Bahrain-based 3BL Associates (3BL), a strategy consultancy, has become the first regional consulting affiliate of the Shared Value Initiative.

The initiative was launched by business strategist and Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter and Mark Kramer in 2011.

The Porter-Kramer approach identifies opportunities to enhance economic competitiveness while simultaneously advancing the economic and social conditions in the communities in which it operates, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

"3BL works at the intersection of cross-cutting issues like health, climate change, peace, and corporate sustainability, and believes in the power of business to create economically, socially and environmentally sustainable societies," the company chairman Thamer Al Muqla was quoted as saying in the report.

"Therefore, shared value creation is very much aligned with our ethos and we are extremely proud to be the first Arab consultancy to join this prestigious and progressive network," he added.

3BL co-founder and managing director Leena Al Olaimy said that shared value differed from philanthropy or charity - which is sharing value that has already been created - and from traditional corporate social responsibility in terms of compliance or minimising social and environmental harm.

"It's about identifying synergistic opportunities to drive business or economic growth through serving the needs of society, and using metrics that directly link business success to social impact," observed Al Olaimy.

"Given the absence of regional Shared Value case studies we have already begun working with forward-thinking companies in the Mena region to identify shared value opportunities and to build capacity through shared value workshops," she added.

Co-founded by Al Olaimy and Tariq Al Olaimy, 3BL Associates was established in joint partnership with Al Muqla Investments and the Gulf Marcom Group.-TradeArabia News Service