Author : SY and EN
Community is people-oriented with shared space for identity. McMillan & Peabody (1986) mentioned about the 40-item Sense of Community Scale (SCS) to probe communicative behaviors and attitudes at the community or neighborhood level of social organization developed by Doolittle and MacDonald (1978). The basis of the SCS was what had been called the “critical dimension of community structure” (Tropman, 1969, p. 215 in McMillan & Peabody, 1986). They highlighted the five factors for community structure were: informal interaction (with neighbors), safety (having a good place to live), prourbanism (privacy, anonymity), neighboring preferences (preference for frequent neighbor interaction), and localism (opinions and a desire to participate in neighborhood affairs).
The vision of the School of Business, Gratia Christian College, Hong Kong (UNPRME Advanced Signatory Institute) is to enable students to reach their full potential by providing them with a high quality professional education and cultivating a deep commitment to service. Business education is not only about training future supervisors, managers and administrators, but also about developing dedicated citizens who have integrity and a servant leader’s passion for the community. Linking up the five factors of community structure – 1) informal interaction (with neighbors), 2) safety (having a good place to live), 3) prourbanism (privacy, anonymity), 4) neighboring preferences (preference for frequent neighbor interaction), and 5) localism (opinions and a desire to participate in neighborhood affairs) with future servant leaders, it’s time to explore the innovative and transformative ways to connect local young people in our neighborhood informally with passion and global citizenship mindset to become future business leaders to serve the community with harmony.
Future operations of community-based organizations probably need to involve innovative, transformative young leaders with localized behaviour and globalized mindset to discuss community concerned issues and develop deep critical thinking for proactive solutions and for shaping a “One Community”. On-going interaction, informal dialogue with a heart to talk, to act, to transform under a relaxed space is needed. Artistic artefacts and materials are also needed to trigger young people to relate themselves to the community and the nature.
