Social Thinking. Creation of Value for Stakeholders

The creation of value, a typical goal of stockholders, should be considered in the process of optimizing an objective function that is larger and more complex, resulting from a "political compromise" regarding the aims of the different classes of stakeholders. In particular, this function must be compatible with the needs of the external environment, taking into account the influence of cultural roots in a context of Corporate Social Responsibility. The presence of conflicting interests, both inside and outside of the company, creates the possibility for conflicts between groups; profit depends on the extent to which internal and external conflict resolution takes place. This study aims to describe ways of identifying the principles of responsible management that, although resulting from different cultures, if linked together allow a more meaningful understanding of the behavior of modern corporations. The analysis of the international literature will be accompanied by the examples of 5 Italian companies.