Date of Award
Fall 4-18-2024
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration
Department
Michael A. Leven School of Management, Entrepreneurship and Hospitality
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Dr. Susan L Young
Second Advisor
Dr. Canan Mutlu
Third Advisor
Dr. Steven Phelan
Abstract
The global effects of climate change challenge firms to develop corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices that meet multiple stakeholders’ expectations. While complying with legislation and regulatory policies, firms must also manage the economic threat from the pressures from stakeholders. Researchers have explored the effect primary stakeholders have on the firm; however, collectively, secondary stakeholders can strengthen their influence with other stakeholders to impact firm decisions. However, this impact has been explored only limitedly. To this point, this study examines secondary stakeholder advocates who use governance to influence firms’ decisions to address their climate efficiency by capturing the behavior of firms (N=120) who self-report their climate efficiency through their CSR activities. By applying the new stakeholder theory, the study tested the proposed influence between the primary and secondary stakeholders on the firm using the ordinary least squares (OLS) fixed effect model. The results of this study found that there is no significant influence on the effect of the firm from the influence of stakeholders who are said to influence firm decisions related to their climate efficiency. However, this study emphasizes the importance of secondary stakeholder advocates as a strong influence on primary stakeholders when collectively joining to create value within the firm.
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons, Strategic Management Policy Commons