Shopping for Shared Value - A study about shared value creation at a shopping center

Sammanfattning: Today, capitalism is increasingly held responsible for many of the social and environmental issues we can see in the world today. Adding to that, legitimacy of business has plummeted to a level never seen before in recent history. Traditionally, financial and social value creation has been held against each other. This trade-off implies that by focusing on one, the other will be negatively affected. But does it really have to be this way? A solution to overcome this trade-off can be the concept of shared value, where societal needs are turned into business opportunities. By using a shared value approach, it is possible to address needs and challenges in the society in a way that creates both financial value and social value. This is a case study examining shared value initiatives at Frölunda Torg, a shopping center in Gothenburg, Sweden. The study aims to determine how shared value can be created by identifying factors that are essential for the value creation. Based on qualitative interviews, our findings suggest that there are three factors vital for shared value to be created. These factors are (i) networking within the ecosystem, (ii) creating a shared value culture, and (iii) having proper measurement practices. However, our empirical findings also suggest that these factors can be difficult to implement and apply.