Many developing countries lack the financial resources to fulfill their basic educational needs. Consequently, individuals are unable to move out of poverty. The challenge lies in undertaking innovative and effective actions towards a substantial change while stimulating the Creating Shared Value (CSV) “which involves creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society” (Porter & Kramer, 2011, p. 4). Mexico is one of the affected countries by unequal educational opportunities. Additionally, the country experiences difficulty in coming up with improvements that can boost the investments that the government and private initiative have made in the education system.   This thesis aims to contribute to the development of the Creating Shared Value theory. This will be achieved by investigating two firms in the Mexican Educational sector through social impact organizations. Three objectives were proposed and categorized into: economic impact of the firm, social impact of the firm, educational development and firm strategy. This helps to answer the main research question: “How can Creating Shared Value contribute to the Educational sector in a developing country through social impact organizations?”. The purpose of this thesis was attained through a multiple-holistic case study strategy with two participant organizations (FINAE and EDUCAFIN) and data was collected by conducting semi-structured expert interviews. The thesis studies the different practices and strategies performed by the two organizations, and proves the benefits of applying the theories of Creating Shared Value. Moreover, it demonstrates that Creating Shared Value is strongly applicable within the Educational field in Mexico. Furthermore, the findings highlight a remarkable distinction between the organizations due to innovative business strategies and an extensive adaptability to the market. Moreover, both firms welcome win-win relationships between each one of them and the society. This leads to numerous benefits for both parties such as increasing revenues in the case of the organizations, and education development in the case of the Mexican community. In addition, our results suggest that Creating Shared Value is a novel topic because the investigated organizations were unable to identify the Creating Shared Value concepts in the activities they are currently performing.

While capitalism can be held responsible for many of the numerous social and environmental issues that haunt us today, corporations hold great power and possibilities to compensate for the damage they cause. A solution can be the implementation of Creating Shared Value (CSV), which builds on identifying societal needs and approaching these as business opportunities. By doing so, value can be created for society whilst driving business results. The purpose of this thesis is to examine what factors influence the implementation of CSV in companies operating in Sweden. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with experts who have worked with CSV. Factors that influence the implementation of CSV policies and practices, as well as factors that influence whether these lead to the desired goal of shared value creation have been extracted. The findings suggest that the public’s prevailing distrust towards companies’ engagement in solving social issues is the most noteworthy barrier for implementation of CSV, while managerial buy-in and understanding of the concept represent the strongest enabler. Getting lost in rhetoric and belief in the concept as well as focusing too strongly on measuring procedures illustrate the two greatest risks for implemented CSV policies and practice to become decoupled from the end goal of shared value creation.

Sverige står liksom många andra länder inför stora samhällsutmaningar. I Sverige utgör tjänster mer än 70 procent av BNP och behovet av tjänsteinnovationer som möter dessa utmaningar ökar. Creating Shared Value (CSV) är ett relativt nytt koncept som handlar om att skapa en gemensam värdegrund där ägarnas och samhällets intressen möts och ses som ett sätt att driva innovation och tillväxt på ett hållbart sätt. Ett fåtal tjänsteföretag har under de senaste åren börjat erbjuda CSV-tjänster och det är intressant att undersöka framväxten av dessa tjänster samt vilka faktorer som bidragit till utvecklingen. Studien undersöker därför tjänsteinnovationen hos två av Sveriges ledande kommunikationsbyråer som erbjuder CSV-tjänster och fokuserar främst på kundens roll i innovationsprocessen. Undersökningsmaterialet samlades in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer med anställda från byråernas hållbarhetsteam. Resultatet visar att vissa kunder, så kallade ledanvändare, har haft stor betydelse för tjänsteutvecklingen. Slutsatsen är att innovationen kring dessa tjänster skett i samskapande med kund.

