Public Value is value for and from the public. The new look associated with Public Value (PV) is viewing impacts on values in society as value creation. This perspective puts concurrent ideas of “public interest,” “common good” or “common welfare” into a more managerial and entrepreneurial perspective.

The felt need for a public value management or entrepreneurship can be traced to several discourses reconsidering issues of responsibility and accountability of public and private organizations in society (e.g., on public reforms, accountability of NGOs or social responsibility of private enterprises). In a larger context it creates a challenge of rational choice concepts and reflects the recent renaissance of public interest ideas (e.g., Selznick, 1992; Münkler et al., 2001, 2002; Bozeman, 2007).

Organizations cannot not influence public values. Therefore, a balanced view on value creation for and in society is much needed in a globalized economy with a number of challenges in creating wealth while securing social integration and cohesion. Neither pure economic or financial focus nor pure appealing to political or moral values is sufficient to derive accountability and a “license to operate” for any organization embedded in society. The broadened concept of “value creation” reflects the search for balanced measures to evaluate organizations beyond financial or economic performance.