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This study aims to test Mattingly and Berman’s (2006) taxonomy of social actions and develops divergent expectations for corporate social responsibility (CSR) dimensions directed toward institutional and technical stakeholders, with an aim to determine when CSR directed to different stakeholders is most likely to improve corporate reputation.

A longitudinal sample of 285 major US corporations was used to quantitatively test the hypotheses. Data was sourced from KLD, Osiris and Fortune MAC.

Strengths in CSR and actions directed toward technical stakeholders influence corporate reputation in a more profound way, when compared to those directed toward institutional stakeholders. Contrary to the authors’ prediction, institutional concerns do not demonstrate a significant growth or reduction over the five-year period.

This study provides a longitudinal test of Mattingly and Berman’s (2006) taxonomy of CSR actions and makes an important methodological contribution by operationalizing CSR not as a continuum from strengths to concerns, rather as two distinct constructs.

Management practice can benefit from a more fine-grained approach to stakeholder expectations and reputation outcomes. The results of this study leverage relevant stakeholder impact while allowing firms to appreciate the change in CSR actions and to measure it accordingly, such that the undesirable status quo that leads to potential loss in reputation growth can be avoided.

As organizations explore ways to effectively engage stakeholders for mutual benefit, this research shows how firms can have a positive impact.

This study tests and extends theory through an integrated lens, built on the stakeholder and resource dependence theories, while directing management attention to the broader reputational outcomes of targeted CSR initiatives. It provides justification for CSR investments over time.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how an understanding of the alignment of goals of customers, employees and investors can aid in the partner selection process. The paper explains the opportunities and challenges offered by a keen examination of a restrained stakeholder view of the firm. It also explains the relational challenges of partner selection together with the interactive effects of these variables.

The design uses secondary data focused on customers, employees and investors’ goals and their alignment with sustainable development goals (SDGs). Consumer behaviour data on issues related to SDGs, research on employee’s work motivation and the goals of investors, both institutional and individual, are investigated.

To develop effective public–private partnerships (PPPs), the goals and behaviours of both parties must be recognised, considered and addressed. The goals and priorities of these entities are not always well aligned with SDG goals. In selecting partners, non-government organisations will benefit from recognising the differing goals of stakeholders and common ground for actions.

The model examines only three stakeholder groups: consumers, investors and employees.

A selection process based on a solid understanding of key stakeholders can offer the necessary information to target partners that are more likely to succeed in implementing strategies geared towards the SDGs.

While PPPs have the potential to be successful, to achieve significant gains in advancing the SDG agenda, there must be “buy-in” from relevant stakeholders associated with the partnerships.

The paper addresses some issues seldom addressed in SDG PPP writing.

Sustainability is one of the most complex composite constructs to have emerged in the last decades. Having a clear understanding of its meanings is critical as actions based on these understandings impact all walks of life. The purpose of this paper is to track the conceptualizations and measurements of sustainable development in the areas of government, business, education, and the trades.

Through a multi-method design, the authors explore what stakeholders in these groups value in sustainability by observing where they develop initiatives, invest funds, and report progress.

What emerges is a picture of diverse views and multiple identities, driven by distinct logics and motives.

Based on these findings, the authors propose that, instead of reconciling these diverse perspectives, the authors might focus on constructing shared understandings around critical values.

The meaning of sustainability continues to be debated by scholars and professionals alike. But how do individuals, who are expected to contribute to implementing sustainability actions, perceive this important concept? The purpose of this paper is to explore how individuals relate to the multidimensionality of sustainability.

The paper uses a qualitative design to learn how individuals understand and prioritise the various dimensions of sustainability. Respondents were asked to react in essay form to a narrative that weaves social, environmental, economic and legal issues and offer a recommended course of action.

The findings are mixed, showing that sustainability is yet to mature as a concept in the minds of the general public. Encouragingly, the paper finds evidence that most respondents are aware of the primary dimensions of sustainability.

The research is limited by the convenience sample used, which may offer a skewed distribution.

While defining sustainability conceptually continues to preoccupy scholars and policy makers, educating the general public on these advancements should also be prioritised, given the high reliance on individuals to implement the many sustainability initiatives and innovations in existence.

The study uses an innovative methodology to learn how individuals perceive a very complex topic.

There are many different conceptualizations to sustainable development and these different approaches may have led to confusion amongst the public. The purpose of this paper is to explore the identities of the term and how the confused identity may be leading to problems for sustainable development efforts.

The design is exploratory, using both secondary and primary data to understand the different sustainable development concepts.

There is no consistent understanding or use of the term “sustainable development” among various groups.

Future research should include a larger sample that is more representative of people from different backgrounds and geographical areas.

The public is generally willing to support only projects that it understands. Without a clear understanding of sustainable development, the public will be less inclined to support these efforts.

This study examines the perceptions and understandings of the term by the general public representing different generations.

In this study, we explored the behaviour of two Canadian multinational companies operating in the context of Arab Spring events in Egypt in 2011.

We conducted a fine-grained analysis of 171 documents of various secondary sources to understand the behaviour of the two firms in Egypt between 25 January 2011 and 30 June 2012.

We suggest that corporate diplomacy should be viewed as portfolios of interdependent actions rather than reactions to discrete events. We also underline the importance for organisations to have a proactive, holistic and inclusive corporate diplomacy strategy, with the objective to secure and balance both explicit political/legal licence and implicit social licence.

We intentionally focused our empirical analysis on two Canadian firms operating in the same host country and belonging to the same industry. It would be useful to carry similar research in different organisational and institutional contexts.

This paper seeks to develop a theoretical explanation of conflicts and incompatible interpretations of events between agents of multinational corporations (MNCs) and actors present in certain host countries. It aims to situate the argument in comparative economic systems as a part of a broader social system. The socio‐economic system can be modeled using institutional theory, particularly using Scott's three pillars and the concept of formal and informal institutions. Within different socio‐economic systems a dominant logic is developed, and this becomes internalized among actors and agents as behavioral scripts.

The paper uses a multi‐level and multi‐disciplinary conceptual analysis, developing a model of dominant logic and behavioral scripts with MNC agents and traditional emerging economy actors.

MNC agents and traditional emerging economy actors have difficulty comprehending the logic of the other, creating a fertile context for conflict.

An ideal type template is developed that can be used for empirical investigations focusing on situations where disagreement and conflict occur when MNCs operate in traditional emerging economies.

By integrating the authors' conceptualization into training for expatriate managers, the potential for conflict can be reduced.

This multi‐level and multi‐disciplinary model allows grounded development of understanding of conflicts or potential conflicts in the MNC agent‐traditional emerging economy actor context.

Multinational corporations (MNCs) are experiencing a number of major challenges in the international business arena. Can business diplomacy help them to deal with these challenges effectively? In this introductory chapter we conceptualize and identify the relationship between MNCs’ international business diplomatic activities and firm performance.

We conducted a literature review and interviews with five large MNCs that are operating in distinctive industries. Business diplomatic activities have been classified into three particular areas to support the analysis, namely: (1) MNC–Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) relations, (2) MNC–Host Government relations, and (3) MNC–Local Community relations.

The main findings suggest that international business diplomacy has a direct positive effect on firm performance with regard to so-called soft or nonfinancial indicators. These indicators include knowledge sharing, reputation, company image, and marketing possibilities. The effect can in turn lead to a better financial performance and market stance in the long run.

The results of this study are important for the future awareness and execution of business diplomacy in large MNCs.