Businesses and humans in general have led to a variety of different social and environmental problems. In this thesis we call on businesses to be the solution to these problems. Therefore, we have developed two research questions:   How do Swedish companies incorporate CSR and sustainability into their business models? and How do Swedish companies create shared value through business models based on sustainability and CSR?   The purpose of these research questions is to discover how Swedish companies incorporate CSR and sustainability into their business models. Also, we aim to see how a business model based on CSR and sustainability can create shared value. We have focused our view of a business model on Bocken et al.’s (2014) three pillars: value proposition, value creation and delivery, and value capture. Furthermore, we have made a distinction between the concepts of sustainability and CSR to see how they impact these different business model pillars. We divided sustainability into two types: weak and strong and broke CSR into internal and external CSR. Porter and Kramer (2011) gave seven examples of how the concept of shared value could be created. Shared value is created when society benefits at the same time a company is making economic gains. To combine the concepts of business model innovation, business models, sustainability, CSR, and shared value we have created a model. The model’s purpose is to see how companies can practically integrate CSR and sustainability into the three business model pillars. Business model innovation was the purpose arena in which a company could change in order to create shared value   After conducting interviews with seven different respondents from six different companies located in northern Sweden we were able to see that both strong and weak sustainability are visible in the value proposition pillar and somewhat visible in the value creation and delivery pillar. On the other hand, both internal and external CSR were only visible in the value creation and delivery pillar. Moreover, we could conclude that shared value was created by all of the respondent’s companies and in addition to Porter and Kramer’s (2011) examples added a new way shared value can be created through spreading ‘green’ knowledge. By using our research as a starting point we were able to identify directions for future research in the fields of business model innovation, business models, sustainability, CSR, and shared value.

There is a growing trend that businesses are expected to address economic, social, as well as environmental issues and operate in a manner that contributes both to the organisation as well as the society (Elkington, 1998), which commonly is referred to as Corporate Social Responsibility. Porter and Kramer (2006) highlight that the business’s primary concern is to run a profitable business, and therefore developed the framework Creating Shared Value.  This study examines how Swedish companies that changed from working with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to working with Creating Shared Value, experience differences in their sustainability work and what advantages and challenges the change emerged in.  The methods used are semi-structured interviews together with content analyses of four Swedish companies’ sustainability reports.  This thesis argues that companies’ sustainability work changed between 2010-2018 from focusing on philanthropy to a focus on sustainability through profitability. Also, the change to CSV for these companies resulted in an increased focus on the environmental aspects, and a decreased focus on the major social aspects. The companies spent more resources on innovation related to environmental issues, which generated profit, and on beneficial collaborations. An advantage of adopting CSV is that a focus on profitability may drive change regarding environmental issues, which in turn leads to long-term economic sustainability. However, shared value can be problematic in some ways, especially when it comes to gaining profit from social value, and thus social global issues might be overlooked for activities within their own business environment.

