While mankind in the 21st century faces several sustainability challenges, many business practices remain on a nonsustainable pathway. At the same time, many scholars as well as managers consider maximizing shareholder wealth as the only business imperative. We argue that this situation calls for revisioningthat is, reorienting and redefiningwhat is meant by value creation. This revisioning requires a considerable broadening of our understanding about the purposes and functioning of businesses. Thus, we ask one central question: Value(s) for whom? In this article, we derive and discuss three phases of the academic debate on stakeholders and value creation. We argue that in today's third phase, the notion of collective value frames the debate. To enable transformations toward creating collective value, embedded relations with stakeholders are of central relevance. In a nutshell, the answer to our question is the following: Creating value(s) for stakeholders.
While mankind in the 21st century faces several sustainability challenges, many business practices remain on a nonsustainable pathway. At the same time, many scholars as well as managers consider maximizing shareholder wealth as the only business imperative. We argue that this situation calls for revisioningthat is, reorienting and redefiningwhat is meant by value creation. This revisioning requires a considerable broadening of our understanding about the purposes and functioning of businesses. Thus, we ask one central question: Value(s) for whom? In this article, we derive and discuss three phases of the academic debate on stakeholders and value creation. We argue that in today's third phase, the notion of collective value frames the debate. To enable transformations toward creating collective value, embedded relations with stakeholders are of central relevance. In a nutshell, the answer to our question is the following: Creating value(s) for stakeholders.