Renewing Strategic Business Focus Through Shared Value: A Eupsychian and Ideation Approach
Abstract
Issues, which have negatively impacted a diversity of business stakeholders, suggest that business thinking and leadership behaviors surrounding a desired strategic business focus appear increasingly inadequate. For example, that integration strategies and differentiation strategies are mutually exclusive. Three issues appear to contribute to such circumstances.
First, Western strategic business frameworks are largely based on quantitative foci, and remain largely unchallenged. Second, balance between key leadership team agendas and external stakeholder expectations is usually absent. Third, there is minimal connection between what organizational cultures reward, and how human resource management prescriptions provide support.
To address such concerns and implant a renewed strategic business focus, Porter and Kramer (2006, 2011) have identified the notion of shared value, which seems an appealing means to redress business problems represented by negative multistakeholder relations; moreover, an absence of any contemporary acknowledgment of the social contract. Nevertheless, a number of elements appear to be missing from the how shared value is portrayed by Porter and Kramer (2006, 2011).
Based on Maslow’s notion of Eupsychia, and employing an Ideation approach, a renewed strategic business focus supporting the notion of shared value is presented. The renewed focus seeks to enhance Porter and Kramer’s (2011) framework, by including key features to enhance shared value, including elements of Eastern and Western philosophy, and Western organization theory.
Problematic examples, identifying the absence of shared value, and including research propositions are identified.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank – Professor Stephen Perkins; Professorial Research Fellow, Global Policy Institute, London Metropolitan University, England; Professor Christopher Brewster, Henley Business School, University of Reading, England; Professor Chris Rowley, CASS Business School, London, England; Professor Dexter Dunphy, Centre for Corporate Governance, The University of Technology, Sydney, Australia; Dr Ramudu Bhanugopan, Faculty of Business, Justice and Behavioural Sciences, Charles Sturt University Wagga Wagga, Australia; for their constructive comments on earlier versions of this paper. A special thank you to Ms Alex Prest, teacher, Wagga Wagga High School, Australia, for her professional assistance with graphic design. Thanks should also go to the two independent reviewers for their valuable critiques.
Citation
Fish, A., Ma, X.(. and Wood, J. (2018), "Renewing Strategic Business Focus Through Shared Value: A Eupsychian and Ideation Approach", Schwartz, M., Harris, H. and Comer, D.R. (Ed.) Visual Ethics (Research in Ethical Issues in Organizations, Vol. 19), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 205-226. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1529-209620180000019011
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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