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A new era of development: the changing role and responsibility of business in developing countries
Edited by Gilbert Lenssen, Luk Van Wassenhove, Simon Pickard and Joris-Johann Lenssen
Introduction
According to the UN multinational corporations have grown from 37,000 in 1990 to more than 60,000 in 2001 ([55] Nelson, 2001). These businesses are dependent on a wide network of affiliates, suppliers and distributors in order to effectively do business globally. Many of these multinational corporations have been attacked for the social and environmental impact their operations caused in different parts of the world ([80] Sethi, 1994; [92] Wheeler et al. , 2002; [96] Zadek, 2004).
Addressing these sustainability challenges companies typically move through stages of learning ([96] Zadek, 2004; [85] Spitzeck, 2009; [51] Maon et al. , 2010) and are beginning to integrate sustainability within their strategies ([30] Grayson and Hodges, 2004; [69] Porter and Kramer, 2006). Most of them start from a risk point of view and few are starting to realize the potential opportunities related to sustainability. Especially multinational enterprises have the potential to "increase innovation, spur wealth creation, transfer technology, raise productivity, meet basic needs, enhance living standards, and improve the quality of life for millions of people around the world" ([56] Nelson, 2006, p. 2). In the same line, but from a strategic perspective, Porter and Kramer argue for creating shared value which "involves creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges" ([66] Porter and Kramer, 2011, p. 64).
Creating shared value strategies is an emerging field in the intersection of development studies ([83] Sink, 1991; [56] Nelson, 2006; [97] Zhang et al. , 2009), strategy ([67] Porter, 1980; [72] Prahalad and Hart, 2002; [32] Hart and Milstein, 2003; [66] Porter and Kramer, 2011), stakeholder theory ([26] Freeman, 1984; [27] Freeman et al. , 2004; [86] Spitzeck and Hansen, 2010), innovation ([13] Chesbrough, 2003; [5] Ayuso et al. , 2006; [31] Hansen et al. , 2009; [24] Florin and Schmidt, 2011) and measurable triple-bottom-line results ([22] Elkington, 1998; [35] Jamali, 2006; [50] Maltz et al. , 2011). As with any emerging field the current challenge lies in generating empirical observations to confirm, contradict and refine the new theory.
This paper presents the...