We are living through uncertain times in Hong Kong and it is more relevant than ever for the private sector to create legitimacy with all stakeholders. Creating Shared Value can be a tool for business to build this trust and Shared Value Initiative Hong Kong services are structured around four pillarsto accompany corporations on this journey. These pillars underpin everything we do to drive the movement in the region.
Written by Gaëlle Loiseau, CEO of Shared Value Initiative Hong Kong
Inspire – Spark hope for new possibilities
Our Founding Members created Shared Value Project to lead the change and ‘Inspire’ is our overarching pillar. We aim to plant seeds within and outside our membership base to challenge business-as-usual and invent new ways of running profitable organisations.
We believe aligning profit and purpose is the way forward for business to build legitimacy and future-proof their organisation. To inspire the change, we demonstrate the business case for shared value and shine the spotlight on alternative and innovative paths for profit making.
Empower – Provide the knowledge to enable innovation
Once inspiration is sparked, CSV trainings and ideation workshops enable our members to invent new models. We connect the dots between employees’ daily work and the major challenges we face. Wherever we sit in an organisation, we can have a positive impact on society while creating value for the company.
We also provide our members with a better understanding of societal issues, and by focussing on the business angle, we give them the tools to identify gaps in the market and do what business does best: solve problems profitably.
Convene – Collaborate with outside expertise
We recognise that the issues facing us as a society are too large for any corporation to handle alone. Parallel to empowering our members, we therefore convene unlikely partners from across sectors to share expertise during roundtables and together, identify, implement and scale new solutions.
We continuously build our network of partners from government, academia, NGOs, social innovation, and of course business, to help our members understand the challenges, build profitable solutions addressing the root of the issues, scale the impact, and eventually build trust with the wider community.
Transform – Pilot new business models
Our ultimate goal is to change mind-sets about the positive impact the private sector can have on challenges that traditionally were left for civil society to deal with or fell in the “too hard basket”. Applying the CSV principles can help the private sector innovate with strong business models to future-proof their organisations while creating competitive advantage.
In any case, CSV is not easy to achieve and to accompany our members on the journey, we co-chair task forces on each initiative we work on to keep the momentum going on the societal issues our members choose to tackle.
SVIHK members are at various stages along the Shared value journey, but whether they are looking to inspire their employees to invent new ways of doing business, or whether they have already started transforming their organisations, they recognise the need for change by empowering their staff and collaborating across sectors. SVIHK’s four pillars are built to nudge the private sector toward a different way of doing business, aligning profit and purpose and eventually building trust and relevance in the community.
