This dissertation offers an integrative perspective on the interrelation of individual purpose, public value, and organizations in society. The cumulative dissertation comprises six independently published papers that differ in terms of methodology, research context, objectives, and contribution. The first study is based on the notion that an organization’s value depends on its contributions to the common good, as perceived by the public. The purpose of this study is to provide a corporate reporting approach that incorporates societal perspectives and, thus, advances (non-)financial reporting. The second study takes an explorative approach to iestigate the individual-level characteristics of people who participate in the sharing economy as users and as providers. Study 3 examines the role of age as a determinant of individuals’ entrepreneurial behavior. Building on lifespan psychology and institutional theory, it argues for a U-shaped relationship between entrepreneurs’ age and their choice to create social value for their communities and societies. Study 4 enlarges the debate on the multifaceted consequences of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by discussing the relationship between organizational CSR engagement and employee work addiction, shedding light on the potential risks associated with CSR. Study 5 is a case study and deals with the German family-equity company Haniel and depicts the process of implementing a Corporate Responsibility strategy throughout a holding company and its divisions. Study 6 provides an overview of public value research conducted by Moore, Bozeman, and Meynhardt and shows how public managers can make use of two management tools, the Public Value Scorecard and the Public Value Atlas. This dissertation contributes to a deeper understanding of the drivers and outcomes of public value perceptions and helps to close some knowledge gaps while stimulating further thought and action pertaining to the multiple aspects of public value.

The case depicts the tension loaded conflict the 260-year-old German family-equity company Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH (Haniel) deals with: On the one hand, there is the value system of a family-owned company with family members committed to the values of the 'honorable businessman' and on the other hand there is a company trying to build a diversified portfolio with the professionalism of a private-equity investor. Haniel’s mission 'Enhancing value - living out values' truly creates tension.

This chapter presents an approach to Public Value Reporting which is relevant to organizations, non-governmental institutions, and public administrations. In order to translate theoretical reasoning into measures of corporate performance, it identifies three alternative approaches to enhance existing reporting measures, introducing the Public Value Scorecard, extending the materiality matrix, and theoretically and practically deriving key performance indicators relevant to public value creation. The chapter discusses managerial and practical implications. The postulated Public Value Reporting framework is based on the public value concept coined by Timo Meynhardt, which according to John M. Bryson et al. The public value concept theoretically contributes to the debate on organizational legitimacy by providing new insight into how individual and societal well-being are affected by organizational action. The chapter explores ways in which a public value perspective can broaden the understanding of organizational value creation and, thus, advance (non-)financial reporting.

Die Evolution der Reportinginstrumente der letzten Jahre tendiert ganz klar in Richtung einer ganzheitlicheren Sichtweise, in der zunehmend auch gesellschaftliche Aspekte einen Platz einnehmen. Dabei setzen Neuerungen, wie z. B. Value Reporting, CSR Reporting, Integrated Reporting oder Shared Value Reporting, erweiterte Schwerpunkte. Jedoch reichen sie nicht aus, um die gesellschaftliche Wertschöpfung uoreingenommen zu erfassen.

This study explores the relationship between an entrepreneur's age and his/her social value creation goals. Building on the lifespan developmental psychology literature and institutional theory, we hypothesize a U-shaped relationship between entrepreneurs’ age and their choice to create social value through their ventures, such that younger and older entrepreneurs create more social value with their businesses while middle age entrepreneurs are relatively more economically and less socially oriented with their ventures. We further hypothesize that the quality of a country’s formal institutions in terms of economic, social, and political freedom steepen the U-shaped relationship between entrepreneurs’ age and their choice to pursue social value creation as supportive institutional environments allow entrepreneurs to follow their age-based preferences. We confirm our predictions using multilevel mixed-effects linear regressions on a sample of over 15,000 entrepreneurs (aged between 18 and 64 years) in 45 countries from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data. The findings are robust to several alternative specifications. Based on our findings, we discuss implications for theory and practice, and we propose future research directions.