1. What is the competitive advantage over other typesof financial institutions? There are many ways in whichVancity has a competitive advantage over other financial institutions. Vancityis focused on keeping the workplace a healthy and happy place for employees andmembers. The employees are able to enjoy business casual attire in theworkplace, as well as being able to listen to music, joining social events andeven playing on sports teams within the organization. Vancity allows forflexible schedules for members of the institution with small children, givingthem the option to telecommute, have flexible hours, as well as shortened andcompressed work weeks. This gives us the impression that Vancity understandsthe difficulties of balancing work with personal life commitments and they givetheir employees the power to do their best in both areas. Vancity has many programs inplace in order to ensure that employees are living a healthy lifestyle.
Theyoffer what is called a competitive pay and benefits program which consists ofinsurance, 3-6 weeks of vacation time, as well as any maternity leave necessaryfor their members to use as they see fit. This also comes with other benefitssuch as tuition imbursements, retirement planning, and mortgages.Vancity has a competitiveadvantage over other financial institutions because of the way they approachand treat each and every employee.
They make sure to reward them for their hardwork and service towards making the organization as successful as possible. 2. Who are Vancity’sstakeholders and what value does the organization create for them? Vancity’s stakeholdersinclude their members, employees, and the community that it operates in.
Inorder to satisfy the stakeholders, Vancity uses a triple bottom line businessmodel, which is driven to achieve not only financial success, but also to putfocus on the environmental and social sustainability. The reason for itsgrowing membership and healthy financial position is because of the innovativeapproach used in serving its members. Vancity is responsible for many initial actionswithin society. They were the first Canadian financial institution that offeredmortgages to woman, as well as the first to join the Global Alliance forBanking on Values. In 2008, Vancity’scredit union leaders introduced redefined wealth, a new vision that was meantto help the union do even more to support the community and its members. Vancitydefined wealth as being surrounded and connected with people who are living ahappy and healthy lifestyle. Since Vancity isfocused on expressing a positive social change, they give 30 percent of theirnet profits back to the community and its members.
This has resulted in a totalof $238 million being shared with the community. According to an employeesurvey, 95% feel good about how Vancity is using the social responsibilityapproach. Vancity creates a lot of value fortheir stakeholders, which include mostly the community, its employees andmembers. Applying the social responsibility approach is a good way for theorganization to create value overall
