More and more companies continue to realise the importance of shared value. Earlier on, companies had a limited scope of being profitable without considering the society, from which it benefited from. Well, times have changed and companies like Dow Chemicals, Nestle,Toyota and Intel are now more concerned about social value and the total economic pool as well.A good example for how companies have created shared value would be Dow Chemicals, who redefined their productivity and eventually gained a competitive advantage from it. The company produces canola oil which gives twice as much oil as other sources of oil and has a longer shelf value. Not only do they gain from their competitive advantage but so do farmers whose cost of production has gone down yet they produce more.

Creating social value is about solving problems in society which is considered as CSR, of which Toyota portrays by inventing low-emission vehicles and Intel by improving health care and education. These strategies that companies have come up with are benefiting society as a whole. However, some may criticise their actions as being insincere and hypocritical because they view these actions as an opportunity to gain popularity in the market and establish a more concrete foundation of their products within the their consumers’ mind.

On the other hand, those in favour of it see as beneficial because the whole society gains from employment, better healthcare, education, improved living conditions which eventually leads to economic growth and development.

Sources:http://hbr.org/2013/09/innovating-for-shared-value/ar/

http://www.waterhealth.com/sites/default/files/Harvard_Buiness_Review_Shared_Value.pdf