Creating Social Value

Social value creation is a journey, and each company charts its own path through uncertain and complex terrain.

Creating Social Value: A Guide for Leaders and Change Makers focuses on the motivations of entrepreneurial leaders as they look to activate change within their companies, industries, and value chains, sometimes even through partnerships with their competitors. Such change requires fundamentally new styles of leadership, and we profile the ways these trailblazing innovators generate profits and social value simultaneously.

The conversations in this book are just the beginning. We continue the dialogue here on campus, bringing in companies to encourage our students to be actively curious and committed to creating social value.

Published in 2014, this book was written by Cheryl Kiser and Deborah Leipziger with J. Janelle Shubert.

Praise for Creating Social Value​

"[Creating Social Value] will undoubtedly shape a generation of managers trying to move organizations beyond purely economic outcomes...a rare treat indeed!"
- Leonard A. Schlesinger, Baker Foundation Professor, Harvard Business School; President Emeritus, Babson College

"...much-needed insights on important global trends and how they affect the viability of private sector activities."
- Georg Kell, Executive Director, UN Global Compact

"Many people talk about integrating business and society. Cheryl Kiser lives it, and with her co-authors enable the reader to see how all the pieces fit together."
- Bill Drayton, CEO, Ashoka

"This book will prove an invaluable tool for the development of responsible management education."
- Jonas Haertle, Head, PRME Secretariat, UN Global Compact Office

"An extremely relevant conversation for today's business leaders."
- Liz Maw, CEO Net Impact

"...a must-read for those who seek to deepen understanding about the potential of business to achieve social good."
- Katherine V. Smith, Executive Director, The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship

"...provides managers of today's firms with a roadmap for identifying and pursuing strategies that create long-term value for all stakeholders."
- Melissa Carrier, Assistant Dean, Office of Global Initiatives and Center for Social Value Creation, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland

"The authors have demonstrated that...tomorrow's successful business strategies will be built on social value."
- Mike Brady, President and CEO, Greyston Bakery