A whole new value: Driving innovation, sustainability, and prosperity through appreciative inquiry

Abstract

From Michael Porter (Porter & Kramer, 2006) to Glamour magazine (Sole-Smith, 2009), many are advocating alignment of social benefit and competitive advantage. As natural resources continue to decline and social expectations of business continue to grow, it is no surprise that many companies are jumping on the bandwagon on its way to a promising destination of mutual benefits for business and society. Yet, most businesses fail to capitalize on this opportunity for a simple reason: it is easy to get excited, but it is hard to make it work.

The chapter builds on the practices of companies throughout the world that have figured out how to harvest profits at the intersection of business and society, thus creating a whole new value for shareholders and a broad range of stakeholders. Specific practices are described as essential for the creation of this win–win for shareholders and stakeholders, including understanding the value shift emerging throughout economies and continents; discovering and designing opportunities to achieve existing business goals with new socially and ecologically sound strategies; and engaging passions, values, and appreciative capacities of the whole organization for higher returns.

Citation

Zhexembayeva, N. (2010), "A whole new value: Driving innovation, sustainability, and prosperity through appreciative inquiry", Thatchenkery, T., Cooperrider, D.L. and Avital, M. (Ed.) Positive Design and Appreciative Construction: From Sustainable Development to Sustainable Value (Advances in Appreciative Inquiry, Vol. 3), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 77-96. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1475-9152(2010)0000003009