Shared Value

In recent years an increased social and environmental awareness has been growing steadily within the global business sector. The success of a company or economic enterprise is no longer judged solely on the basis of the profit it brings to shareholders, but by its economic, social and environmental contribution to society. This is the concept of Shared Value: that a company or other productive operation measures its success by the net positive or negative effects it has on its stakeholders. In contrast with other approaches, the goal of maximization looks beyond the simple creation of economic value on the behalf of a company, to a broader sense of value for society and the environment, according to which a business incorporates into its profit-making estimations a duty of care for the social and environmental needs around it. This approach, first outlined by Michel Porter at Harvard University in 2012, was adopted at the end of 2019 by the companies of the Business Roundtable, and in February 2021 in the closing declaration of the Davos Forum.