Please note that this is an on-going project.
Project Description
This book focuses on SDG #4 which focuses on ‘Quality Education’. It is recognised globally that having access to education can be a means by which to get people out of poverty and provide them with a means of socioeconomic mobility (United Nations n.d.).
SDG#4 aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, and this book provides insights into how businesses take action on the SDG through the work of their business. Family businesses play an important role in achieving this. Businesses that have education at the core of their business model have promoted education for sustainable development, contribute to building a skilled workforce, build capacity in people and communities, create jobs through their business and finally focus on inclusion to provide wider opportunities. Much research has been directed towards family businesses, but little attention has been directed to how a family business can advance sustainability and social impact using SDGs. This book provides case studies of family businesses that advance SDG#4 through their work.
Project Personnel and Beneficiaries
Family businesses throughout the world. Each case study is written by a contributor who knows the family business or who has access to sufficient information to be able to write the case.
Outcomes to Date
The overall project so far is that this is the fourth book in a 17 book series that has been published in 2022. Another four books will be published in 2023 with the remaining books spread over between 2024 and 2026.
In 2023 we are hopeful that the remaining books will be available through Open Access.
Project Significance
The project directly contributes to the sustainable development goals and focuses specifically on the goal of Quality Education.
The first case examines the family business of the ‘4th Street Market’ which is in Santa Ana, California. It is an excellent example of the complexities of urban regeneration and its relationship to widening participation in education. The family business encourages and supports retail owners to develop education programs linked to their services and products. Likoul is the next case which is a social enterprise which was developed as a tutoring platform for primary, middle, and high school students in Algeria. Likoul has a focus on SDG#4 by making tutoring more accessible to all parts of Algeria and ensuring the program is affordable for a diverse range of families. In doing so, Likoul wanted to help reduce the influence of social inequalities on education. The next case examines the family business of Julius Holluschek who founded a family business called ‘Hollu System Hygiene’ in 1905. Through the fourth-generation every single employee has a personal and professional goal supported with a training program that includes the SDGs. External education is also a feature. The business created an environment of transparency and trust among the family firm so that their business practices could be showcased to the external world. The final case in this book series explores the McPherson family and the Invergowrie Foundation. The McPherson family business originally was a hardware and machinery business which was established in 1860. Whilst the contribution of the business to SDG#4 is not explicitly documented in the business, the family has made a significant contribution to SDG#4 through their charity work. The Invergowrie Foundation is a charity which was created by the large financial gift of the McPherson family in 1993. The primary focus of the Invergowrie Foundation is to advance the education of girls and women within Victoria.
Related Link
External link to https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/doi/10.1108/9781803824758