3 Businesses that are creating Shared Value...

In last week's blog, we took a deep dive into the meaning behind 'Shared Value' in business.

Shared Value is a strategy that is not only good for business, but good for the world.

In this week's blog we're going to take a look at 3 businesses that are successfully creating Shared Value...

PayPal

Many only know Paypal as the world's biggest online payment system. But beyond transactions, they have a higher purpose...

Paypal exist to democratise financial services to ensure that everyone, regardless of background or economic standing, has access to affordable, convenient and secure products and services so they can take control of their financial lives.

PayPal has a strong belief that access to affordable and convenient financial services should be a right for all rather than a privilege for the few. To achieve this, it is aligned around one central vision: to make the movement and management of money as simple, secure and affordable as possible.

This purpose alone embodies the crux of shared value. Paypal is leveraging their own resources and innovation, and using their whole value chain to create new solutions to financial inequality around the world.

A great example of this purpose in action, is their commitment to advancing financial inclusion and economic empowerment of women and girls. The payments company has committed over $100m to the cause over the course of the next 5 years.

Dan Schulman, PayPal’s CEO has provided context to the company’s purpose in a post-pandemic world:

AIA

AIA Australia is a leading life insurer offering a comprehensive range of products that protect the financial health and welfare of more than three million people.

They’re committed to making a positive difference in people’s lives- and it makes financial sense that they do. The healthier that people are, the less likely they are to need to rely on financial support through insurance services.

AIA's website highlights two primary examples of areas where they’ve been active in shared value innovation.

To help all Australians develop health aspirations and achieve healthier lifestyles the insurance company offer AIA Vitality – an award-winning health and wellness program that helps their members get healthier by providing knowledge, tools and motivation to improve their health.

Members can earn AIA Vitality Points when they make healthier choices. This includes increasing physical activity, eating more healthily or completing health checks. Points contribute to their AIA Vitality Status - Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum. The higher your status, the greater your rewards.

Millions of people around the world are already living healthier, more fulfilling lives with the AIA Vitality program.

They’ve also been active in the worker rehabilitation space for a long time, particularly in regards to mental illness, which is estimated to cost the industry over $150 million dollars a year in claims, and currently affects around 1 in 5 Australians every year.

Research done by AIA shows that work is actually good for your health – they recognise the important role that work plays in building confidence, so they help employees in providing a smoother return to work journey.

AIA offers tailored rehabilitation service for clients who are experiencing an injury, disability or health condition. They assist them to improve their wellness, return to work or seek new employment.

Mahindra

Mahindra Group is a global federation of companies headquartered in Mumbai, India. Consisting of more than 150 companies, spanning more than 100 countries, Mahindra is a US$20 billion company.

Despite operating across 22 different industries, Mahindra is unified by one purpose...

To drive positive change in the lives of stakeholders and communities across the world, to enable them to rise.

Mahindra businesses don’t limit their ambitions to just selling their products and services. They look at value creation through comprehensive long-term social interventions.

Like PayPal and AIA, Mahindra practises shared value.

It talks about shared value being at the centre of its core purpose and the major driver of its business strategy and culture. The result is that many of its businesses focus on the unmet needs of underserved cus- tomers and under-penetrated markets.

Mahindra’s business model depends on generating growing prosperity for customers. This is what it says drives the nature of its products and services and the kind of stakeholder interaction it needs and expects from employees.

Here is an example of how Mahindra creates shared value...

Mahindra Finance serves the needs of bottom-of-the-pyramid traders, entrepreneurs, unemployed youth and farmers in rural and semi-urban India. These are people who would find it nearly impossible to get loans from banks, leaving the village money lender as the only option.

Mahindra Finance offers a unique ‘earn and pay’ business model, which provides loans: not for consumption, but for income generation. Since there is likely no credit history, it assesses the potential income that the borrower can generate in the future through the assets financed.

Over the past two decades, it has created over 4 million small entrepreneurs and has cumulatively financed assets over US$40 billion.

If you want to learn more about the Shared Value movement, have a listen to the interview with Sarah Downie, CEO of the Shared Value Project on the For Love & Money Podcast here. This interview delivers some great insights on how business can contribute value externally through their everyday operations.