Creating Social Value

There is a new business landscape, where companies are increasingly being judged on their ability to generate social value. But there is no off-the-shelf solution for the leaders and change makers in this new domain. Creating social value is a journey, and each company must chart its own path through uncertain and complex terrain. We invite you to discover how the entrepreneurial leaders profiled in this book have become trailblazers, using strategy and innovation to generate profits and social value simultaneously. Creating Social Value provides insights into the motivations and preoccupations of groundbreaking entrepreneurial leaders as they look to activate change not just within their companies, but also in their sectors, value chains and even through co-creating partnerships with their competitors. Such change requires fundamentally new styles of leadership and business design where companies seek to be generative rather than extractive. This book also bears witness to the emergence of new language to describe these innovative concepts. Working with and sharing ideas with social entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs inside, the authors became aware of the building blocks of a new lexicon with the power to inspire and positively influence the culture of an organization. Many of the leaders included in this book have driven change by harnessing the power of language to reroute their company's direction. For example, The Campbell Soup Company has created destination goals to describe the long-term vision of the company to nourish its customers, employees and neighbors. Roshan has worked on nation building, creating physical infrastructure in Afghanistan, a country decimated by war. UPS has worked to understand its impact on the planet, building a materiality matrix of the issues that matter to its stakeholders, while working to create a culture that fosters social innovation and seeks to understand constructive dissatisfaction. Ford is redefining its mission, imagining a different future in which it provides mobility solutions, rather than only manufacturing cars. Ford is working with Toyota to co-create technologies to combat climate change. This book sets out a manifesto for Social Value Creation, which is defined as a strategy that combines a unique set of corporate assets (including innovation capacities, marketing skills, managerial acumen, employee engagement, scale) in collaboration with the assets of other sectors and firms to co-create breakthrough solutions to complex economic, social and environmental issues that impact the sustainability of both business and society. Social innovation differs from corporate responsibility in two significant ways: it is strategic and it leverages a wide range of corporate assets and core competencies. Creating Social Value has been designed as a manual for change. It will be essential reading for business students, entrepreneurs and all of those wishing to effect positive, generative change in larger organizations.