Identify a true statement about the stakeholder theory of corporate social responsibility (csr).

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Abstract

Despite extensive corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature most of research has examined corporate performance as its only outcome. We aim to fill this gap by assessing companies' perceptions of their CSR activities’ benefits for society and specific stakeholders. We discuss societal trends such as diversity and inclusion embedded in employee-focused CSR conceptualization as a prerequisite for the perception of CSR’s societal impact. We bring together CSR and relationship marketing theories to test a conceptual model on a sample of 411 business-to-business (B2B) companies. The results confirm a positive relationship between employee-oriented CSR and the perceived usefulness of CSR actions for society, customers and employees (but not suppliers). In order to maximize relationship quality, CSR activities should be targeted at specific stakeholders (customers and employees) and not at society at large. Finally, differences are observed between SMEs and large B2B firms with opposite perceptions of antecedents and outcomes of relationship quality.

Keywords

CSR

Relationship marketing

Relationship quality

Commitment

Social impact

Stakeholder theory

Gregor Pfajfar, PhD, is an associate professor in International Business at the School of Economics and Business, University of Ljubljana. His research focuses on distribution channel conflicts and relationships in B2B markets, international marketing strategies, export performance, and collaborative consumption. As a visiting professor, he has lectured at internationally ranked universities in England, Canada, Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Croatia. He is a member of Marketing Association of Slovenia (DMS), Academy of International Business (AIB), Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) and European Marketing Academy (EMAC). He has been a project leader or team member for several applied projects in the field of international business for selected international companies such as P&G, IBM, BMW, Henkel, Gorenje, Elan, etc. His work has been published in Industrial Marketing Management, International Marketing Review, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, European Journal of International Management among others.

Aviv Shoham (PhD, 1993, University of Oregon) is a Professor Emeritus of marketing at University of Haifa, Israel. He serves as a visiting professor at the Ljubljana University, Slovenia. His research focuses on international marketing management/strategy and international consumer behavior. His research has been published in journals such as the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Management International Review, the Journal of International Marketing, International Marketing Review, the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Advertising Research, International Business Review, the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, the European Journal of Marketing, European Journal of Management, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, and the Journal of Global Marketing. He is involved actively in reviewing for leading academic journals, including being an Associate Editor for International Marketing Review, Senior Editor for International Journal of Emerging Markets, Associate Editor for Journal of Global Marketing and an Editorial Review Board member for a number of journals.

Agnieszka Małecka Earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing and management and master’s degree in management from the University of Economics in Katowice. Before joining the Management Ph.D. program, she gained professional experience in recruitment, selection and human resource development in cooperation with Millward Brown SMG/KRC. In her dissertation, she investigates determinants of engagement in alternative consumption models. Her research area comprises aspects of social innovations, consumer behavior and alternative markets.

Maja Zalaznik Prior to taking up the position of the Minister of Education, Science and Sport (May 2015-September 2018), Dr. Maja Zalaznik (ex Makovec Brenčič) was full professor of international business and Vice-Rector for the area of knowledge transfer at the University of Ljubljana. She had been employed by the School of Economics and Business, University of Ljubljana, since 1993. Dr Zalaznik (ex Makovec Brenčič) bibliography comprises over 500 scientific and professional titles. Her scientific research was focused on company internationalisation, relationship marketing, international marketing and connections between marketing, sales and human resources. In June 2013, she was appointed President of the European Marketing Academy (EMAC), the largest European academic organisation in the field of marketing. In 2011, she chaired the EMAC Annual Conference. She was President of the Društvo za marketing Slovenije (Marketing Society of Slovenia) from 2008 to 2014. Dr Zalaznik (ex Makovec Brenčič) imparts her knowledge to internationally active Slovenian companies in various ways (projects, mentoring, expert commissions). She has considerable experience in the field of development and quality-assurance in higher education, internationalisation, and the integration of education and enterprise sector and wider social environment.

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.