O presente trabalho analisou a propensão dos executivos do setor de papel para embalagem no Brasil à aplicação dos conceitos de Criação de Valor Compartilhado (CVC) como forma de aprimorar a vantagem competitiva das empresas do setor. O conceito de Valor compartilhado foi lançado por Porter e Kramer em 2011, através do artigo publicado na Harvard Business Review chamado de: A Grande Idea – Como consertar o capitalismo. De acordo com Porter e Kramer, o conceito de valor compartilhado redefine as fronteiras do capitalismo ao conectar melhor o sucesso da empresa com o progresso da sociedade, este conceito abre muitas maneiras de atender a novas necessidades, ganhar eficiência, criar diferenciação e expandir mercados, tornando-se mais competitiva. De acordo com os autores, se as empresas utilizarem as mesmas ferramentas que norteiam suas escolhas no core business para analisarem as oportunidades socioambientais, deixa de ser um custo ou filantropia para se tornar uma fonte de oportunidade e de vantagem competitiva (PORTER; KRAMER, 2011). Para a realização do trabalho, procedeu-se à revisão de literatura disponível sobre o tema CVC, sobre estratégia e competitividade, o que permitiu conhecer melhor os conceitos para que uma empresa possa coloca-los de fato em prática. Após a revisão da literatura, realizou-se a pesquisa de fontes secundárias, que utilizou dados coletados através de materiais internos e externos sobre o tema disponíveis no Brasil e no mundo, tais como: publicações de revistas, vídeos, apresentações em fóruns, artigos, dissertações e teses acadêmicas, publicações em sites e notícias vinculadas. Os dados secundários ajudaram a tangibilizar o conceito de CVC realizado na revisão literária, através de exemplos de empresas de classe mundial, que já estão aplicando e desenvolvendo projetos e iniciativas de CVC. A partir dos dados recolhidos através de entrevistas de profundidade com executivos e especialistas em sustentabilidade, verificou-se que o tema é pouco disseminado e, ainda, confundido com os conceitos de sustentabilidade, porém, indicam a propensão às práticas de CVC pelas empresas do setor. / The present work analyzed the application of the concepts of Creating Shared Value (CSV) by executives of the area of paper packaging in Brazil as a way to improve the competitive advantage of companies in the sector. The concept of Shared Value was devised by Porter and Kramer in 2011 through the Harvard Business Review article called "The Great Idea How to Fix Capitalism." According to Porter and Kramer, the concept of shared value redefines the boundaries of capitalism by better connecting the company's success with the progress of society, this concept opens up many ways to meet the new needs of this society, such as gaining efficiency, creating differentiation and expand markets, making it more competitive. According to the authors, if companies use the same tools that guide their choices in the core business to analyze socio-environmental opportunities, it is no longer a cost or philanthropy to become a source of opportunity and competitive advantage (PORTER, KRAMMER, 2011). In order to carry out the work, a review of available literature on the CSV topic on strategy and competitiveness was carried out, which allowed a better understanding of the concepts for a company to actually put into practice. After reviewing the literature, secondary sources were searched, using data collected through internal and external materials available in Brazil and in the world, such as: magazine publications, videos, presentations in forums, articles, dissertations and academic theses, publications on websites and related news. The secondary data helped to underpin the CSV concept addressed in the literary review, through examples of world-class companies that are already implementing and developing CSV projects and initiatives. Based on data collected through in-depth interviews with executives and sustainability experts, it was verified that the theme is poorly disseminated and also confused with the concepts of sustainability, but indicate the propensity to CSV practices by companies in the sector.

O presente trabalho analisou a propensão dos executivos do setor de papel para embalagem no Brasil à aplicação dos conceitos de Criação de Valor Compartilhado (CVC) como forma de aprimorar a vantagem competitiva das empresas do setor. O conceito de Valor compartilhado foi lançado por Porter e Kramer em 2011, através do artigo publicado na Harvard Business Review chamado de: A Grande Idea – Como consertar o capitalismo. De acordo com Porter e Kramer, o conceito de valor compartilhado redefine as fronteiras do capitalismo ao conectar melhor o sucesso da empresa com o progresso da sociedade, este conceito abre muitas maneiras de atender a novas necessidades, ganhar eficiência, criar diferenciação e expandir mercados, tornando-se mais competitiva. De acordo com os autores, se as empresas utilizarem as mesmas ferramentas que norteiam suas escolhas no core business para analisarem as oportunidades socioambientais, deixa de ser um custo ou filantropia para se tornar uma fonte de oportunidade e de vantagem competitiva (PORTER; KRAMER, 2011). Para a realização do trabalho, procedeu-se à revisão de literatura disponível sobre o tema CVC, sobre estratégia e competitividade, o que permitiu conhecer melhor os conceitos para que uma empresa possa coloca-los de fato em prática. Após a revisão da literatura, realizou-se a pesquisa de fontes secundárias, que utilizou dados coletados através de materiais internos e externos sobre o tema disponíveis no Brasil e no mundo, tais como: publicações de revistas, vídeos, apresentações em fóruns, artigos, dissertações e teses acadêmicas, publicações em sites e notícias vinculadas. Os dados secundários ajudaram a tangibilizar o conceito de CVC realizado na revisão literária, através de exemplos de empresas de classe mundial, que já estão aplicando e desenvolvendo projetos e iniciativas de CVC. A partir dos dados recolhidos através de entrevistas de profundidade com executivos e especialistas em sustentabilidade, verificou-se que o tema é pouco disseminado e, ainda, confundido com os conceitos de sustentabilidade, porém, indicam a propensão às práticas de CVC pelas empresas do setor. / The present work analyzed the application of the concepts of Creating Shared Value (CSV) by executives of the area of paper packaging in Brazil as a way to improve the competitive advantage of companies in the sector. The concept of Shared Value was devised by Porter and Kramer in 2011 through the Harvard Business Review article called "The Great Idea How to Fix Capitalism." According to Porter and Kramer, the concept of shared value redefines the boundaries of capitalism by better connecting the company's success with the progress of society, this concept opens up many ways to meet the new needs of this society, such as gaining efficiency, creating differentiation and expand markets, making it more competitive. According to the authors, if companies use the same tools that guide their choices in the core business to analyze socio-environmental opportunities, it is no longer a cost or philanthropy to become a source of opportunity and competitive advantage (PORTER, KRAMMER, 2011). In order to carry out the work, a review of available literature on the CSV topic on strategy and competitiveness was carried out, which allowed a better understanding of the concepts for a company to actually put into practice. After reviewing the literature, secondary sources were searched, using data collected through internal and external materials available in Brazil and in the world, such as: magazine publications, videos, presentations in forums, articles, dissertations and academic theses, publications on websites and related news. The secondary data helped to underpin the CSV concept addressed in the literary review, through examples of world-class companies that are already implementing and developing CSV projects and initiatives. Based on data collected through in-depth interviews with executives and sustainability experts, it was verified that the theme is poorly disseminated and also confused with the concepts of sustainability, but indicate the propensity to CSV practices by companies in the sector.

