Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1143841 Procedia Manufacturing 2015 8 Pages PDF
Abstract

Democracy is difficult to define because it is so difficult to understand and apply in practice. Unsuccessful definitions and practice of democracy can have catastrophic results, such as anarchy and idiocy. Democracy therefore needs protective and applicable frameworks, although too much protection runs the risk of making it less democratic. Metron Ariston, a Delphic Maxim, may contribute towards a reasonable definition of democracy and give us possibilities to apply it in practice. Democracy in speech and actions can be demonstrated based on the shared value produced. Shared value in business, in turn, has been defined so that it covers the economic value creation inside a company as well as creating value for society according to its needs and challenges. The target is to achieve economic success through company activities so that all the stakeholders get their own share. In this way, shared value can be seen as a creative means for meeting social requirements as well as a tool to develop company democracy. However, this activity needs a lot of insights, ideas, initiatives, and innovations to meet the outside risks, challenges and requirements in the changing world. Shared value should be seen more as created added value so that the added value is delivered continuously as a shared value in the whole society. In this paper, we combine the ideas of shared added value as well as the developed company democracy model to present the synergistic effects in a business context.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Engineering Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering