Talk the Walk: Measuring the Impact of Strategic Philanthropy [Book Review]
Journal of Business Ethics 100 (3):445 - 464 (2011)
Abstract
Drawing a framework from institutional and legitimacy theory, supplemented by concepts from the accounting literature, this study uses longitudinal crosssectional and cross-national data on over 500 firms listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) to empirically test whether these firms are strategic in their philanthropy as indicated by their measurement of the impact of their philanthropic activities along three dimensions -society, business, and reputation and stakeholder satisfaction. It is predicted that the variables' company size, amount of philanthropic expenditure, region and industry influence the extent to which the various impact dimensions of philanthropy are measured. Though unexpected considering the lack of common practice in impact measurement, it is found that between 62 and 76% of the DJSI firms measure some sort of impact of their philanthropic activities, mostly impact on society and impact on reputation and stakeholder satisfaction. The number of firms that measure impact increases over the years and so does the number of firms that measure multiple dimensions of impact. Consist with our predictions, we find that larger firms and firms with relatively higher philanthropic expenditures are more likely to measure impact. Moreover, firms in the financial sector and firms from Europe and North America are also more likely to measure impact of their philanthropic activitiesDOI
10.1007/s10551-010-0690-z
My notes
Similar books and articles
Talk the Walk: Impact Measurement of Corporate Philanthropy.Karen Maas - 2008 - Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society 19:201-216.
Social impact as a measure of fit between firm activities and stakeholder expectations.Lisa Papania, Daniel M. Shapiro & John Peloza - 2008 - International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics 4 (1):3.
Motives for corporate philanthropy in el Salvador: Altruism and political legitimacy. [REVIEW]Carol M. Sánchez - 2000 - Journal of Business Ethics 27 (4):363 - 375.
Why Do Companies Make Philanthropic Donations?Stephen Brammer & Lance Moir - 2005 - Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society 16:75-80.
The Impact of Forest Certification on Firm Financial Performance in Canada and the U.S.Kais Bouslah, Bouchra M’Zali, Marie-France Turcotte & Maher Kooli - 2010 - Journal of Business Ethics 96 (4):551 - 572.
Signaling Sustainability Leadership: Empirical Evidence of the Value of DJSI Membership. [REVIEW]Michael Robinson, Anne Kleffner & Stephanie Bertels - 2011 - Journal of Business Ethics 101 (3):493-505.
Corporate philanthropic disaster response and ownership type: Evidence from chinese firms' response to the sichuan earthquake. [REVIEW]Ran Zhang, Zabihollah Rezaee & Jigao Zhu - 2010 - Journal of Business Ethics 91 (1):51 - 63.
Strategic Culture and Environmental Dimensions as Determinants of Anomie in Publicly-Traded and Privately-Held Firms.Jean L. Johnson, Kelly D. Martin & Amit Saini - 2011 - Business Ethics Quarterly 21 (3):473-502.
The ethical management practices of australian firms.Jonathan Batten, Samanthala Hettihewa & Robert Mellor - 1997 - Journal of Business Ethics 16 (12-13):1261-1271.
Driven to Be Good: A Stakeholder Theory Perspective on the Drivers of Corporate Social Performance. [REVIEW]Jacob Brower & Vijay Mahajan - 2013 - Journal of Business Ethics 117 (2):313-331.
Analytics
Added to PP
2013-09-29
Downloads
57 (#209,671)
6 months
2 (#300,644)
2013-09-29
Downloads
57 (#209,671)
6 months
2 (#300,644)
Historical graph of downloads
Citations of this work
Research on Corporate Philanthropy: A Review and Assessment.Arthur Gautier & Anne-Claire Pache - 2015 - Journal of Business Ethics 126 (3):343-369.
Religion, the Nature of Ultimate Owner, and Corporate Philanthropic Giving: Evidence from China.Xingqiang Du, Wei Jian, Yingjie Du, Wentao Feng & Quan Zeng - 2014 - Journal of Business Ethics 123 (2):1-22.
Enhancing the Impact of Cross-Sector Partnerships: Four Impact Loops for Channeling Partnership Studies.Rob van Tulder, M. May Seitanidi, Andrew Crane & Stephen Brammer - 2016 - Journal of Business Ethics 135 (1):1-17.
Battling the Devolution in the Research on Corporate Philanthropy.Kellie Liket & Ana Simaens - 2015 - Journal of Business Ethics 126 (2):1-24.
Corporate Philanthropy Through the Lens of Ethical Subjectivity.Claudia Eger, Graham Miller & Caroline Scarles - 2019 - Journal of Business Ethics 156 (1):141-153.
References found in this work
Value maximization, stakeholder theory, and the corporate objective function.Michael C. Jensen - 2002 - Business Ethics Quarterly 12 (2):235-256.
The maturing of socially responsible investment: A review of the developing link with corporate social responsibility. [REVIEW]Russell Sparkes & Christopher J. Cowton - 2004 - Journal of Business Ethics 52 (1):45-57.
Philanthropy as strategy when corporate charity “begins at home”.David H. Saiia, Archie B. Carroll & Ann K. Buchholtz - 2003 - Business and Society 42 (2):169-201.
Philanthropy as strategy.A. Buchholtz, A. Carroll & D. Saiia - 2003 - Business and Society 42 (2):169-201.
Comparing big givers and small givers: Financial correlates of corporate philanthropy. [REVIEW]Bruce Seifert, Sara A. Morris & Barbara R. Bartkus - 2003 - Journal of Business Ethics 45 (3):195 - 211.