Consumers' and leaders' perspectives: Corporate social responsibility as a source of a firm's competitive advantage.

摘要

Government alone may not have the resources necessary to find sustainable solutions to the many dilemmas the world is currently facing, such as untreatable diseases and environmental degradation. The involvement of corporations is essential to resolve these societal problems. The purpose of this quantitative research study was to discover the degree to which corporate ability (CA) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) represent effective sources of competitive advantage from the perspectives of consumers and corporate leaders. A convenience sampling strategy was used to survey an American adult consumer population of approximately 1,000 people located in the United States, its three territories, Europe, and Asia. A population of American corporate leaders was also surveyed. The data supported the hypotheses that corporate ability and corporate social responsibility individually represent effective sources of a company's competitive advantage. An analysis of the data established the influence that corporate ability and corporate social responsibility jointly (CA*CSR) on a company's competitive advantage was significantly greater than corporate ability and corporate social responsibility individually. The most interesting finding was that both groups, consumers and corporate leaders, viewed corporate social responsibility as an important source of competitive advantage. The results of this study revealed that good corporate social responsibility is not only good for society but also provides companies with a competitive advantage in their marketplace. The results of this study provide corporate leaders with a basis and justification to use corporate social responsibility as a business strategy to help their companies achieve sustainable economic success.