Individual values are the basic fundamental beliefs held by an individual and such beliefs directly govern their priorities, behaviour, activities and interaction with community. In other words, it could be said that human values impact human behaviour which in turn impacts organizational performance and values.

Partnering in the development of value system is vital at an organizational level not just for individual benefit but also for organizational benefit as a whole because individual value systems and consequent behavioural patterns have a direct bearing of overall performance of organization in long-term.

Corporate Concern

Corporates and business organisations have corporate missions and strategic objectives to ensure the success of the organisation in the long run. One of the operational objectives of these organizations is corporate social responsibility. In today’s world, corporate social responsibility is not limited to just monetary donation or materialistic provisions. Giant corporates represent the society and are in a position to instil changes in society. Hence, the task of inculcating a healthy value system should begin at this level. One person spreads his value to many in his lifetime and if the value system is created or moulded in a righteous manner then, eventually those values are reflected in every facet of life and help in nurturing the society as a whole. This would also reflect upon the overall performance of business organisations through an amalgamation of happy stakeholders.

Defining Value

Gellermann, Frankel, & Ladenson (1990) define values as standards of importance human beings use in making choices. The major function of values is to serve as criteria for making decisions, establishing goals, and setting priorities (Williams, 1968; Hultman, 2006). Values are subjective and every individual or entity has own perception of values. Accordingly, it is of paramount importance to specifically define values and develop a value system to create a culture in long-term which is directly aligned to the strategic, tactical and operational objectives of an organization. In absence of clearly defined value system, streamlining the behaviour of workforce and channelizing their efforts towards a values system perceived by higher management would be a far-fetched dream.

Shared Value Creation – A Novel and Coherent approach imbibe Business and Social Values

In present era of where monopoly & autonomy are fading away and the stakeholders of a business are impacting every business pervasively like never before, creating an organisational value system based on shared value creation can pave the way for a greater coherence between the organisation and stakeholders.

The concept of “creating shared value” is a business concept introduced by Michael E. Porter, a leading authority on competitive strategy and head of the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School, and Mark R. Kramer, Kennedy School at Harvard University and co-founder of FSG.

The central idea of creating shared value is that the competitiveness of a company and the health of the communities around it are mutually dependent. Shared value creation is different from Corporate Social Responsibility. Shared-value-creation is not an act of benevolence rather it is a self-beneficial act to create business value by creating societal value. CSR dwells upon the premise of uplifting society and is primarily driven by statutory requirements whereas shared value creation is paying to society with a clear intention of receiving back in terms of business value. For example creating a less-expensive product line by dedicating additional resources to meet the needs of low income group will not only meet the needs of that group but also pay back the organisation in terms of increased revenue, public image, govt. support etc. Exploring this novel field with appropriate planning and vision can pave the way for many opportunities.

Stakeholder’s identification, analysis and management

Analysing and defining a framework of stakeholders is an important step of defining organizational values. Once a definite framework of stakeholders is established, the organisation can focus on creating shared values. A representational framework of stakeholders is produced below: