Sustainability project partnerships in times of crisis: conceptual framework and implications for stakeholder integration

G. Grunwald, J. Schwill, Anne-Marie Sassenberg
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Specific crisis-related determinants of stakeholder integration are derived from current corporate social responsibility (CSR) and crisis research taking into account the opportunities and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design options and crisis-related determinants are then combined to a conceptual framework for stakeholder integration in sustainability project partnerships in times of crisis. Based on this framework, research propositions are derived that provide insights into the design of the potential, process and result quality of stakeholder integration.FindingsThis paper shows that the COVID-19 pandemic can be viewed as a sustainability crisis, which places special entrepreneurial demands on stakeholder integration in sustainability project partnerships. The pandemic offers potential for integrating a large number of stakeholders and has emphasized the need for integrating a broad range of stakeholders. Higher skepticism of stakeholders toward companies' CSR engagement in the pandemic has raised stakeholder demands for early integration. Higher skepticism and CSR involvement have rendered active forms of integration even more relevant, which, however, should still be adapted to the respective stakeholder prerequisites. The pandemic has increased the need for constant and comprehensive exchange of data on project results between stakeholders and the project leading organization. Measurement of target achievement can be promoted by establishing stakeholder commitment with regard to the target measures on the collective and relationship levels of the partnership. Finally, the pandemic has reinforced the need for more dialogical forms of communicating sustainability project results.Originality/valueSolving problems and exploiting opportunities in times of crisis require a high degree of entrepreneurship and creative leadership in order to gain new ideas and overcome resource deficits. Sustainability project partnerships in which various stakeholders contribute resources and knowledge to collaborate on idea development and finding solutions to sustainability issues are suitable for this. However, previous approaches to stakeholder integration in open innovation and service management research largely neglect the crisis context and only a few are related to sustainability. In CSR and crisis research, stakeholder-related approaches to coping with crises tend to be underrepresented, and the comprehensive concept of stakeholder integration has so far hardly been considered as an approach to crisis management. By taking into account the COVID-19 pandemic as a sustainability crisis, this paper provides new impulses for the integration of stakeholders in sustainability project partnerships in times of crisis. Recommendations for the design of the potential, process and result quality are derived, which provide insights for project leaders and stakeholders alike. In addition, implications for public policymakers are derived, who are assigned an increasingly active role in the pandemic and who can contribute to the success of sustainability project partnerships by setting suitable framework conditions. The developed concept can be expanded to include further company-related determinants and offers a starting point for empirical analysis in the still underexplored research fields of sustainability-oriented relationship marketing and sustainability crises.","PeriodicalId":44503,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2021-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1108/JEPP-04-2021-0044","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to analyze the requirements for stakeholder integration in sustainability project partnerships in times of sustainability crisis. Referring to the COVID-19 pandemic as a sustainability crisis that has sensitized consumers and other stakeholders to corporate responsibility for social and sustainability issues, a conceptual framework for stakeholder integration is developed from which implications for designing the potential, process and result quality are derived.Design/methodology/approachIn this conceptual paper, design options for stakeholder integration are derived from open innovation and service management research. Specific crisis-related determinants of stakeholder integration are derived from current corporate social responsibility (CSR) and crisis research taking into account the opportunities and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design options and crisis-related determinants are then combined to a conceptual framework for stakeholder integration in sustainability project partnerships in times of crisis. Based on this framework, research propositions are derived that provide insights into the design of the potential, process and result quality of stakeholder integration.FindingsThis paper shows that the COVID-19 pandemic can be viewed as a sustainability crisis, which places special entrepreneurial demands on stakeholder integration in sustainability project partnerships. The pandemic offers potential for integrating a large number of stakeholders and has emphasized the need for integrating a broad range of stakeholders. Higher skepticism of stakeholders toward companies' CSR engagement in the pandemic has raised stakeholder demands for early integration. Higher skepticism and CSR involvement have rendered active forms of integration even more relevant, which, however, should still be adapted to the respective stakeholder prerequisites. The pandemic has increased the need for constant and comprehensive exchange of data on project results between stakeholders and the project leading organization. Measurement of target achievement can be promoted by establishing stakeholder commitment with regard to the target measures on the collective and relationship levels of the partnership. Finally, the pandemic has reinforced the need for more dialogical forms of communicating sustainability project results.Originality/valueSolving problems and exploiting opportunities in times of crisis require a high degree of entrepreneurship and creative leadership in order to gain new ideas and overcome resource deficits. Sustainability project partnerships in which various stakeholders contribute resources and knowledge to collaborate on idea development and finding solutions to sustainability issues are suitable for this. However, previous approaches to stakeholder integration in open innovation and service management research largely neglect the crisis context and only a few are related to sustainability. In CSR and crisis research, stakeholder-related approaches to coping with crises tend to be underrepresented, and the comprehensive concept of stakeholder integration has so far hardly been considered as an approach to crisis management. By taking into account the COVID-19 pandemic as a sustainability crisis, this paper provides new impulses for the integration of stakeholders in sustainability project partnerships in times of crisis. Recommendations for the design of the potential, process and result quality are derived, which provide insights for project leaders and stakeholders alike. In addition, implications for public policymakers are derived, who are assigned an increasingly active role in the pandemic and who can contribute to the success of sustainability project partnerships by setting suitable framework conditions. The developed concept can be expanded to include further company-related determinants and offers a starting point for empirical analysis in the still underexplored research fields of sustainability-oriented relationship marketing and sustainability crises.
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危机时期的可持续发展项目伙伴关系:利益相关者整合的概念框架和影响
目的分析可持续危机时期可持续发展项目伙伴关系中利益相关者整合的需求。将2019冠状病毒病大流行视为一场可持续性危机,使消费者和其他利益相关者对企业在社会和可持续性问题上的责任更加敏感,为此制定了一个利益相关者整合的概念框架,从中得出了对设计潜力、过程和结果质量的影响。在这篇概念性论文中,利益相关者整合的设计选项来源于开放式创新和服务管理研究。利益相关者整合的具体危机相关决定因素来自当前的企业社会责任(CSR)和危机研究,同时考虑到COVID-19大流行的机遇和挑战。然后将设计选项和危机相关的决定因素结合到一个概念性框架中,以便在危机时期将利益相关者整合到可持续发展项目伙伴关系中。基于这一框架,本文提出了研究命题,为利益相关者整合的潜力、过程和结果质量的设计提供了见解。研究结果表明,2019冠状病毒病大流行可被视为一场可持续性危机,它对可持续发展项目伙伴关系中的利益相关者整合提出了特殊的创业要求。大流行病为众多利益攸关方的融合提供了可能,并强调需要融合广泛的利益攸关方。利益相关者对企业在大流行期间的企业社会责任参与持更高的怀疑态度,这提高了利益相关者对早期整合的要求。更高的怀疑和企业社会责任的参与使得积极形式的整合更加相关,然而,这仍然应该适应各自利益相关者的先决条件。大流行病增加了利益攸关方与项目领导组织之间不断和全面交流项目成果数据的必要性。通过在伙伴关系的集体和关系层面上建立利益相关者对目标度量的承诺,可以促进目标实现的度量。最后,大流行病加强了以更多对话形式交流可持续性项目成果的必要性。独创性/价值在危机时期解决问题和利用机会需要高度的企业家精神和创造性领导才能获得新的想法并克服资源短缺。在可持续发展项目伙伴关系中,不同的利益相关者贡献资源和知识,在想法发展和寻找可持续发展问题的解决方案方面进行合作,这是适合的。然而,以往在开放式创新和服务管理研究中对利益相关者整合的研究大多忽略了危机背景,只有少数与可持续性相关。在企业社会责任和危机研究中,与利益相关者相关的危机应对方法往往代表性不足,迄今为止,利益相关者整合的综合概念几乎没有被认为是一种危机管理方法。本文将2019冠状病毒病大流行视为一场可持续性危机,为危机时期利益攸关方融入可持续性项目伙伴关系提供了新的动力。对潜力、过程和结果质量的设计提出了建议,这些建议为项目领导者和涉众提供了见解。此外,还会对公共决策者产生影响,他们被赋予在这一大流行病中发挥日益积极的作用,他们可以通过设定适当的框架条件,为可持续性项目伙伴关系的成功作出贡献。发展的概念可以扩展到包括更多与公司相关的决定因素,并为以可持续为导向的关系营销和可持续危机的研究领域的实证分析提供了一个起点。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
3.70
自引率
15.80%
发文量
22
期刊介绍: Institutions – especially public policies – are a significant determinant of economic outcomes; entrepreneurship and enterprise development are often the channel by which public policies affect economic outcomes, and by which outcomes feed back to the policy process. The Journal of Entrepreneurship & Public Policy (JEPP) was created to encourage and disseminate quality research about these vital relationships. The ultimate aim is to improve the quality of the political discourse about entrepreneurship and development policies. JEPP publishes two issues per year and welcomes: Empirically oriented academic papers and accepts a wide variety of empirical evidence. Generally, the journal considers any analysis based on real-world circumstances and conditions that can change behaviour, legislation, or outcomes, Conceptual or theoretical papers that indicate a direction for future research, or otherwise advance the field of study, A limited number of carefully and accurately executed replication studies, Book reviews. In general, JEPP seeks high-quality articles that say something interesting about the relationships among public policy and entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship and economic development, or all three areas. Scope/Coverage: Entrepreneurship, Public policy, Public policies and behaviour of economic agents, Interjurisdictional differentials and their effects, Law and entrepreneurship, New firms; startups, Microeconomic analyses of economic development, Development planning and policy, Innovation and invention: processes and incentives, Regional economic activity: growth, development, and changes, Regional development policy.
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