm Firm Shared

Benefits and outcomes

Distinct Distinct Joint

What the Academic Knowledge Says:The ABCs of Community Engagement

TRANSITIONALENGAGEMENT

TRANSACTIONALENGAGEMENT

TRANSFORMATIONALENGAGEMENT

ANTECEDENTS BEHAVIOURS CONSEQUENCES

MANAGERIAL PERCEPTIONS

JOINT BENEFITS TO FIRMS AND

COMMUNITIES

BENEFITS TO COMMUNITIES

BENEFITS TO THE FIRM

INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

COMMUNITY CONTEXT

Key Findings from the Academic Review

While there are a very large number of suggestions as to what organizations should do, there is very little empirical evidence of what works and when

Most studied form of engagement is transactional, followed by transitional and then transformational

Payoff from engagement is usually long term, from improved legitimacy

Firms that breed trust-based co-operative ties with communities may gain a competitive advantage over those that do not because they are more difficult to copy

Best practice in community engagement involves fit between the engagement context and processes

What the Practitioner Knowledge Says:Best Practice Principles

Government Guidelines “Leading Practice Principles of Community Engagement”, New

South Wales Government, Australia “National Standards for Community Engagement”, Minister for

Communities, The Scottish Executive, UK

Industry Associations “Principles for Stakeholder Engagement”, Business for Social

Responsibility, San Francisco, Ca, USA “Community Impact Core Principles”, Business in the Community,

London, UK

Quasi-Non-Governmental Organization “Good Practice Principles for Stakeholder Engagement”,

International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC, USA

9 Best Practice Principles

1. SET GOALS

2. IDENTIFY PARTICIPANTS

AND ISSUES

3. ALLOCATE AND

LEVERAGE RESOURCES

PRE-ENGAGEMENT PLANNING

5. SET RULES, BE OPEN AND

SHARE KNOWLEDGE

4. SELECT INCLUSIVE

TECHNIQUES

6. RECORD, MONITOR AND

SEEK FEEDBACK

ENGAGEMENT PROCESS

8. SHARE WITH STAFF

9. SHARE WITH PEERS

POST-ENGAGEMENT LEARNING

7. SHARE WITH STAKEHOLDERS

Best Practice in Benchmarking and Measurement

An Example: KMPG and LBG’s Method

Our Top PicksTop Pick for on Best Practice Principles for Community Engagement“Leading Practice Principles” in “Community Engagement in the NSW

Planning System”, New South Wales Government, Australia, http://203.147.162.100/pia/engagement/index.htm

Top Pick for Tips for Successful Engagement Technique Implementation

“Public Participation Toolbox”, International Associate for Public Participation (IAP2), www.iap2.org

Top Pick for Measuring Community EngagementThe London Benchmarking Group Input/Output Matrix,

www.lbg-online.net

Top Pick for Benchmarking Philanthropic Donations in Canada“Business Contributions to Canadian Communities”, Imagine Canada,

www.imaginecanada.ca

Conclusions

Identifying “communities” is a vital but tricky first step Managers face key choices on how involved their firm’s

approach will be (the community engagement continuum): Transactional aka “giving back” Transitional aka “building bridges” Transformational aka “changing society”

The Best Practice tools and ideas: From academia: ABC Analysis From practice: 9 Best Practice Principles Measurement and Benchmarking

Our Top Picks for Best Practice resources

Thank You!

Leadership Council of the Research Network for Business Sustainability

Dr. Aloyisus Newenham-Kahindi

Dr. Irene Herremans

Calgary Chamber of Commerce

Check for updates on our Knowledge Project and resources at:

www.sustainabilityresearch.org