View source for Community management

{{more citations needed|date=February 2018}}
'''Community management''' or '''common-pool resource management''' is the management of a [[the commons|common]] resource or issue by a [[community]] through the [[collective action]] of [[Volunteering|volunteer]]s and [[stakeholder (corporate)|stakeholder]]s.  The resource managed can be either material or [[information]]al. Examples include the management of common [[grazing rights|grazing]] and [[Water right|water]] rights,<ref>{{citation |url=http://cje.oxfordjournals.org/content/11/2/95.extract |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410080524/http://cje.oxfordjournals.org/content/11/2/95.extract |archive-date=2016-04-10 |title=The management of common property resources |author=R Wade |journal=Cambridge Journal of Economics |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=95–106 |year=1987|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.cje.a035024 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[wild fisheries|fisheries]],<ref>{{citation |title=Community management and common property of coastal fisheries in Asia and the Pacific |author=R. S. Pomeroy |year=1994 |publisher=WorldFish |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bj_dEgl59CQC|isbn=978-971-8709-56-6 }}</ref> and [[open source|open-source]] software.<ref>{{citation |title=The governance of open source initiatives: what does it mean to be community managed? |author=SO'Mahony |journal=Journal of Management and Governance |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=139–150 |year=2007|doi=10.1007/s10997-007-9024-7 |s2cid=153958344 }} {{subscription required}}</ref> In the case of physical resources, community management strategies are frequently employed to avoid the [[tragedy of the commons]] and to encourage [[sustainability]].

It is expected that community management allows for the management, usually of natural resources, to come from members of the community that these decisions will affect.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Whaley |first1=Luke |last2=Cleaver |first2=Frances |last3=Mwathunga |first3=Evance |date=2021 |title=Flesh and bones: Working with the grain to improve community management of water |journal=World Development |language=en |volume=138 |article-number=105286 |doi=10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105286 |s2cid=228849402 |issn=0305-750X|doi-access=free }}</ref> This should allow for a better way of finding solutions that the community will find most effective since management styles are not always transferable across different regions; and this could be because of cultural, economic, or geographical differences.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Sobelson |first1=Robyn |last2=Wigington |first2=Corinne |last3=Harp |first3=Victoria |date=2015 |title=A whole community approach to emergency management: Strategies and best practices of seven community programs |url=https://www.wmpllc.org/ojs/index.php/jem/article/view/205 |journal=Journal of Emergency Management |language=en |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=349–357 |doi=10.5055/jem.2015.0247 |issn=1543-5865 |pmc=5582971 |pmid=26312659}}</ref> It is expected that the group members within this setting have the incentive to do the best they can for the community because they live in the community that benefits or suffers from the management they provide.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Distaso |first1=Alba |last2=Ciervo |first2=Margherita |title=Water and Common Goods: Community Management as a Possible Alternative to the Public-Private Model |date=2011 |journal=Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali |volume=119 |issue=2 |pages=143–165 |jstor=41624981 |issn=0035-676X}}</ref> By [[Decentralization|decentralizing]] the management of resources, it is also expected that the upkeep that occurs within the services provided is streamlined due to the direct link between the areas that need improvement or regular maintenance and the authority overseeing them.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Chowns |first=Ellie |date=2015 |title=Is Community Management an Efficient and Effective Model of Public Service Delivery? Lessons from the Rural Water Supply Sector in Malawi: Is Community Management Efficient and Effective? |journal=Public Administration and Development |language=en |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=263–276 |doi=10.1002/pad.1737|s2cid=155716055 |doi-access=free }}</ref> However, these expected benefits of community management are not what we see unfolding within communities that follow this management style.

==Common pool problem==<!--This section incorporated marged material from "Common pool problem", which redirects here, so careful when changing headers-->
{{see also|Tragedy of the commons}}
Without proper management, a community's material resources may be depleted or rendered unusable.<ref>Camille Antinori and Gustavo A. Garcia-Lopez ''[http://are.berkeley.edu/~antinori/AntGarV5.pdf Cross-Scale Linkages in Common-Pool Resource Management: The Evolution of Forest Associations in the Mexican Forest Commons] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308084546/http://are.berkeley.edu/~antinori/AntGarV5.pdf |date=2012-03-08 }}''. Prepared for the 12th IASC 2008 Biennial Conference, University of Gloucester, Cheltenham, England, U.K.</ref> The '''common pool problem''' is an economic situation which exists when goods are rival, but non-exclusive (See [[common-pool resource]]). Since these resources are owned in common, individuals have no private incentive to preserve them, but rather will seek to exploit them before others can derive benefit. The classic example is of fish in the ocean; anybody can harvest fish, but a fish that has been caught cannot be caught by another fisherman. Therefore, fishermen will seek to maximize their personal profit by catching as many fish as possible, which will ultimately lead to the stock being depleted. It is similar to the [[free rider problem]] in that those who do not contribute to the resource may use it without penalty, but the common pool problem is usually considered an economic "problem" since it will eventually lead to the exhausting of a resource.<ref>Holahan, William L., Schug, Mark C.; ''Conservation of resources and the common pool problem''; Social Studies; Nov/Dec97, Vol. 88 Issue 6, p264, 4p, 1 chart; [http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9712232994&site=ehost-live]</ref>{{Additional citation needed|date=February 2018}} Another example of the common pool problem involves the shared use of limited internet [[Bandwidth (computing)|bandwidth]], such as in a [[university network]], when the connectivity of all users is slowed by the heavy usage of a few.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}

