BIV MAGAZINE
24 | BIV MAGAZINE: THE EDUCATION ISSUE 2022 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
MBA–ROYAL ROADS UNIVERSITY
THE MARKET, MAIN STREET AND THE COMMON GOOD Researching businesses and business models that can be a force for good Dr. Heather Hachigian’s research exists at the intersection of money, the marketplace and the common good — and that intersection is located squarely on Main Street. Hachigian is an assistant professor teaching in the master of global management program and the graduate certificate in corporate social innovation at Royal Roads University. She’s exploring the free-market economy’s role in social progress. “How do we allocate capital in a way that aligns with advancing society, investing in ways that make society more equitable and just, and more inclusive and more environmentally sustainable as well?’” Hachigian asks. T hat shift requires what she calls “long-termism in decision making,” meaning businesses take actions that are conscious of the impacts of climate change and social inequality. YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK
With funding from the federal Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Hachigian and her associates are working in partnership with the City of Victoria, B.C. government and civic governments in other coastal communities to study the impact of incorporating social procurement policies into their agendas. Buying goods and services based on the lowest price is “missing those opportunities to connect the procurement decisions with some of their other policy interests around promoting employment… or solutions to poverty,” she says. “The lowest-price approach has been the dominant one for so long, there’s this big shift that’s needed,” Hachigian says. Her goal is to provide a consistent and transparent measurement framework for making decisions that can be used by a variety of governments and other public-sector buyers, like universities and health authorities. THE SOCIAL NETWORKS
Another of Hachigian’s research projects is developing a toolkit to measure the impact of social ventures: companies that address social and environmental problems. That could include producing and distributing products or services that address needs of low-income communities or individuals, or creating
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public benefits that are often left out of traditional business models. One example she cites is D-Light, which distributes sustainable sources of electricity and lighting to some of the two billion people around the world without reliable access to electricity. Hachigian says being able to measure the outcomes these ventures create is essential to attracting investors who want to see social impact returns along with financial ones. Impact measurement also ensures that ventures and investors are valuing and prioritizing the right things and can help ventures in achieving their social or environmental missions. CANDY FOR THE GREATER GOOD
Hachigian’s project with Scale Collaborative explores the possibilities for keeping a small business alive after the departure of a founder. Main Street businesses “are a critical part of community infrastructure throughout B.C. and being lost at an alarming rate,” and “retiring or tired owners are often unable to find local buyers and face the hard choice of closing or selling at a discount to large, distant buyers.” Coombs Country Candy, founded by Murray Lawlor, a Vancouver Island tourist attraction, ran for 26 years in Port Alberni until 2020, when Lawlor and his wife decided to retire. Lawlor sold the business — and his time-honed candy recipes — to the non-profit organization
Community Futures Alberni-Clayoquot, which runs it as a social enterprise, re-investing some of the profits back into the community. Hachigian says non-profits recognize the value of “Main Street” businesses to their communities and to themselves, including diversification of revenue. Her team has developed an toolkit to guide non-profits considering getting into business, and they’re holding workshops around Vancouver Island to share that information and encourage organizations to purchase suitable businesses “that are core to the community” rather than start social ventures from scratch. “[We’re] not suggesting that non-profits and charities run in and save every business that’s about to close its doors,” Hachigian says, noting a crucial part of her research is developing criteria for identifying businesses suitable for transitioning to social enterprise. “We’re trying to get at those businesses that are core to community … that provide that sense of place and connection.” Central to her work is the hope that “the research helps to surface real examples of business and investment models that meaningfully lead to advancing more inclusive societies.… A model of business of being a force for good.” This profile was written by Richard Dal Monte and submitted by Royal Roads University.
2022-01-12 10:14 AM
