“Creating shared value”: Time for a normative extension?

Porter and Kramer's “creating shared value” (CSV) proposal has achieved significant penetration into both the academic and corporate communities. Building on other critiques of CSV, this paper assesses whether the CSV framework, notwithstanding its popularity, currently possesses an appropriate and adequate theoretical foundation to represent an overarching normative framework for the entire business and society field. The analysis does so by comparing CSV with a series of other dominant business and society approaches including corporate social responsibility, business ethics, stakeholder management, sustainability, and corporate citizenship. The analysis finds that while CSV does address the fundamental business and society normative requirement that business activities should contribute to sustainable net societal value, it currently fails to adequately incorporate the equally important notions of (i) appropriately balancing stakeholder interests with those of the corporation's shareholders, as well as (ii) demonstrating sufficient accountability (i.e., taking responsibility) by properly reporting on and addressing any negative impacts resulting from the firm's activities. The paper concludes with a revised and expanded restatement of the CSV concept, which attempts to take into account and address its current theoretical limitations in order to enhance its appeal as an overarching business and society normative paradigm.