The role of the corporation is shifting from an entity focused on making monetary profits to an organization focused on creating value for all of its stakeholders. Despite of this many of the guidelines, standards and reporting frameworks that have been developed to take into account the increasing stakeholder expectations only capture corporate inputs and outputs relating to social initiatives. By not understanding the value created by social initiatives information is missed that could be useful to the organization and its stakeholders. The purpose of this study has therefore been to see if the Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology can be a viable tool for companies to use for measuring the value created by CSR activities. This has been accomplished via a case study of a CSR initiative funded by a multinational wind power company in India, and more specifically the building and use of a traditional water harvesting structure called a taanka. Having gone through the six steps of SROI, including monetization of all non-market social, environmental and economic values, the results show that for every Indian Rupee (INR) invested into the studied CSR initiative 29 INR of social value have been created for the stakeholders. The results also show the relation between different inputs and outcomes for the stakeholders affected by the initiative. By analyzing the results several lessons for the construction of future taankas can be learnt. Each taanka should for instance be constructed for as many households as possible and ownership should be shared by the users. More resources should also be allocated to following up the outcomes created by CSR initiatives to help to maximize the efficiency of the resources used to create social value. The methodology can also be used to understand the shared corporate and societal values created by measuring the value created for both the company and the stakeholders, which in turn is useful when deciding on the allocation of corporate resources.

This diploma thesis deals with the social responsibility of a selected large banking institution, GE Money Bank, a.s., which since the beginning of its work in the Czech Republic has engaged in a wide range of socially responsible activities. First of all, it presents an analysis of the current situation, describes socially responsible projects and activities, including their strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It then gives a more detailed analysis and defines the positive and negative sides of the aspects in question. Based on an evaluation of the current state of the concept of CSR, it recommends practical and feasible improvements that should be applied to the communication of CSR activities in the future in order to boost awareness of the bank amongst current and potential clients and the general public. It then proposes ways in which GE Money Bank, a.s. could help in resolving issues relating to the significant deterioration of drinking water for the city of Plzeň, resulting from poor landscape management in the basin of the Úhlava river.

The diploma thesis is focused on the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities and evaluates the CSV (Creating Shared Value) activities of the brand producing Slovak cheese and cheese specialties. The aim is to analyse and evaluate them properly, propose the right communication and future goals, that are in line with the current ones. The first part is centred on the description of CSR concept, its establishment, history in the world and in the Czech Republic. The concept of CSV is described next. This is followed by the trends in the communication of CSR on social media and other on-line media. The second part is mostly about the particular brand, its history and main attributes. Already existing activities are analysed, their communication is proposed together with the activities, that should supplement the contemporary ones in the future.

Background: The automotive industry is more often subject to pressure and scrutiny from consumers, environmental organizations, as well as state regulators. Therefore, this industry is making major investments in implementing a robust CSR strategy in order to tackle these ramifications. The discussion among academia asserts that CSR does not always contribute to creating value, and this leads to the assumption that the implementation of CSR may be detrimental for some companies. Thus, it is questionable whether companies can create shared value through the mediating role of CSR. Considering the automotive industry as among the largest and most criticized industries from a CSR point of view, it was worth to investigate the topic of creating shared value through the mediating role of CSR under this context. Purpose: The overall purpose of this thesis is to broaden and deepen the knowledge about how companies can create shared value through the mediating role of CSR in the automotive industry. Method: In order to attain the research purpose, we conducted a qualitative content analysis, used an inductive approach, and collected the primary data through semi-structured interviews. A total of eight interviews were held with participants, and the respondents were representing car dealerships and automobile manufacturers. Conclusion: Throughout the analysis, we have identified eight dimensions that impact shared value creation for the companies. These dimensions are CSR initiatives, employee relations, consumer relations, supply chain collaboration, local businesses partnership, the potential of local cluster, government regulatory compliance, and barriers to CSR. We have therefore developed a framework to orientate managers on how to tailor a CSR strategy that takes into consideration the aforementioned dimensions, and eventually create shared value.

