Corporate Social Strategy: Stakeholder Engagement and Competitive Advantage

by Bryan W. Husted, David Bruce Allen

Overview

Can good-will be good business? Firms are increasingly called upon to address matters such as poverty and human rights violations. The demand for corporate social responsibility (CSR) is directed mainly at top management in multinational corporations who are reminded that, in addition to helping to make the world a better place, their commitment to social action will be rewarded by lasting customer loyalty and profits. But is it true that firms that engage in social action will be rewarded with a good name, competitive advantage, superior profits and corporate sustainability? What if it is true for some firms and not for others? This book addresses these and other questions by explaining the how and why of creating value and competitive advantage through corporate social action. It shows how and when firms can develop successful corporate social strategies that establish strong commitments to shareholders, employees and other stakeholders.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521149631
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/11/2010
Pages:	362
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Bryan W. Husted holds the Erivan K. Haub Chair in Business and Sustainability at the Schulich School of Business, York University, Canada, and is Professor of Management at the EGADE Business School of the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico. For many years, he held the Alumni Association Chair in Business Ethics and Corporate Sustainability at the Instituto de Empresa in Spain. He is currently a national researcher (level II) of the National Research System (SNI) of Mexico.

David Bruce Allen is Professor of Strategy and Co-Director of the Center for Nonmarket Strategy at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain, where he served as Vice Dean for Research and Chair of the Strategy Department. Professor Allen has held top management positions in the movie, publishing, and consulting industries. He is a former Fulbright Lecturer in Spain and Resident Filmmaker at the Sundance Institute and has published fiction and criticism. He has taught at the City University of New York, Boston University, and the University of New Orleans.

Table of Contents

List of figures; List of tables; List of appendices; Acknowledgments; 1. Introduction: corporate social strategy; Part I. Fundamentals: 2. The ethics of social strategy; 3. Theory of the firm and corporate social strategy; 4. Overview of the model: how do we build corporate social strategy?; 5. Elements of successful corporate social strategy; Part II. The Process of Developing Corporate Social Strategy: 6. Competitive environment; 7. From stakeholder management to social strategy; 8. Resources and capabilities; 9. Corporate identity; Part III. Implementing Social Strategy: 10. Organizing for social strategy; 11. Corporate social strategy management and the multinational company; 12. Measurement and evaluation; 13. Conclusions: the future of social strategy; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

The key point in this important new book is that a corporation’s ‘social’ strategy must be integrated with its business strategy. Husted and Allen break new ground in showing us how this integration needs to proceed. This is a terrific book for managers and theorists.”
– R. Edward Freeman , Olsson Professor of Business Administration and Co-Director of the Olsson Center for Applied Ethics at the Darden School, University of Virginia

“All companies, now more than ever, are looking for the key to being more competitive and how best to create value. Can stakeholder engagement be useful and, if so, how? This book gives brilliant answers that will help you to reinvent your business strategy from a winner’s perspective.”
– Alberto Andreu Pinillos, Managing Director on Corporate Reputation and Corporate Responsibility, Telefónica, S.A.

“[This book] substantially documents the state of the art and builds on the strengths and weaknesses of traditional views of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the more systemic view of strategic behavior brought by the resource-based view (RBV) to elaborate a framework for the effective integration of social demands into the business strategy…Instead of addressing the usual questions on CSR and sustainability, this book begins by formulating new ones, taking the inquiry one step further while keeping in mind that scenarios for the future of corporate social strategy and strategy itself are uncertain.”
– Mar Pérezts, ESCP Europe, European Management Journal

From the Publisher