Assessment 3: Exploring HSE in Your Community
Name
HOSP509 Hospitable Social Enterprise
Instructor
Date
Introduction: Overview of Local Community
Changsha city is the capital of the Hunan province in China. The city can be describe to be an excellent water channel to the southwestern and southern Hunan. The city is on the south of the Dongting Lake and about 50 kilometers on the Xiang River. The city is a historical town, one associated with the legendary Mao Zedong and other historical Chinese figures. I come from the city, Changsha a vibrant location that boasts of a rich Chinese culture. In 2019, the population of the city of Changsha was estimated to be at 4.6 million people by MacroTrends (2021). The city is alive with innovation and growth. It attracts a lot of attention from the rest of China and its rich history makes it a tourism center. As the world around Changsha changes, there is a need to ensure that the changes affect the people in the city positively. The environment too must remain at the top of every company’s agenda. With this in mind, hospitality social enterprises are working to ensure that people are able to enhance social wealth through the creation of new ventures in an innovative manner.
Assessment of Lacking Support Infrastructure
The focus of the Chinese government, especially in areas that do not contribute a lot to the overall economic development of China in general, is significantly reduced. Government projects and initiatives are more focused on the development and sustenance of industrial China, one that contributes to the GDP of the region and the nation. Traditionally, China has not had HSEs for a long time in comparison to other nations like the UK and the USA (Grant, 2017). As a result the government has not focused fully on such programs. The support for not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations has been lacking in terms of the involvement of the regional and national government. In the COVID-19 pandemic and post-COVID period, communities have struggled significantly requiring the participation of social enterprises to step in and ensure that people are able to reap the benefits of organizations being in their regions. While corporate social responsibility has traditionally sufficed, it can no longer be sufficient for people. Even with the reduced government support for not-for-profit organizations, social enterprises in Changsha should step in to help. The reason for the reduced government involvement is because the Chinese government, at all levels of governance, are yet to see the potential for social enterprises and to recognize these as the next social innovations in linking the business world to social welfare. While the government does not oppose the establishment of social enterprises, it also lacks a strong support framework to ensure that they are well developed and serve their purpose to different communities. Despite positive progress in this field, communities are in dire need of HSEs intervention for socially innovative programs. The decrease in social funding from the Chinese government has created an opportunity for the involvement of the private sector
Hospitality Social Enterprises in Changsha
The Hunan Huazhiyu Catering Co., Ltd. is an organization operating out of Changsha in the hospitality sector. The company focuses on providing social assistance to needy members of the society in the city. Hunan Huazhiyu Catering Co provides services including food assistance, temporary shelters, as well as emergency relief to various vulnerable members of communities in Changsha. The company also partners with other well wishers to support different communities. The target market for Hunan Huazhiyu Catering Co includes vulnerable elderly members of the society, the homeless, the poor, and those unable to fend for their own needs due to various issues including unemployment, disability, and other social limitations. Hunan Huazhiyu Catering Co does not use the traditional non-profit structure but rather employs a market-based structure to fund social impact. In the hospitality sector, social enterprises like the Hunan Huazhiyu Catering Co ensure higher local benefits as opposed to leakage of resources. The company trades for a social purpose, including the provision of services including food assistance, temporary shelters, as well as emergency relief to various vulnerable members of communities in Changsha. Social goals are attained as a part of the income generated through trading. The sustainability issues that the organization faces are especially embedded in the need to maintain a circular economy, one of the best ways to ensure that the benefits from the programs circulate back in a continuous cycle. Another issue it faces includes government action towards ensuring that communities receive social assistance through programs specifically targeting various groups of individuals such as the elderly, the young, vulnerable women, older men who are out of employment, the disabled population, and so on.
The Hunan Dongshan Maohu Shuixiang Resort Co., Ltd. Also follows suit as a social enterprise based in the capital Changsha. It operates in the thriving hospitality sector and uses a social enterprise format to provide social assistance to members of the Changsha community. The organization targets school going children and provides assistance in the form of scholarships and programs that ensure talent development. The company further uses a market-based social enterprise structure to repurpose profits from its core business into the social initiatives. It also relies on well-wishers and donors to ensure continuity of programs and social welfare on different categories. In its various education-related initiatives, the Hunan Dongshan Maohu Shuixiang Resort Co provides food, shelter, rehabilitation, child care, and adoption to disadvantaged groups in the society. It partners with other international firms such as Food for the Poor and Habitat for Humanity. The target market includes education institutions in Changsha with the intention of positively influencing the direction of mentorship and learning. One of the main sustainability issues the company faces is the holistic thinking and action, and element that requires a broader approach to social initiatives. The impact of actions of the sustainable development goals is also a major issue as it works to contribute to positive growth in the larger Hunan province.
References
Changsha, China metro area population 1950-2021. (n.d). MacroTrends| The Long perspective
on Markets. https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/20474/changsha/population
Grant, S. (2017). Social enterprise in New Zealand: an overview. Social Enterprise Journal,
13(4). 410-426. https:/doi.org/10.1108SEJ-09-2017-0046
Hunan Dongshan Maohu Shuixiang Resort Co., Ltd. (n.d). About Available at https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.hunan_dongshan_maohu_shuixiang_resort_co_ltd.a0a0affe689711ad43aac50531b1fdbc.html
Hunan Huazhiyu Catering Co., Ltd. (n.d) About. Available at
https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.hunan_huazhiyu_catering_co_ltd.b36505bc6d9914f4aa684038da260d36.html