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Cooperative, community‐spirited and commercial: social sustainability at Bendigo Bank
Author(s) -
Stubbs Wendy,
Cocklin Chris
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
corporate social responsibility and environmental management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.519
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1535-3966
pISSN - 1535-3958
DOI - 10.1002/csr.130
Subject(s) - business , loyalty , sustainability , community development , social capital , profit (economics) , revenue , reciprocity (cultural anthropology) , shareholder , stakeholder , public relations , commercial bank , accounting , marketing , corporate governance , finance , economics , economic growth , political science , sociology , ecology , anthropology , law , biology , microeconomics
Using a case study approach, this article examines how an Australian bank supports and invests in social sustainability using a community development approach. Bendigo Bank's community engagement model (CEM) is consistent with a stakeholder perspective of the firm. The CEM is a hybrid model drawing on commercial principles, such as the for‐profit shareholder‐ownership structure, and community development values, such as trust, loyalty, integrity, volunteerism, cooperation and community spirit. The CEM contributes to community development by retaining local capital through a revenue‐share arrangement, which is used to invest in further community enhancement initiatives. The success of Bendigo Bank's CEM indicates that the ‘collaborative commerce’ model could be used as a design guideline for other organizations seeking to improve their social sustainability. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.