Collective Impact and the Business Sector

Background and Purpose

Because social problems are increasingly complex, multiple sectors play roles in addressing them. One formal approach for bring sectors together, Collective Impact, has exploded across the United States. Social workers now need to be prepared to work with this new form of multi-sector interdisciplinary practice.

Businesses increasingly are interested in expanding their presence and legitimizing themselves as contributors of social good. Harvard Business School has published reports making a case that Collective Impact is the best social investment that business can make. We need data to better understand the role of businesses in multi-sector collaborations. As businesses become involved in social purpose work, social workers may be less prepared for collaboration with the business sector. Having this information is a first step.

Research Questions

• To what extent is business participating in collective impact initiatives?
• What role is business playing within these initiatives, and are they signaling their involvement with initiatives?

Methods

Our sample consisted of 26 initiatives in Illinois identified through a 2014 Donors Forum report. Each initiative was examined by reviewing content included in the report as well as the initiatives’ website. Key variables were collected at an initiative and organizational level: the initiative’s geographic focus, year of origination, who served as its backbone (which acts as a facilitator), social problem focus, number of partners, primary funders, and number of sectors involved. We used social network analysis on data from the websites to examine signaling between initiative partners. Social network analysis is a valuable tool to see exchanges among different organizations. Webometrics software was used to identify signals between organizations, and NodeXL analyzed signals identifying patterns and producing visual analysis.

Results

We found that the business sector has a strong presence in collective action efforts – of the 384 institutions included in the sample, business represented 75 or 20%, second only to nonprofits which were 34%. While no businesses were backbone organizations, 18 (70%) did have business sector involvement in their initiatives. While business is participating in these initiatives, they are the least likely sector to actually signal their involvement on their websites (a rate of .02 compared to higher higher education which had the highest rate at .09).

Conclusions and Implications

Information on the sample initiatives revealed the increasing tendency for businesses to invest in the Collective Impact framework specifically. Evidence shows that businesses see Collect Impact as a way to make systemic change; some even specifically seeking out the framework to invest in. It is apparent that multiple sectors are playing a role in solving complex social problems. Social work needs to be prepared to work with interorganizational, multi-sector approaches. It is critical that the rich history that social work has in solving social problems is represented and contributes to community collaborations. It is also critical that social work understand the value the business sector brings to the table and how to harness their resources for further benefit of the field.