In 2011, trust in business was plummeting—businesses were perceived to be prospering at the expense of the broader community, and corporate social responsibility efforts were failing to effect real change. So when Harvard Business Review published Porter and Kramer’s article, “Creating Shared Value,” the piece sparked a global movement to redefine the role of business in society around a simple but powerful idea: a company’s success and social progress are interdependent. This article was the winner of the 2011 McKinsey Award.
Top Takeaways
- Creating shared value is the practice of creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges.
- There are 3 ways to create shared value: by reconceiving products and markets, by redefining productivity in the value chain, and by enabling local cluster development.
- Shared value is not corporate social responsibility or philanthropy—creating shared value is at the core of the business strategy.