Companies
that create shared value adopt operating practices and pursue policies that
enhance the competitiveness of the company while simultaneously advancing the
economic and social conditions in the communities in which it operates. Shared
value creation is different from corporate philanthropy and social
responsibility programs, which are often tangential to a company's core
operations. A shared value approach, instead, entails reconceiving a company's
product and markets, reinventing its value chain, and strengthening the
productivity of the communities in which it operates.
For
example, when senior GE executives directly engaged with the health problems of
the world's poor through GE's new approach to philanthropy, they saw the
tremendous range of opportunities for their business. The company couldn't sell
the same products it sold in developed markets, but it could design new
products that would meet the needs of the developing world. Innovations based
on GE's core technologies, like an inexpensive ultrasound scanner that
transmits its pictures over the Internet without a computer, are already
changing the lives of women in rural villages across the developing world.
The GE Foundation, the
philanthropic organization of GE, has a rich history of building a world that
works better. They empower people by helping them develop the skills they need
to succeed in a global economy. They equip communities with the technology and
capacity to improve access to better health and education. They elevate ideas
that are tackling the world’s toughest challenges to advance economic development
and improve lives. The GE Foundation is powered by the generosity and talent of
their employees, who have a strong commitment to their communities.
GE has been working with many
different charities and foundations since 1950. The GE Foundation and the wider
GE family played a integral part in addressing natural disasters like Hurricane
Katrina and the 2004 tsunami that devastated Indonesia. The GE Foundation also
led the response to 9/11 with a $10 million contribution to the Twin Towers
Fund. http://www.gefoundation.com/about-ge-foundation/
After the GE cut its donations
by 6 percent due to the sale of its NBC unit to Comcast, GE say s its stepping
up its pro bono work. It made $17.5 million in grants to 72 health clinics in
regions that don’t have adequate medical services. GE donated $144,100,000 in
cash and $1,900,000 in products in 2011. http://philanthropy.com/article/10-Companies-That-Gave-the/132991/
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