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Value creation and appropriation in economic, social, and environmental domains : Recognizing and resolving the institutionalized asymmetries

Ritala, Paavo ; Albareda, Laura and Bocken, Nancy LU (2021) In Journal of Cleaner Production 290.
Abstract

Value creation and appropriation are much-studied processes in business and management fields. However, both academia and business practice have traditionally focused on how value is created and appropriated in the economic context and by economic actors. This overemphasis on economic logic has created institutionalized asymmetries in managing the relationship between business, society and ecological environment. In this paper, we broaden the value creation and appropriation analysis along two dimensions: (1) the type of economic goods used to create value (private and club goods, public goods and common goods) and (2) value creation and appropriation domains (economic, social, and environmental). Building on this framework, we argue... (More)

Value creation and appropriation are much-studied processes in business and management fields. However, both academia and business practice have traditionally focused on how value is created and appropriated in the economic context and by economic actors. This overemphasis on economic logic has created institutionalized asymmetries in managing the relationship between business, society and ecological environment. In this paper, we broaden the value creation and appropriation analysis along two dimensions: (1) the type of economic goods used to create value (private and club goods, public goods and common goods) and (2) value creation and appropriation domains (economic, social, and environmental). Building on this framework, we argue that there are several institutionalized asymmetries in the relationship between the goods used to create value and the domains in which the value is eventually appropriated. We point out the system-level tendency of value over-appropriation in the economic domain over the two other domains as well as value over-appropriation in the social domain over the environmental domain. We also discuss how existing organizational practices, such as corporate social responsibility, shared value creation, and sustainable business models, have attempted to overcome them, and reflect on the main critiques to these approaches. Finally, we identify potential business-based solutions to the institutionalized asymmetries and provide implications to research and practice.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Economic goods, Institutionalized asymmetries, Sustainable business models, Value appropriation, Value creation
in
Journal of Cleaner Production
volume
290
article number
125796
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85099223553
ISSN
0959-6526
DOI
10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.125796
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
80934bfb-4226-4cbc-9650-42e77dcb7ece
date added to LUP
2021-01-25 07:33:33
date last changed
2022-04-26 23:50:52
@article{80934bfb-4226-4cbc-9650-42e77dcb7ece,
  abstract     = {{<p>Value creation and appropriation are much-studied processes in business and management fields. However, both academia and business practice have traditionally focused on how value is created and appropriated in the economic context and by economic actors. This overemphasis on economic logic has created institutionalized asymmetries in managing the relationship between business, society and ecological environment. In this paper, we broaden the value creation and appropriation analysis along two dimensions: (1) the type of economic goods used to create value (private and club goods, public goods and common goods) and (2) value creation and appropriation domains (economic, social, and environmental). Building on this framework, we argue that there are several institutionalized asymmetries in the relationship between the goods used to create value and the domains in which the value is eventually appropriated. We point out the system-level tendency of value over-appropriation in the economic domain over the two other domains as well as value over-appropriation in the social domain over the environmental domain. We also discuss how existing organizational practices, such as corporate social responsibility, shared value creation, and sustainable business models, have attempted to overcome them, and reflect on the main critiques to these approaches. Finally, we identify potential business-based solutions to the institutionalized asymmetries and provide implications to research and practice.</p>}},
  author       = {{Ritala, Paavo and Albareda, Laura and Bocken, Nancy}},
  issn         = {{0959-6526}},
  keywords     = {{Economic goods; Institutionalized asymmetries; Sustainable business models; Value appropriation; Value creation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Cleaner Production}},
  title        = {{Value creation and appropriation in economic, social, and environmental domains : Recognizing and resolving the institutionalized asymmetries}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.125796}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.125796}},
  volume       = {{290}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}