The third day of the Preparatory Seminar started off with a presentation of Prof. Dr. Peter Abplanalp about the “Shared Value” concept that was created by Michael Porter and Mark Kramer. With his enthusiasm, Prof. Dr. Abplanalp was able to immediately connect with the audience and held them in rapt attention throughout the whole presentation.

With his extensive knowledge and profound experience, he has outlined an immensely important issue when it comes to creating shared value. Until today, companies have rarely analyzed social issues from a value perspective, which resulted in a concealment between the social and economic progress. Meaning that problems of the society are not part of business thinking and as a consequence there is a negative impact on our environment. The “Shared Value” concept addresses exactly this matter. The idea of shared value includes policies and practices that increase the competitiveness of a company while improving the economic and social conditions of the community in which it operates. Prof. Dr. Peter Abplanalp emphasized that it is not about the already created value but rather to create and share additional value.

Even though we did not have the time to go into depth, the attendees received a unique learning opportunity through the presentation and we were very grateful for his outstanding speech.