Governance of corporate social responsibility: a platform ecosystem perspective
ISSN: 0025-1747
Article publication date: 2 July 2024
Issue publication date: 12 December 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The sustainable development of the platform economy has been hindered by the absence and alienation of platform corporate social responsibility. Previous studies have mainly focused on the contents and governance models for platform corporate social responsibility. This study seeks to explore which strategy participants choose in the governance of platform corporate social responsibility and their influencing factors.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a platform ecosystem approach, a quadrilateral evolutionary game model was developed, and the stabilities of subjects’ behavioral strategies and their combinations in various scenarios were analyzed. Additionally, the effects of key parameters on the system’s evolutionary path were simulated.
Findings
The ideal steady state system is achieved when platform enterprises, complementors and consumers adopt positive strategies while the government adopts lax regulation. Moreover, the evolutionary strategies of the subjects are influenced by several factors, including the participation costs of governance, the rewards and punishments imposed by platform enterprises, as well as the reputational losses of platform enterprises and complementors due to media coverage.
Practical implications
This study offers insights into improving the governance effectiveness of platform corporate social responsibility for managers and practitioners.
Originality/value
This study contributes to existing literature by considering the rational orientation of platform ecosystem members and revealing the interaction mechanisms among members. Furthermore, this study combines collective action theory and reputation theory to clarify the influencing factors on members’ behaviors.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Planning Fund Program for the Humanities and Social Sciences Research of the Ministry of Education of China [Grant number 23YJA630067]; the Graduate Innovation Foundation (Humanities) of Xidian University [Grant number YJSJ23008]; the Program for the Innovative Talents of Higher Education Institutions of Shanxi [Grant number 20191043]; and the Program for the Philosophy and Social Sciences Key Research Base of Higher Education Institutions of Shanxi [Grant number W20210011].
Citation
Lin, W., Wang, Y., Samara, G. and Lu, J. (2024), "Governance of corporate social responsibility: a platform ecosystem perspective", Management Decision, Vol. 62 No. 12, pp. 3782-3816. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-10-2023-1843
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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