News

Creating Value Alliance (CVA) is delighted to announce updates from Value Schools and Centres, events and Journal of Creating Value (JCV). For more information about CVA, visit creatingvalue.co .

Conferences

The CVA is pleased to announce the 7th Global Conference on Creating Value, which is taking place on 2–4 October, 2024 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Distinguished scholars and industry leaders will share insights on value creation and innovation, including Phil Kotler, Steve Vargo, Martin Reeves of BCG, Can Uslay, Daniel Aronson, Mariano Hernandez of Salesforce, Javier Silva, Gustavo Werneck of Gerdau, Cristina Palmaka of SAP, Tarciana Paula Gomes Medeiros, President of Banco do Brasil, Ambassador Suresh Reddy and more.

The paper sessions are chaired by Karina Burgdorff Jensen, College of Northern Denmark, Denmark, and Fatiha Boukouyen, University of Tours, France. Selected papers will be considered for publication in a special issue of the JCV. For more information about submission guidelines, visit the 7th Global Conference on Creating Value.

Key Dates for Paper Sessions:

• Abstract Submission Deadline: 15 June 2024

• Notification of Acceptance: 1 August 2024

• Full Paper Submission Deadline: 15 September 2024

Value Schools and Centres

1 Center for Social Value Creation—United States: It is directed by Nima Farshchi and housed within the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. The Center for Social Value Creation remains committed to educating, engaging and empowering the Smith community and beyond to create a better world through business. The centre’s endeavours this year encompass a wide array of programmes, research initiatives and thought leadership activities aimed at advancing social impact and sustainable business practices.

• Thought Leadership: In Fall 2024, the centre will host the fourth annual environmental, social and governance (ESG) conference, focusing on exploring the complexities of ESG criteria in business decision-making. The conference will delve into topics such as the current state of ESG practices, emerging trends and areas warranting further attention. Moreover, the centre’s efforts to promote social impact education extend through initiatives such as social impact at Smith, an initiative spearheaded by the dean’s office. Through groundbreaking research and practical applications, the centre equips students and faculty with the tools to navigate the intersection of business and social purpose effectively. The centre’s commitment to thought leadership is further demonstrated by the expansion of experiential learning opportunities, including the Social Innovation Course and the Value Creation Challenge Course, which provide students with hands-on experiences in addressing real-world social and environmental challenges.

• Programmatic Initiatives: The Impact Consulting Fellowship (ICF) continues to thrive, now in its sixth iteration. This year, the centre received a record number of applicants, indicative of the growing interest among students to engage in impactful consulting projects. The selected teams are poised to undertake pro bono consulting assignments with organizations dedicated to driving positive change in their communities. Furthermore, the centre has assumed leadership of Best for District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia (DMV), a campaign aimed at encouraging businesses in the DMV to integrate impact into their business models. By fostering a culture of corporate social responsibility and sustainable business practices, the centre aims to catalyze regional progress towards addressing societal challenges.

The Center for Social Value Creation remains dedicated to fostering a community of socially conscious business leaders equipped to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. Through research, education and hands-on experiences, the centre endeavours to catalyze positive change and create a more sustainable and equitable future. Stay updated on latest initiatives by visiting the Center for Social Value Creation website (https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/centers-initiatives/social-value-creation).

2 Kobe University Value School (V.School)—Japan: Managed by Hisashi Tamaki, Kobe University V.School is an organization with two missions. The first one is to explore the concept of value creation itself and create a new academic discipline for value creation. The second is to systematize various concepts related to this academic discipline and to develop and implement educational programmes for value creation.

V.School is an organization in which all students of Kobe University can participate. At present, around 130 students belong to the V.School. They study value creation systemically from philosophical, natural scientific and humanistic-sociological perspectives in the lectures. The lectures are based on the basic picture of value creation that the team has found (Figure 1). The students then experience value creation through various project-based learning.

Figure 1.

Value Creation Square.

Students are not the only ones participating in the V.School. All researchers at Kobe University may gather at the V.School to discuss and integrate various kinds of knowledge. The place has been named the ‘V.School Salon’. New interdisciplinary research projects have emerged from the discussions in the V.School Salon. Examples include educational research projects related to land-based aquaculture and the development of human empathy.

Currently, the focus is on further developing the value-creation education that has been systematized so far. Specifically, the V.School team is developing a systemic understanding of the problems to be solved (social and academic problems) to link ‘expectation’ and ‘problem’ in the value creation square, and from there, an appropriate setting of the problems. The V.School is also developing an educational programme to learn a way of viewing and thinking from a bird’s-eye viewpoint and objective perspective. From now on, the V.School’s team is planning to spread the value-creation education systematized by Kobe University to students at universities and high schools other than Kobe University. For more information, visit Kobe University Value School (V.School).

3 Value Research Center, Kyoto—Japan: Chaired by Philip Sugai, the Value Research Center aims to research and develop a system for measuring, monitoring, assessing and reporting on value creation and destruction impacts that organizations make on various stakeholder groups including (a) the organization itself, as well as its (b) shareholders or owners, (c) customers, (d) employees, (e) partners, the (f) society within which it operates and (g) the planet. This year, the Value Research Center’s team is continuing with a joint research project together with:

• Osaka University’s ESG-IREC research team, exploring value measurement in collaboration with major companies.

• Kansai University and Kobe University on the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) with the value model.