From Values to “Value”. From the Creation of the Value of Firms to Sustainable Growth

Abstract

[Mella, par. 1-4] Strictly speaking, firms are considered as systems for the creation of economic andfinancial value for their shareholders, and their performance – profit and the value of capital – is measured by acoherent system of monetary values.Nevertheless, if we do not limit our view to simply the shareholders but consider instead a vast group ofstakeholders, we must then also broaden our notion of the production of sustainable value in order to includeboth the social value and the environmental value.Thus a firm must set a system of objectives for itself which is centered on its sustainable growth, and musttherefore tend toward a multi-dimensional growth that encompasses the economic, social and environmentaldimensions.[Gazzola, par. 5-10] This implies an intense social action based on transparency, the management of itsreputation, a dialogue with the stakeholders, research and development, and knowledge management, all ofwhich require adequate communication instruments.On the basis of this, our work takes up the traditional idea of the social balance as an instrument for socialinteraction and social cost/benefit analysis in order to show that such an instrument can describe, comment onand sum up the firm’s own behaviour aimed at sustainable growth.In this sense the social balance, as far as it certifies the ethical profile of the firm, legitimizes the latter’ssocial and environmental role, not only in structural terms but above all moral ones, in the eyes of thecommunity of reference, emphasizes the link between firm and territory, and affirms the concept of the firm as anentity that, by pursuing its own prevailing interests, contributes to improving the quality of life of the members ofthe society in which it operates and that can, in all respects, represent a means for the creation of sustainablevalue.