Building in sustainability, social responsibility and value co-creation
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to address the question of how value can be created through social responsibility programs or other means, so that sustainability is achieved through increasing stakeholders' participation in the process of design and selection of such programs, so that transparency is maximised and trust can be built with the lasting benefits of co-creation of value.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper studies the relationship between sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and value co-creation based on qualitative research data gathered from two embedded case studies. The first case study in a large mining company operating in New Zealand and the second case study is based on the New Zealand Merino Company.
Findings
Findings of this research suggest that sustainability is built with the participation of many interconnected entities, that is, suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, or more generally stakeholders whose actions are fostered by social responsibility that fuels the pride, trust, and consistency of the members of the value chain. Value in all forms – functional value, hedonic value, symbolic value and cost value – is a recurrent theme in this research data; however it is value co-creation, working together, living up to the values that their products and services promise that ultimately supports sustainability.
Originality/value
This paper shows how the scope of sustainability has broadened from environmental matters to include other topics such as good corporate citizenship, business relationships and the value that is created and shared, not only with shareholders, but also within a wider community of stakeholders.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Julie Aitken and Alex Gibbons for their help with the data collection.
Citation
Biggemann, S., Williams, M. and Kro, G. (2014), "Building in sustainability, social responsibility and value co-creation", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 304-312. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-08-2013-0161
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited