THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATING (SHARED) VALUE

Shareholder economic theory, presented by M. Friedman in 1970, states that the purpose of an enterprise is the maximisation of shareholder profit.

The stakeholder theory, introduced by R.E. Freeman in 1984, is broader and takes into account the demands of other stakeholders related to the company’s activities, such as managers, workers, suppliers and so on.

The activities of companies can and must also lead to the creation of value in the social sphere and thus not only in the pursuit of profit. This is the concept, expressed by M.E. Porter and M.R. Kramer in 2011, of shared value creation, by which is meant the impact in terms of improving the (economic and) social conditions of the community in which a company operates. Put simply, it is the concept of corporate social responsibility, but in a ‘more deeds less words’ version if we can put it that way. We are almost there.

Now, however, we are broadening our view: we are convinced that creating value is not only about entrepreneurship.

We believe that it concerns each of us both as individuals and as aggregations (working, cultural, sporting, associations and so on). A social responsibility that each man has as a human being, as an inhabitant of the planet, as a citizen. The need to generate a social impact with our actions. At one time, it would have been called ‘something to be remembered for’.

It is to work together so that ‘one plus one’ is ‘greater than two’: in other words, so that together we go beyond the two uniquenesses, we create ‘something’ that we would never have achieved alone. This ‘something’ is a result that can be understood in various ways, but the prevailing concept should be that of profit (in the broad and original meaning of benefit) combined with well-being (understood as being well, improving one’s own condition and that of others).

Nice words (we hope:-) but in practice? We believe it is a ‘crescendo’ of shared intentions in which on both sides one tries to: (1) get to know in depth the other party’s story, its peculiarities, its talents, its connections and relationships; (2) understand the reality in which it operates and identify possible points of encounter, if not already of mutual complementation, combining our talents, connections and relationships with theirs (3) identify ourselves by being guided in such a way as to be able to look at reality through the eyes of the other interlocutor; (4) commit from the outset so that every step taken together is win-win, or at least aims at being win-win, bringing clear benefits for both interlocutors; (5) trust, without too much fear of ‘getting burnt’: not everything is always 100 per cent right, but the opportunity to create value and to improve is too important to back out a priori and not take risks.

It is evident that various competences (knowing how to do) and skills (knowing when to do it) come into play and that these are mostly transversal competences, the so-called soft skills, which we discuss here.