A Study of How A Community-Based Enterprise (CBE) Achieves Social and Economic Maintenance in Taiwan:Taking the Longyan-Lin Welfare Association As an Example

• Main Authors: Huang,Pei-Ting, 黃珮婷
• Other Authors: Kuan,Yu-Yuan
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/77893d

碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 社會福利學系暨研究所 === 103 === With a global economic downturn in recent years, the amount of donation from the public as well as the subsidies from government departments decreases by degrees. For this reason, community-based NPOs that used to rely on government grants to provide welfare services are now facing financial difficulties. To solve problems such as unemployment, brain-drain, or population aging, these community-based NPOs start to apply business strategies and models of commercialization of local features with a view to facilitating the sustainability of the communities. Further, these NPOs are referred to as social enterprises. Community-based enterprises (CBEs) are organizations that operate with entrepreneurship and aim at the actualization of social purposes of the community. They strive to yield sustainable collective interest as well as social and economic outcomes through administration and management. Nonetheless, many studies show that there is a close relationship between the development of CBEs and the social capital of the local communities. In other words, CBEs utilize their social capital to achieve certain purposes. Examining the Longyan-Lin Welfare Association, the present research attempts to understand: 1) the approaches used by Taiwanese CBEs to achieve social and economic maintenance, 2) the current situation of these CBEs, and 3) the relationship between CBEs and social capital as well as resource mobilization. Through the background knowledge of the policy, it is comprehended that there is an inseparable relationship between the progress of CBEs and the community along with the reconstruction after natural disasters. In addition, with the financial and manpower supports from the multiple employment programs of the Ministry of Labor, residents of community benefit greatly as well. Established after the 921 Earthquake in 1999, the Longyan-Lin Welfare Association is an NPO aiming at facilitating the reconstruction, and it has been 15 years ever since it was founded. At the beginning, this association provided meals with home-delivered service, which intended to extend the concept of dining together after the disaster. As time went by, the Longyan-Lin Welfare Association realized the importance of sustainability, and thus wished to achieve the goal of self-sufficiency through local industries and features of the community. To date, this association supports the welfare services in the community with production and operation management, enabling the services to become sustainable so as to take good care of every member of the community, advancing both social and economic outcomes. The findings of the present research show that the Longyan-Lin Welfare Association is indeed a CBE, for it takes on the business risks, conducts commercial activities, and is initiated by a group of citizens. Further, its production and operation management also opens its door for sustainability. Thus, it is evident that the Longyan-Lin Welfare Association fulfills the requirements of CBE. Also, compared to the economic outcomes, the social ones are reckoned more valuable, for the economic aspect is only regarded as one of the supporting strategies that are utilized to reinforce the social goal. Still, it is apparent that these two goals are closely attached to each other. All the members of the association and the community appreciate the belief of the association, and thus are willing to contribute and take part in the discussions, hoping to better this community. In the end of the research, it is found that the solidarity and social networks are tightly connected to each other and widely spread throughout every aspect of the community. What’s more, the resource mobilization can be determined with the accumulation of social capital. It is therefore concluded that both social capital and resource mobilization are the indispensables during the progress of CBEs.