Understanding "creating shared value"

Creating Shared Value (CSV) has been presented as the saviour of capitalism, a way to vanquish the perception that business profit at the expense of society. The concept of solving societal issues by gaining economic benefits has caught the attention of companies and prominent researchers. Yet, CSV has been referred to as nothing more than a buzzword and criticized because of similarities with existing models and lack of empirical evidences. In this paper, we offer new perspectives on CSV analysing it from the points of view of related concepts, such as stakeholder theory, sustainability, social entrepreneurship, Bottom of the Pyramid, Blended Value and CSR. Examples and discussion outline fundamental differences among similar concepts, thereby shedding light on CSV and both strengths and limitation thereof. Conclusions pave the way to a clear understanding of CSV concept, the locus of which include, but is not limited to, CSR, while giving directions for further research and theoretical development.