Creating Shared Value
"In my view the successful companies of the future will be those that integrate business and employees' personal values. The best people want to do work that contributes to society with a company whose values they share, where their actions count and their views matter ." -Jeroen van der Veer
Recently, businesses have been reviled as one of the major causes of problems in the social, environmental, and economic realm. Corporations are believed to be flourishing at the stake of their communities, thus the trust given to these businesses has drastically decreased. In spite of this, the issues arising in our country must not be viewed by businesses as problems, instead they should be seen as opportunities – opportunities to create shared value.
The idea of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) may be appealing to many, but I personally find Creating Shared Value (CSV) to be more attracting. CSR entails giving back. It serves as a cost center for companies. CSV, on the other hand, is seen as a link between economic profitability and social responsibility while embedding sustainability into the core of business operations.
Creating Shared Value enables a business to create a framework that will not only manage the issue of generating profits and maximizing shareholder’s wealth, but also address social, political and environmental problems happening in the community in which it operates. It allows industries to work together and collaborate towards creating a sustained community for the common good.
"Business has a responsibility beyond its basic responsibility to its shareholders; a responsibility to a broader constituency that includes its key stakeholders: customers, employee, NGOs, government - the people of the communities in which it operates." -Courtney Pratt