[[Elinor Ostrom]] and [[Oliver E. Williamson]] won the 2009 [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences|Nobel prize in economic science]] for work in this area, where they suggested that with good community management of shared resources, as found in successful firms, the "tragedy of the commons" can be avoided.<ref>{{cite web
|url= https://www.ft.com/content/f928f23a-b75f-11de-9812-00144feab49a |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f928f23a-b75f-11de-9812-00144feab49a.html |archive-date=2022-12-10 |url-access=subscription
|title= Nobel insights
|publisher= [[The Financial Times]]
|author= Editorial
|date = 2009-10-12
|access-date=2010-09-12}}  
</ref>

==Shared information resources==
{{unreferenced section|date=February 2018}}
{{see also|Online community manager}}
Developing [[open source|open-source]] software or other [[collaborative]] projects such as [[Wikipedia]] generally requires some form of community management, whether it involves [[leadership]] or [[egalitarianism]]. Unlike as is the case with physical resources, the sharing of information does not necessarily deplete the resource. Nonetheless, proper management may be necessary to encourage a [[network effect]], where collaborative use actually enriches the resource, and to avoid conflict.

More generally, community management designates the activity of maintaining communication, motivation, efficiency, and engagement among a group of remote individuals often only linked together by the Internet. Typically, it will contribute to the success of an open-source initiative by keeping forums alive with information, questions, and challenges, by organizing real-life events for [[virtual communities]], or by organizing contests or [[hackathon]]s to focus all efforts on a common goal. It may also be used to improve motivation and [[synergy]] in a large organization (such as a company or a public organization) by creating a sense of belonging and ensuring that members are aware of each other's work. Community management requires human skills (a community manager) and the use of tools (e.g., social networks, instant messaging, resource sharing, etc.).

== Problems with Community Management ==
Community management has been a popular strategy utilized in African water management, but research has shown that Africans often don't prefer this management style.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Hope |first=Rob |date=2014-12-22 |title=Is community water management the community's choice? Implications for water and development policy in Africa |journal=Water Policy |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=664–678 |doi=10.2166/wp.2014.170 |issn=1366-7017}}</ref> Main problems of community management, specifically related to water management, consist of potential maintenance issues, population issues, money collecting issues, and a lack of community engagement.

* Community management can create potential maintenance issues that are resolved with less expediency and with less efficiency. This often stems as a result of having a lack of a qualified person to perform the repair or lacking a reliable way to collect money in order to hire someone to do the repair.<ref name=":0" />
* Money collecting issues are a main problem in poorer areas. If not, everyone is paying a fee to use the resources in question, then there won't be any money to make repairs when needed. This includes not paying and a lack of an efficient way to pay fees. People will not go out of their way to pay fees so a solid collection strategy is needed.<ref name=":3" />
* General user fees within community managed water supply systems have been found to be not enough to keep the service operational let alone make repairs when needed.<ref name=":2" /> Even if citizens have the capacity to pay fees it has been found that many people simply don't want to. It is suggested that health concerns about clean drinking water are not enough to create a population of users who are willing to pay user fees let alone maintenance fees when needed.<ref name=":2" />
* Population issues can also cause problems because community management is often more effective on a smaller scale. In other words, communities with smaller populations have an easier time developing effective systems like citizen participation, money collection, or maintenance repairs simply because it is easier to combat the problems that arrive within those areas when there is a smaller group of people affected that need help.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Doe |first1=Steve R. |last2=Khan |first2=M. Sohail |date=2004 |title=The boundaries and limits of community management: Lessons from the water sector in Ghana |journal=Community Development Journal |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=360–371 |doi=10.1093/cdj/bsh032 |jstor=44257835 |issn=0010-3802|hdl=10919/65512 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
* A lack of community engagement is a chronic issue that arises within community management, as well. In order for community management to be an effective strategy of management style the community must be engaged within the management system in order to reap the community benefits. Despite this, most citizens are not interested in the issues community management organizations are looking to improve, meaning these organizations are getting less input from the community which negates the point of community management.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

==Methods of management==
{{Multiple issues|section=yes|
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2018}}
{{Expand section|date=September 2010}}
}}
A community may itself be actively developed and managed in order to promote communal activity and welfare.

In some cases, the task of managing a physical resource may be delegated to a specialist professional called a community manager.<ref>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r_oMpWbiaX0C&pg=PA1 |title=Community Associations: A Guide to Successful Management |author=Stephen R. Barber |year=2008|publisher=Institute of Real Estate Ma |isbn=978-1-57203-132-6 }}</ref> Meaning members of the community are involved in the development and follow through of community development projects, which can involve acquiring the funding for projects as well as deciding what plans would be beneficial for the community and which ones would not.<ref name=":4" />

[[Malawi]] is an example of the utilization of community management to provide water access to citizens. Malawi is a poor area that with recent governmental pushes for decentralization has led to water management becoming a community responsibility.<ref name=":2" /> Within Malawi [[borehole]]s are used to access water and each of these [[borehole]]s is under the control of a committee which delegates a manager for each borehole.<ref name=":2" /> These managers receive initial training from an official district water officer but are then left to make their own decisions regarding the upkeep of the borehole. This training has been found to be ineffective in many cases so the work of area mechanics, who are more knowledgeable about these boreholes, are often utilized to perform repairs. However, these area mechanics are not accessible everywhere and require additional payments. Payment is also something that is irregularly collected which has created a lack of funds for repairs.<ref name=":2" />

In the case of internet resources, the privileging of certain kinds of data transfer may ensure a better overall [[quality of service]] for most users, as opposed to the doctrine of [[network neutrality]].

==See also==
*[[Sustainable development]]
*[[Resource management]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Management by type]]
[[Category:Water management]]