Societies are plagued by growing healthcare expenditures and budgetary constraints. The strategy for solving the issue has been heavily debated, with proposed solutions such as Valuebased healthcare (VBHC), Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and improved medical treatments. A novel concept that aims to improve medical treatment is strategic biobanking. Strategic biobanking is the act of saving biological samples and clinical data for future research. Access to strategic samples can speed up future clinical trials and studies, provide researchers with more useful research material, enable more thorough analyses of biomarkers, facilitate faster drug development, and increase the power of both retrospective analyses and precision medicine. This thesis studies the shared value effects of a strategic biobanking PPP by drawing on the theoretical fields of VBHC, PPP and Creating Shared Value (CSV). Specifically, the effects of hospital organisational structure, regulatory framework and public interest on strategic biobanking PPPs was studied. The research was carried out through a single holistic case study of Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden and multiple pharmaceutical companies, and data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was carried out in accordance with the grounded theory framework. The researchers find that regulatory structure can limit the options when crafting the business model and the industry value proposition for a strategic biobanking PPP. Some strategies on how to deal with these restraints are outlined. Furthermore, the research highlights the importance of longitudinal data-sets and how a hospital organised according to the VBHC principles is more suitable for implementation of longitudinal sampling routines. Finally, the research shows that that the concept of CSV can act as guidance for private partner decision making to increase public interest. By adopting principles of transparency regarding financial incentives and motivations, an industry partner can garner increased trust with the general public as well as their public partner. The shared value effects are pronounced, and the study finds that a strategic biobanking PPP moves the boundary for what is scientifically possible for all stakeholders in the healthcare domain. / Samhällen plågas av skenande sjukvårdskostnader och budgetåtstramningar. Vilken strategi som kan lösa problemet har debatterats flitigt. Lösningar så som Value-based Healthcare (VBHC), Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) och mer avancerad vård har alla föreslagits som alternativ. Ett nytt koncept som ämnar att förbättra sjukvården är strategisk biobankning. Strategisk biobankning innebär att spara biologiska prover och klinisk data inför framtiden. Detta kan snabba på framtida kliniska prövningar och studier, förse forskare med mer användbart forskningsmaterial, möjliggöra mer grundliga analyser av biomarkörer, snabbare utveckling av mediciner, samt öka potensen hos både retrospektiva studier och precision medicine. Denna uppsats studerar gemensamma värdeeffekter hos ett PPP inom strategisk biobanking genom att använda sig av de teoretiska fälten VBHC, PPP och Creating Shared Value (CSV). Mer specifikt studeras hur PPP inom strategisk biobankning påverkas av sjukhusets organisationsstruktur, rådande regelverk och allmänintresse. Forskningen utfördes genom en enkel, holistisk, fallstudie av Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset i Stockholm, Sverige. Data samlades genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer och analyserades senare enligt ramverket för Grounded Theory. Forskarna finner även att rådande regelverk begränsar möjligheten för utveckling av affärsmodell och värdeerbjudande gentemot privata partners. Några strategier för att hantera dessa begränsningar tas upp i uppsatsen. Vidare belyses vikten av longitudinella dataset, och att ett sjukhus vars organisation är strukturerad enligt VBHC-principer är mer lämpligt för implementation av longitudinell provsamling. Slutligen finner forskarna att privata CSV-conceptet utgör bra vägledning för privata partners för att skapa allmänintresse. Genom att anamma principer som premierar transparans gentemot sina ekonomiska och strategiska incitament så kan förtroende byggas gentemot allmänheten. De gemensamma värdeeffekterna är tydliga, och forskarna finner att tillgång till en strategisk biobank flyttar gränsen för vad som är vetenskapligt möjligt för alla aktörer i det sjukvårdsrelaterade ekosystemet.

