The Strength of Two Hands: Conflicting Stakeholder Pressures and Corporate Philanthropic Giving. (May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Liang; Zhang, Zhe; Jia, Ming; Ren, Yeyao
• Is Part Of: Management and organization review. Volume 16:Number 2(2020)
• Page Start: 335
• Page End: 375
• Publication Date: 2020-05
• Subjects: boundary condition of decoupling, -- conflicting stakeholder pressures, -- corporate philanthropic giving, -- stakeholder management, -- stakeholder salience; 脱钩的边界条件, -- 相互冲突的利益相关者压力, -- 企业慈善捐赠, -- 利益相关者管理, -- 利益相关者显著性; граничное условие ослабления зависимости, -- противоположные требования заинтересованных сторон, -- корпоративная благотворительность, -- управление отношениями с заинтересованными сторонами, -- значимость заинтересованных сторон; condiciones límites de desacoplamiento, -- presiones de grupos de interés conflictivos, -- donaciones filantrópicas corporativas, -- gestión de grupos de interés, -- importancia de los grupos de interés; Management -- China -- Periodicals; Industrial management -- China -- Periodicals; International business enterprises -- Management -- Periodicals; Management -- Periodicals; Organizational sociology -- Periodicals; 658.00951
• DOI: 10.1017/mor.2019.59
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1740-8776

Abstract

ABSTRACT: We develop a stakeholder framework that examines how firms respond to the conflicting demands that arise from governments and investors in the context of corporate philanthropic giving. We argue that firms that experience such conflict exhibit a decoupling response in philanthropic giving. Furthermore, we identify the boundary conditions of the relationship between the conflicting pressures and the decoupling response. Drawing on stakeholder salience literature, we argue that this relationship will be weakened when CEOs perceive government demands as more salient (such as those with a communist ideology) and when CEOs are less sensitive to investor claims (such as those with fewer career concerns). We find empirical support for our arguments using a sample of 8, 857 Chinese listed firms from 2006 to 2015. Our study contributes to the literature on stakeholder theory, decoupling, and corporate philanthropy.