From the moment the concept of Creating Shared Value (CSV) was introduced in 2011, it was by some considered to be an evolutionary way of contributing to society whereas for others it initiated an ongoing critical debate. This debate that is taking place on the academic scene has, among other things, focused on defining what CSV really is and differentiating it from Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This is mainly because the critical side believes that CSV is unoriginal and strikingly similar to CSR. Interestingly, in practice companies are implementing CSV in many different ways and some are adding it to their CSR strategy. The fact that these two concepts are closely related has led to a blurry line, which in return has caused disagreements in the mentioned debate. Given the above, we aim at understanding how managers interpret and implement CSV in comparison to CSR and what the differences between these two concepts are in practice. Data was collected by employing case studies which entailed semi-structured interviews with company informants. The findings indicated that managers interpret CSV as a way of contributing to society as well as the firm’s business simultaneously, and thus the implementation of the concept is highly industry-specific. CSR on the other hand, was mostly interpreted as a way of conforming to external pressures and is therefore implemented in relatively similar ways across the companies interviewed. In contrast to academia, it was indicated that managers are more interested in infusing the above two concepts than separating and differentiating them.

Over the past decades the traditional development agenda of a donor-beneficiary model has been replaced by one builton partnerships with mutual benefits. In recent years the paradigms of ‘aid effectiveness’ and ‘developmenteffectiveness’, characterized by a set of new and emerging actors that play an important role in development and arenewed focus on economic growth, have emerged. One of the actors that is becoming more important is the privatesector, as they increasingly have the opportunity to take on a new profound role as development driver. While there hasbeen a trend of decreasing government spending for development aid, the private sector has considerable financial assetsat their disposal. However, the financial contribution of the private sector in sectors related to the SustainableDevelopment Goals remains low. Public-private partnerships are seen as a way that can attract the private sector indoing investments in sustainable development. Especially for global agri-food chains, partnerships have the ambitionto bring about sustainable change. In order to attract the private sector in such collaborations, an understanding of theirinformation needs regarding public-private partnerships and sustainability is necessary. The focus of this research wasto explain those information needs. As part of a case study research, interviews with the private sector were conducted.To gain additional insights, web testing tasks were conducted with the same interviewees. It is found that p the two mainreasons to join in a partnership for the private partners of this case study are because it is a platform for collaborationand knowledge exchange. Understanding these motivations helps to articulate a message that is seen as valuable. Next,with regard to sustainability interests, these mainly fall under the three pillars of sustainability – economic,environmental, social – but it was also found that the companies can use information on traceability and connectingtheir work to the Sustainable Development Goals as ways to communicate about their sustainability efforts. Relatingthis to the findings on information needs and how to communicate about such topics, the main findings suggest that theinformation should be concrete, result-oriented and proof of impact. In general, the information needs of the privatesector all to less or more extent have to do with continuation of the business, while also interest is shown for makingsustainability a viable business case and being a thought leader on sustainability topics. These findings are parallel tothe dominant paradigms of development effectiveness and aid effectiveness that continue to shape the agenda ondevelopment collaboration. / <p>I cannot select the correct organization/department for my supervisor and evaluator as both ar connected to SLU, not UU.</p><p>For Cecilia: Department of Forest Products at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences</p><p>For Per: Department of Economics; Rural Entrepreneurship at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences</p><p></p>

