Andy Meger: Residents: A Governments Customers and Shareholders
I think one important point that’s often lost is business education is how the principles of business can be applied to the government and nonprofit sector. At the end of the day, a city has many elements similar to a for-profit corporation. Taxes collected represent revenues, expenses in labor and capital are required to deliver goods and services, and each type of organization has a shared set of values, short and long-term strategic plans, and a guiding mission. However, in a municipal government, the population represents both the organization's customers and shareholders. The residents of a city are looking for immediate needs to be met, such as cleaning up litter and extinguishing fires, in a way that represents a customer. However, like shareholders, they look to government to plan for the future, to create defining city values, and to overall improve their lives. And, they aren’t afraid to voice their concerns or change the leadership structure in an election if they feel like their priorities aren’t valued.
Throughout my time in the Leavey School of Business, I’ve learned fundamental skills related to communication, marketing, and managing that can be applied to just about any field. But, a business education can bring a unique perspective to urban issues. I’ll use a real issue from my fellowship as an example. The City of San José currently has a major economic issue- it has too few jobs for its population. At 0.85 jobs per resident, San José has the lowest employment ratio of any major American city. Commercial activity generates significant tax revenue for a city, so the city has limited financial resources to address the needs of the community. Looking at this issue from a business perspective, we can ask questions to get to the root of the issue. How can San José better market itself to attract companies and manufacturing jobs? Are there substitutes to commercial development that the city can prioritize instead? What are the direct and indirect economic impacts of adding each new job to the city? These questions and others can help inform and prioritize policy decisions to guide future planning in any government organization.
During my fellowship, I’ve applied the business thought process to issues related to homelessness, addiction and mental health services, transportation, and urban development. The economics mindset provides an additional viewpoint to the equally important fields of sociology, political science, environmental science, and public health. The melding of these ideas is necessary to create good policy that serves a city’s residents; it’s consumers and shareholders.