Sandra Waddock

THE CORPORATE SOCIAL PERFORMANCE–FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE LINK

Strategic managers are consistently faced with the decision of how to allocate scarce corporate resources in an environment that is placing more and more pressures on them. Recent scholarship in strategic management suggests that many of these pressures come directly from sources associated with social issues in management, rather than traditional arenas of strategic management. Using a greatly improved source of data on corporate social performance, this paper reports the results of a rigorous study of the empirical linkages between financial and social performance. Corporate social performance (CSP) is found to be positively associated with prior financial performance, supporting the theory that slack resource availability and CSP are positively related. CSP is also found to be positively associated with future financial performance, supporting the theory that good management and CSP are positively related.© 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Social Entrepreneurs and Catalytic Change.

In the past few years, U.S. society has witnessed the proliferation of an increasing number of initiatives that have extensively used the media to capture public attention about an issue of social concern in the hope that social action and changes in public policy would ensue. Examples include Hands Across Americas efforts to raise money for and awareness about the problem of hunger and homelessness in the United States, the Partnership for a Drug-Free Americas ad campaign to change public attitudes toward drug abuse, Earth Day 1990s re-emphasis on environmentalism, and The Business Enterprise Trusts attempts to improve corporate social performance by seeking out and publicizing good corporate citizenship. Each of these initiatives was headed by an individual that we call a catalytic social entrepreneur. A brief description will highlight the roles that catalytic social entrepreneurs played in the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and Hands Across America.

Understanding Shareholder Activism: Which Corporations are Targeted?:

This study provides preliminary empirical evidence that shareholder activists target companies because of their size as well as specific stakeholder-related practices. The data show that shareholder activists target companies with shareholder resolutions demanding changes in corporate behaviors for companies producing problematic products and where environmental concerns exist. Furthermore, companies in specific industries are targeted based on poor employee and community-related practices. Activists, that is, are selective in their targeting of companies, choosing the most visible (largest) companies and those whose practices raise specific issues of interest to society.

Quality of Management and Quality of Stakeholder Relations: Are They Synonymous?

This article presents an integrative conceptual framework for linking corporate social performance, stakeholders, and quality of management, then tests this framework empirically. Results provide strong support for the hypothesis that perceived quality of management can be explained by the quality of performance with respect to specific primary stakeholders: owners, employees, customers, and (marginally) communities, but treatment of ecological environmental considera- tions is not a significant factor.

Relationships: The Real Challenge of Corporate Global Citizenship

These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The publisher or original authors may retain copyright to the materials. Relationships: The real challenge of corporate global citizenship

Strategic Issues Management: An Integration of Issue Life Cycle Perspectives

This paper explores, in depth models of issues management and uses public policy, corporate strategy, process models and multiple perspectives to understand the evolution of issues management and how organizations can strategically respond to, and manage, issues. The paper concludes with empirical considerations and a research agenda for the future.

The Multiple Bottom Lines of Corporate Citizenship: Social Investing, Reputation, and Responsibility Audits†

Corporate citizenship, that is, company practice that impacts various stakeholders, is increasingly being assessed along multiple bottom lines. Increasingly, executives need to be aware of the ways in which their corporate practices are monitored externally, as well as undertaking internal reviews that can improve performance. This paper highlights the trends in assessing citizenship. There are, for example, four relevant types of social investing, which evaluate citizenship in multiple ways. In the most common, investment houses/researchers develop screens on company practices for interested social investors. Alternatively, activist shareholders monitor corporate practice in areas of concern and use shareholder resolutions to foster change. Some investors are willing to commit financial resources to development of disadvantaged areas with expectations of market or less than market rates of return. The fourth type of social investing involves funding either micro ventures or small-to-mid-sized ventures either in disadvantaged areas or for proactive social gains, sometimes using corporate philanthropic resources to do so. In addition, dimensions of reputation are rated by researchers and magazines for specific groups or for overall corporate reputation. Companies that wish to improve

Institutional ownership and control: implications for long-term corporate strategy

Executive Overview Institutional owners are taking a more active role in strategic decision-making in American corporations. In this article, the research that has been done in this area is summarized. We argue that the impact of institutional ownership on strategic management may not be neutral, as institutional investors may have a shortened timeframe for critical decisions made on the basis of limited knowledge of the firms or industries in which they operate. This article discusses the implications of the shift toward institutional control of corporations.

Beyond Built to Last ... Stakeholder Relations in “Built‐to‐Last” Companies

These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The publisher or original authors may retain copyright to the materials. Beyond built to last...: Stakeholder relations in built-to-last companies

The United Nations Global Compact: Retrospect and Prospect

This article reviews the interdisciplinary literature on the UN Global Compact. The review identifies three research perspectives, which scholars have used to study the UN Global Compact so far: a historical perspective discussing the Global Compact in the context of UN-business relations, an operational perspective discussing the composition and impact of its participants, as well as a governance perspective discussing the constraints and opportunities of the initiative as an institutionalized arena for addressing global governance gaps. The authors contrast these three perspectives and identify key empirical as well as conceptual scholarly contributions. The remainder of this article contains focused summaries of the articles selected for this Special Issue. All articles are introduced and evaluated against the background of the three research perspectives.