O presente trabalho analisou a propensão dos executivos do setor de papel para embalagem no Brasil à aplicação dos conceitos de Criação de Valor Compartilhado (CVC) como forma de aprimorar a vantagem competitiva das empresas do setor. O conceito de Valor compartilhado foi lançado por Porter e Kramer em 2011, através do artigo publicado na Harvard Business Review chamado de: A Grande Idea – Como consertar o capitalismo. De acordo com Porter e Kramer, o conceito de valor compartilhado redefine as fronteiras do capitalismo ao conectar melhor o sucesso da empresa com o progresso da sociedade, este conceito abre muitas maneiras de atender a novas necessidades, ganhar eficiência, criar diferenciação e expandir mercados, tornando-se mais competitiva. De acordo com os autores, se as empresas utilizarem as mesmas ferramentas que norteiam suas escolhas no core business para analisarem as oportunidades socioambientais, deixa de ser um custo ou filantropia para se tornar uma fonte de oportunidade e de vantagem competitiva (PORTER; KRAMER, 2011). Para a realização do trabalho, procedeu-se à revisão de literatura disponível sobre o tema CVC, sobre estratégia e competitividade, o que permitiu conhecer melhor os conceitos para que uma empresa possa coloca-los de fato em prática. Após a revisão da literatura, realizou-se a pesquisa de fontes secundárias, que utilizou dados coletados através de materiais internos e externos sobre o tema disponíveis no Brasil e no mundo, tais como: publicações de revistas, vídeos, apresentações em fóruns, artigos, dissertações e teses acadêmicas, publicações em sites e notícias vinculadas. Os dados secundários ajudaram a tangibilizar o conceito de CVC realizado na revisão literária, através de exemplos de empresas de classe mundial, que já estão aplicando e desenvolvendo projetos e iniciativas de CVC. A partir dos dados recolhidos através de entrevistas de profundidade com executivos e especialistas em sustentabilidade, verificou-se que o tema é pouco disseminado e, ainda, confundido com os conceitos de sustentabilidade, porém, indicam a propensão às práticas de CVC pelas empresas do setor. / The present work analyzed the application of the concepts of Creating Shared Value (CSV) by executives of the area of paper packaging in Brazil as a way to improve the competitive advantage of companies in the sector. The concept of Shared Value was devised by Porter and Kramer in 2011 through the Harvard Business Review article called "The Great Idea How to Fix Capitalism." According to Porter and Kramer, the concept of shared value redefines the boundaries of capitalism by better connecting the company's success with the progress of society, this concept opens up many ways to meet the new needs of this society, such as gaining efficiency, creating differentiation and expand markets, making it more competitive. According to the authors, if companies use the same tools that guide their choices in the core business to analyze socio-environmental opportunities, it is no longer a cost or philanthropy to become a source of opportunity and competitive advantage (PORTER, KRAMMER, 2011). In order to carry out the work, a review of available literature on the CSV topic on strategy and competitiveness was carried out, which allowed a better understanding of the concepts for a company to actually put into practice. After reviewing the literature, secondary sources were searched, using data collected through internal and external materials available in Brazil and in the world, such as: magazine publications, videos, presentations in forums, articles, dissertations and academic theses, publications on websites and related news. The secondary data helped to underpin the CSV concept addressed in the literary review, through examples of world-class companies that are already implementing and developing CSV projects and initiatives. Based on data collected through in-depth interviews with executives and sustainability experts, it was verified that the theme is poorly disseminated and also confused with the concepts of sustainability, but indicate the propensity to CSV practices by companies in the sector.