CSR in Cultural Organizations: A Valorization Model

Introduction

The subject of the proposed work is the link between Cultural Organizations and CSR through the approach based on the value creation integrated into perspective of shared value between society and organization. The value society is the optimal value creation as a result; the idea for this work comes from the consideration of dimensions of CSR for cultural organizations and to links that can activated.

Culture considered a common good, an element of welfare for community, for all people, and as such, each individual has a responsibility to preserve, safeguard and value it. Culture has an exchange value too, and thus it is also a product (commodity, service, idea), and this requires economic, social and cultural models, consistent and shared, however, it mustn’t disregard the definition of Cultural heritage by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which considers culture a good belonging to all mankind: «Everyone must be enabled to enjoy culture» and «Culture is world heritage». The cultural organizations must allow culture to finance itself through a process involving the quality artistic production, support of public and media, substantial public and private financing and self-financing. The target audience, and then the target to be attained, is becoming more strategically important. An analysis of new and potential opportunities for «new markets space» must be realized to be able to exploit potential benefits. With reference to Management, to date, many studies have proved the strategic importance of CSR, and - in this work - within the processes of value creation of the CSR. As the analysis of cultural organizations shows, the CSR helps the processes of value creation of cultural product; so i.e. cultural enterprise, cultural association. In general, a part of the value added generated by a firm through its activities necessarily goes to the local system where it is situated, as it is transferred to other actors who are part of it, and vice versa. In particular, perspective of competitiveness development, value creation means the strengthening of tangible and/or intangible property in the area and that, as mentioned, determines its terms of competitiveness. There is a literature as well as wide empirical evidence on the ways in which the presence and behavior of firms affect, or may affect, the factors of economic attractiveness in the geographical context they belong to.

Below are the most significant among these modes:

• 1.

  Development of quality of human resources.

• 2.

  Knowledge transfer to certain local actors.

• 3.

  Acquisition of products/services from local businesses.

• 4.

  Pulling of local companies in the competitive international contexts.

• 5.

  Improving the image/reputation of area.

• 6.

  Improvement of quality of local supply with special reference to that of intermediate goods and high value services.

• 7.

  Support to share capital, as the cultural sponsorship and strategic partnerships.

• 8.

  Contribution in the realization of infrastructural investments.

• 9.

  Improvement of the level of sustainability (social, environmental, economic) of local production system.

All aspects can be affecting by CSR. The connection of CSR management and cultural organizations needs an integrated approach involving the analysis of literature (desk) and analysis of practical cases (field).

In literature, there is a gap on CSR analysis in valorization process of cultural organizations. Some studies pay attention on role of CSR into value chain and some authors, as Carroll (2003), put in evidence the process of value creation for organizations and society. There is not any suggestion about the relationship between CSR and value chain that include the valorization of cultural organizations.

According to explored gaps, this chapter propose a new framework to study and consider the active role of CSR into value chain of organizations into shared value approach, from this starts a proposition of a valorization model for cultural organizations.