The sustainability route to corporate legitimacy

ABSTRACT

The world’s resources, especially nonrenewable ones, are depleting exponentially due to accelerated consumption. Environmental degradation, obesity, pollution, human rights violations, and poverty are often caused or exacerbated by companies themselves. Pushback from communities worldwide due to threats to ecosystems, environments, economies, and indeed the planet, has made it essential for individuals and groups to fundamentally change the way they function. Sustainability has become a necessary transformation for creating shared value, and companies are discovering that it is indeed possible to “do well by doing good”. However, not all companies have the ability and/or inclination to engage in sustainability initiatives, and the ones that do are all across the spectrum in terms of the efficacy and appropriateness of their programs. Indeed, many stakeholders question the depth and genuineness of the efforts which then raises doubts about the value of increasing investments in sustainability programs if companies’ efforts fail to be perceived as legitimate. This paper takes a stakeholder approach toward sustainability and introduces the concept of legitimacy as a measure of the degree to which companies are, in fact, dedicated to sustainability.

世界的资源，特别是不可再生资源，由于加速消费，正在指数级地消耗。环境恶化、肥胖、污染、侵犯人权和贫困经常因公司本身产生或加剧。由于对生态系统、环境、经济、还有地球本身的威胁，世界各地群体不断抗议，个体和群体必须根本性地改变他们的运作方式。必须向可持续性方向转变，才能创造分享价值，并且公司也发现确实可以“行善得福”。然而，不是所有公司都具备能力和/或意愿去参与可持续性项目，而那些具备能力和意愿的，它们项目的效率参差不齐，也不都适合可持续性项目。的确，需要利益相关者方质疑这些努力的深度和真实性，进而提出疑惑，如果公司确立合法性认知的努力失败了，这些在可持续性项目上的增加投资是否还有价值。这篇论文从利益相关方的角度去看待可持续性，并引入合法性这一概念，来衡量公司对可持续性的实际投入程度。

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainability
• legitimacy
• stakeholder orientation
• institutional theory
• stakeholder theory

关键词:

• 可持续性
• 合法性
• 利益相关方导向
• 制度理论
• 利益相关者理论

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.