Thesis published based on Beetroot’s unique culture

Former Lund University students, Daniel Bilici and John Johdet, chose Beetroot Academy and Beetroot as the basis for their thesis and spent several months exploring the impact of shared value activities on cultural differential advantages. Daniel Bilici has, since then, joined Beetroot Academy as Marketing Manager.

Introduced in 2011 by Michael Porter, the concept of creating shared value (CSV) represents the next level of corporate social responsibility. According to it, companies acquire competitive advantage by sustainably supporting and developing societies where they operate.

“We were astonished to see how shared value activities of Beetroot Academy impacted the organizational culture of Beetroot. In today’s competitive environment, when IT companies are struggling to recruit the best talent, creating a unique organizational culture is a tool to build up a strong competitive advantage, including better employees loyalty, higher motivation and faster company growth. We held 12 interviews among management and former students and researched how Beetroot Academy is influencing  Beetroot’s culture. We saw a positive impact on the internal environment,” says Daniel.

Beetroot Academy was initially launched as a social entrepreneurship initiative, aiming to educate internally displaced people from the conflict zone in Eastern Ukraine. Eventually, Beetroot Academy transformed into a full-fledged educational establishment with 9 locations in big and mid-sized cities of Ukraine. The academy is regularly launching socially relevant programs, like the latest cooperation with Estonian Ministry for International Affairs, which provides scholarships for women, IDPs and ATO veterans.

“After finishing university, I joined Beetroot Academy team to foster future implementations of shared value principles. We are now actively cooperating with donors, trying to break gender stereotypes in tech and contribute to the development of the Ukrainian middle class”, says Daniel.

About Beetroot Academy

Beetroot Academy is a non-profit in professional education, originally a branch of Beetroot — a fast-growing IT company from Sweden, today engaging nearly 200 people for 20 clients across the world. Founded in 2014, Beetroot Academy is located in 9 cities across Ukraine and concentrates on consolidation of practical skills to help its student start a real career in IT.

Read more about Beetroot Academy here.

Read more about Beetroot here.