Good Deeds Done in Silence: Stakeholder Management and Quiet Giving by Chinese Firms

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Wang, Heli; Jia, Ming; Zhang, Zhe
• 署名单位: Singapore Management University; Northwestern Polytechnical University; Xi'an Jiaotong University
• 刊物名称: ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1047-7039
• DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2020.1385
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 649-674
• 关键词: CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY; legitimacy; quiet giving; stakeholder perception; stakeholder management

摘要

We propose a new mechanism explaining why companies may remain silent about their positive corporate behaviors, such as socially responsible activities. We examine such strategic silence in the context of corporate philanthropy. Building on and extending the literature on legitimacy and stakeholder management, we argue that when a firm mistreats primary stakeholders, it is more likely to keep quiet about its philanthropic acts to avoid backlash from stakeholders. We also propose that long-term orientation among stakeholders mitigates the positive relationship between mistreating primary stakeholders and quiet giving, which allows stakeholders to appreciate the long-term value of corporate philanthropy. Data from listed Chinese firms show that firms are more likely to give quietly when they underpay their employees and/or investors. Moreover, research and development expenditures and institutional shareholding, as indicators of stakeholder long-term orientation, attenuate this relationship.