Suchergebnisse

I / Foundations of Utility and Probability -- The Foundations of the Theory of Utility and Risk. Some Central Points of the Discussions at the Oslo Conference -- II / One Utility Function or Two? -- Utility and Risk Preference Functions -- Neo-Cardinalism -- Prediction, Measurement, and Error of Utility: A Reply to Allais -- III / Prescriptive Versus Descriptive Decision Models -- Remarks to Professor Allais' Contributions to the Theory of Expected Utility and Related Subjects -- Decision-Aid and Expected Utility Theory: A Critical Survey -- IV / Aspects of Process Utility -- The Importance of What Might Have Been -- Relativity in Decision Theory -- The Utility of Gambling and of Outcomes: Inconsistent First Approximations -- Name Index.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate perceptions of the relative importance of different stakeholders (owners, employees, customers, non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) and governmental authorities) as agents motivating managers to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR). The aim is to determine which stakeholders are viewed as key motivators and which the respondents think ought to be key stakeholders.Design/methodology/approachThis is an empirical study. Three stakeholder groups – corporate leaders, MSc business students and NGOs – were consulted through a paper survey (n = 264).FindingsThe findings reveal that the three stakeholder groups roughly agree that owners are the main motivators for managers to pursue CSR, followed by customers, governments, employees and NGOs, in that order. The paper then turned from perceptions of how things are to opinions about how things ought to be, asking who should be the main motivator. In this case, customers moved up to first place, followed by employees, owners, government and NGOs. Age, but not gender, was a significant variable. The older the respondents, the smaller the discrepancy between perceptions of what is and opinions about what ought to be.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was conducted in Norway and generalization is therefore limited. By replicating the study in other countries cultural differences can be investigated.Practical implicationsThe findings are applicable for evaluating different avenues for understanding and influencing managerial and stakeholder CSR behaviour.Originality/valueSeveral studies have concluded that stakeholders are of key importance in the CSR setting. However, few studies so far have compared the perceived relative "power" held by stakeholders. This type of knowledge can provide a key to understanding the development of CSR.