Literature Review of Shared Value: A Theoretical Concept or a Management Buzzword?

Porter and Kramer (Harv Bus Rev 84(12):78–92, 2006; Harv Bus Rev 89(1/2), 66–77, 2011) introduced 'shared value' as a 'new conception of capitalism,' claiming it is a powerful driver of economic growth and reconciliation between business and society. The idea has generated strong...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of business ethics 2016-08, Vol.137 (2), p.231-267
Main Authors: Dembek, Krzysztof, Singh, Prakash, Bhakoo, Vikram
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Assessed values
Base of the pyramid
Business and Management
Business entities
Business Ethics
Business models
Capitalism
Concept formation
Confucianism
Corporate responsibility
Corporate social responsibility
Corporations
Economic development
Economic value
Education
Epistemology
Ethics
Green businesses
Literature reviews
Management
Management theory
Ontology
Philosophy
Property
Quality of Life Research
Relationship banking
Social innovation
Social responsibility
Society
Stakeholders
Strategic management
Studies
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Summary:Porter and Kramer (Harv Bus Rev 84(12):78–92, 2006; Harv Bus Rev 89(1/2), 66–77, 2011) introduced 'shared value' as a 'new conception of capitalism,' claiming it is a powerful driver of economic growth and reconciliation between business and society. The idea has generated strong interest in business and academia; however, its theoretical precepts have not been rigorously assessed. In this paper, we provide a systematic and thorough analysis of shared value, focusing on its ontological and epistemological properties. Our review highlights that 'shared value' has spread into the language of multiple disciplines, but that its current conceptualization is vague, and it presents important discrepancies in the way it is defined and operationalized, such that it is more of a buzzword than a substantive concept. It also overlaps with many other (related) concepts and lacks empirical grounding. We offer recommendations for defining and measuring the concept, take a step toward disentangling it from related concepts, and identify relevant theories and research methods that would facilitate extending the knowledge frontier on shared value.
ISSN:0167-4544
1573-0697
DOI:10.1007/s10551-015-2554-z