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted many Swedish businesses to reconsider their survival techniques and the support they offer to societies in which they operate. The purpose of this study is to examine the COVID -19 responses practiced by four Swedish Companies (Essity, Volvo Group, ICA Gruppen, and Autoliv) to see what entrepreneurs can learn in the event of another pandemic. Furthermore, the study explores the different ways in which CSV and competitive advantage may be attained using the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative study based on secondary data analyzing information from company homepages, and annual and sustainability reports for the years 2020 and 2021 are the only ones used to provide systematic and comprehensive insights. The theoretical framework includes Archie Carroll’s pyramid which includes the legal, ethical, economic, and philanthropic responsibilities of the organization towards society, the stakeholder theory as well as the concept of creating Value Creation. The results show that Essity, Volvo Group, ICA Gruppen, and Autoliv responded differently to COVID-19 through philanthropic activities, commitment to ethical goals, upholding legal requirements, and maintaining business operations. And the ways in which they can contribute to value creation through these responses include enhanced employee relations, customer relations, innovation, collaborations, and government regulatory compliance. The study revealed that solving societal challenges is integral to guaranteeing that the organization can obtain an economic benefit for a long-term sustainability. When dealing with society in times of uncertainty, entrepreneurial innovations can be a source of future competitive advantage.

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Literature review about corporate social responsibility (CSR) suggests that there are organisational benefits to be gained from unintentional discretionary expenditure in laudable behaviour. With this in mind, the methodology integrates insights from the ‘stakeholder theory’ and the ‘resource-based view theory of the firm’ to sharpen the strategic base for CSR investment. Quantitative and qualitative research techniques have been used to discover how business organisations are creating shared value for themselves and for society. The main study was carried out amongst hotel enterprises in Malta. The quantitative analysis tested the relationship between Strategic CSR (in terms of the organisational benefits) against the firms’ commitment, behaviour and resources devoted to CSR. Secondly the qualitative phase of this study involved an analysis of interviews with owner-managers across the Maltese hospitality industry and with experts who are responsible for setting policies in the tourism regulatory context. The results have indicated that responsible behaviour led to the firms’ financial performance and market standing, effective human resources management and operational efficiencies. Following the empirical findings a model representing the ‘creation of shared value’ for business and society has been put forward.

In today's global political and media climate, the stakes are high for corporations, local or otherwise, to create and maintain an `ethical' perception of not only their daily business activities and how they can benefit society or protect the environment, but also their enduring characteristics or `corporate identity' (Conrad, 2011) for numerous, sometimes conflicting stakeholder audiences (Cheney, 1983). This dissertation examines how such forms of `socially responsible' corporate identities are created and maintained through the use of persuasive language. In particular it examines the role and implications of rhetoric within the contexts of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), as well as Creating Shared Value (CSV) the latest management phenomenon embraced by academics and corporations alike (Porter & Kramer, 2006, 2011). The use of a critical rhetorical approach as both theory and praxis to these topics supports the idea that CSR rhetoric is a fruitful avenue for firms to generate a particular form of `ethos' or social legitimation as reparation for the consequences of their actions (i.e. Ihlen, 2009, 2011). Meanwhile I illustrate how the conception of shared value itself functions as a rhetorical `toolkit' of success or explicit set of instructions for corporations to follow that informs them on how to present to their stakeholder audiences what is supposedly a mutually beneficial social and economic agenda. While both approaches initially appear to be widely divergent, both purse the same goal: to produce positive conceptions of a firm's identity as a form of rhetoric. Through the case studies presented here, I show how such rhetoric works to promote a sense of `identification' (Burke, 1950) with stakeholder audiences through the common ground technique (Cheney, 1983) or `god' terms (Burke, 1945) as a tactic of appeal wherein firms express concern for their stakeholders and the environment as a way of engaging their `buy-in.' Such a symbolic tactic takes place on a global stage and thus despite utopian promises of producing value for society, must continue to face the inherent political, historical, and economic issues embedded within the material inequalities between firms and civil society actors. A major contribution of such work is not to provide a `breakthrough' analysis or documentation of corporate efforts towards social responsibility but rather to make accessible to researchers outside of rhetorical studies and even communication studies the importance of the role of rhetoric in constructing corporate identities within the contexts of social responsibility and globalization.