IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/bushor/v59y2016i3p331-337.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Risky business: Taking a stand on social issues

Author

Listed:
  • Weinzimmer, Laurence G.
  • Esken, Candace A.

Abstract

When company executives take a stand on social issues, the repercussions can be significant. Not only does the company run the risk of alienating employees, but taking a stand on a controversial issue can impact the company's image and ultimately consumer purchasing behaviors. However, research on corporate social responsibility generally supports the notion that when companies get involved in societal issues, it can positively influence bottom-line financial performance. This article evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of taking a corporate stand on sensitive social issues and suggests guidelines that leaders should consider to increase the probability of success. Specifically, we found that oftentimes it is not the stand a leader takes but rather how that leader takes that stand. Moreover, we encourage business leaders to consider the delicate balance between fiduciary responsibility and social activism, to use a strategic approach, and to understand the legal repercussions before taking a stand on a social issue.

Suggested Citation

  • Weinzimmer, Laurence G. & Esken, Candace A., 2016. "Risky business: Taking a stand on social issues," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 331-337.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:59:y:2016:i:3:p:331-337
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2016.01.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007681316000082
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.bushor.2016.01.007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. François Maon & Adam Lindgreen & Valérie Swaen, 2009. "Designing and Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility: An Integrative Framework Grounded in Theory and Practice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 71-89, April.
    2. Page, Graham & Fearn, Helen, 2005. "Corporate Reputation: What Do Consumers Really Care About?," Journal of Advertising Research, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(3), pages 305-313, September.
    3. Manuel Branco & Lúcia Rodrigues, 2006. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Resource-Based Perspectives," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 69(2), pages 111-132, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ponce de Leon, Rebecca & Carter, James T. & Rosette, Ashleigh Shelby, 2024. "Sincere solidarity or performative pretense? Evaluations of organizational allyship," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    2. Irfan Butt, 2016. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Consumer Buying Behavior in Emerging Market: A Mixed Method Study," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(7), pages 211-211, June.
    3. Federico Mangiò & Giuseppe Pedeliento & Daniela Andreini & Lia Zarantonello, 2024. "How persuasive is woke brand communication on social media? Evidence from a consumer engagement analysis on Facebook," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 31(4), pages 345-381, July.
    4. Mishra, Paresh & Schmidt, Gordon B., 2018. "How can leaders of multinational organizations be ethical by contributing to corporate social responsibility initiatives? Guidelines and pitfalls for leaders trying to do good," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 833-843.
    5. Anna Żelazna & Matylda Bojar & Ewa Bojar, 2020. "Corporate Social Responsibility towards the Environment in Lublin Region, Poland: A Comparative Study of 2009 and 2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-13, June.
    6. Rosalynn Vasquez, 2022. "CSR, CSA, or CPA? Examining Corporate Climate Change Communication Strategies, Motives, and Effects on Consumer Outcomes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-16, March.
    7. Veda Fatmy & John Kihn & Jukka Sihvonen & Sami Vähämaa, 2022. "Does lesbian and gay friendliness pay off? A new look at LGBT policies and firm performance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(1), pages 213-242, March.
    8. Eglė Stonkutė & Jolita Vveinhardt & Włodzimierz Sroka, 2018. "Training the CSR Sensitive Mind-Set: The Integration of CSR into the Training of Business Administration Professionals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-14, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anat Anaqie Zahidy & Shahryar Sorooshian & Zahidy Abd Hamid, 2019. "Critical Success Factors for Corporate Social Responsibility Adoption in the Construction Industry in Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-24, November.
    2. Nelly Oelze & Stefan Ulstrup Hoejmose & Andre Habisch & Andrew Millington, 2016. "Sustainable Development in Supply Chain Management: The Role of Organizational Learning for Policy Implementation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 241-260, May.
    3. Pasquale Ruggiero & Sebastiano Cupertino, 2018. "CSR Strategic Approach, Financial Resources and Corporate Social Performance: The Mediating Effect of Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-22, October.
    4. Hafiz Yasir Ali & Muhammad Asrar‐ul‐Haq & Shaheera Amin & Sadaf Noor & Muhammad Haris‐ul‐Mahasbi & Muhammad Kashif Aslam, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility and employee performance: The mediating role of employee engagement in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2908-2919, November.
    5. Siva K. Balasubramanian & Yiwei Fang & Zihao Yang, 2021. "Twitter Presence and Experience Improve Corporate Social Responsibility Outcomes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(4), pages 737-757, November.
    6. Tiago Melo, 2012. "Determinants of corporate social performance: the influence of organizational culture, management tenure and financial performance," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 8(1), pages 33-47, March.
    7. Marion Allet, 2012. "Why do microfinance institutions go green?," Working Papers CEB 12-015, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Gary F. Peters & Andrea M. Romi & Juan Manuel Sanchez, 2019. "The Influence of Corporate Sustainability Officers on Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(4), pages 1065-1087, November.
    9. Dirk Boehe & Luciano Barin Cruz, 2010. "Corporate Social Responsibility, Product Differentiation Strategy and Export Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(2), pages 325-346, February.
    10. Ourvashi Bissoon, 2018. "Corporate social responsibility in Mauritius: an analysis of annual reports of multinational hotel groups," Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-19, December.
    11. Freddy Huet & Simon Porcher, 2013. "Innovation and regulatory outcomes: evidence from the public-private contracts for water supply in France," Chapters, in: Mehmet Ugur (ed.), Governance, Regulation and Innovation, chapter 9, pages 216-236, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Zullina H. Shaari & Amzairi Amar & M. Radzi Zainol & Azamudin Badri Harun, 2015. "Linking Leadership Studies to Corporate Brand Management: A Review," International Journal of Business Administration, International Journal of Business Administration, Sciedu Press, vol. 6(1), pages 26-37, January.
    13. Francesco Gangi & Antonio Meles & Eugenio D'Angelo & Lucia Michela Daniele, 2019. "Sustainable development and corporate governance in the financial system: Are environmentally friendly banks less risky?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(3), pages 529-547, May.
    14. Laura Baselga-Pascual & Antonio Trujillo-Ponce & Emilia Vähämaa & Sami Vähämaa, 2018. "Ethical Reputation of Financial Institutions: Do Board Characteristics Matter?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 489-510, March.
    15. Barcos, Lucía & Barroso, Alicia & Surroca, Jordi & Tribó, Josep A., 2013. "Corporate social responsibility and inventory policy," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(2), pages 580-588.
    16. Gutierrez, I. & Alcaraz, J.M. & Susaeta, L. & Suarez, E. & Pin , José Ramón, 2015. "Managing Sustainability for Competitive Advantage: Evidence From the Hospitality Industry," IESE Research Papers D/1115, IESE Business School.
    17. Simone Pizzi, 2018. "The Relationship between Non-financial Reporting, Environmental Strategies and Financial Performance. Empirical Evidence from Milano Stock Exchange," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-9, November.
    18. Bert Scholtens & Feng‐Ching Kang, 2013. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Earnings Management: Evidence from Asian Economies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(2), pages 95-112, March.
    19. Amornsak Kitthananan, 2009. "Creating Business and Social Value: the Asian Way to Integrate CSR into Business Strategies," Studies in Trade and Investment 68, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
    20. Miethlich, Boris & Oldenburg, Anett G., 2019. "Social Inclusion Drives Business Sales: A Literature Review on the Case of the Employment of Persons With Disabilities," EconStor Conference Papers 200752, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:59:y:2016:i:3:p:331-337. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/bushor .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.