Succesful Companies- Immunization to Global Economic Crisis: Understanding Strategic Role of NGOs

One of the most important secrets of succesful companies is the fact that cooperation with NGOs will create a good reputation for them so that they can be immunized to economic crisis. The performance of the most admired companies in the world based on the ratings of Forbes and Fortune show us that most of these firms also have close relationships with their NGOs. Today, if companies do something wrong this information spreads very quickly to do the society. If people do not like the activities of a company, it can find itself in public relations nightmare that can threaten its repuation. Since the cost of communication has dropped dramatically due to the vast use of internet, the increase in communication among stakeholders via internet makes companies more visible. These multiple and interdependent interactions among the network of stakeholders is called as the network relationships. NGOs play the role of catalyst among the stakeholders of a firm to enhance the awareness. Succesful firms are aware of this fact that NGOs have a central role in today-s business world. Firms are also aware of the fact that they can enhance their corporate reputation via cooperation with the NGOs. This fact will be illustrated in this paper by examining some of the actions of the most succesful companies in terms of their cooperations with the NGOs.





References:
[1] R. E. Freeman and W. M. Evan, "Corporate governance: A stakeholder
interpretation," Journal of Behavioral Economics, vol. 19, pp. 337-360,
1990.
[2] E. O-Higgins, "What matters most The importance of all stakeholders,"
Strategic Investor Relations, vol. 1, pp. 81-87, 2001.
[3] J. M. Logsdon and P. G. Lewellyn, "Expanding accountability to
stakeholders: Trends and predictions," Business and Society Review,
vol. 105, pp. 419-435, 2000.
[4] D. Wheeler and M. Sillanpää, "Including the stakeholders: The business
case," Long Range Planning, vol. 3, pp. 201-210, 1998.
[5] F. Bird, "Good governance: A philosophical discussion of the
responsibilities and practices of organizational governors," Canadian
Journal of Administrative Sciences, vol. 18, pp. 298-312, 2001.
[6] C. Caldwell and R. Karri, "Organizational governance and ethical
systems: A covenantal approach to building trust," Journal of Business
Ethics, vol. 58, pp. 249-259, 2005.
[7] J. Frooman, "Stakeholder influence strategies," Academy of
Management Review, vol. 24, pp. 191-205, 1999.
[8] J. Hendry, "Economic contracts versus social relationships as a
foundation for normative stakeholder theory," Business Ethics: A
European Review, vol. 10, pp. 223-232, 2001.
[9] R. K. Mitchell, B. R. Agle, and D. J. Wood, "Toward a theory of
stakeholder identification and salience: Defining the principle who or
what really counts," Academy of Management Review, vol. 22, pp. 853-
886, 1997.
[10] T. J. Rowley, "Moving beyond dyadic ties: A network theory of
stakeholder influence," Academy o Management Review, vol. 22, pp.
887-910, 1997.
[11] J. E. Post, L. E. Preston, and S. Sachs, Redefining the corporation:
Stakeholder management and organizational wealth. California: Stanford
University Press, 2002.
[12] E Scholes and D. Clutterbuck, "Communication with stakeholders: An
integrated approach," Long Range Planning, vol. 31, pp. 227-238, 1998.
[13] K. MacMillan and S. Downing, "Governance and Performance:
Goodwill Hunting" Journal of General Management, vol. 24, pp. 11-21,
1999.
[14] H. A. Simon, "Organizations and markets," Journal of Economic
Perspectives, vol. 5, pp. 25-44, 1991.
[15] R. A. Buchholz, "Toward a contemporary conceptual framework for
stakeholder theory," Journal of Business Ethics, vol. pp. 58 137-148,
2005.
[16] E. E. Arthur, "The ethics of corporate governance," Journal of Business
Ethics, vol. 6, pp. 59-70, 1987.
[17] T. M. Jones, "Instrumental stakeholder theory: A synthesis of ethics and
economics," Academy of Management Review, vol. 20, pp. 404-437,
1995.
[18] C. W. L. Hill, "Cooperation, opportunism, and the invisible hand:
Implications for the transaction cost theory," Academy of Management
Review, vol. 15, pp. 500-513, 1990.
[19] L. T. Hosmer, "Trust: The connecting link between organization theory
and philosophical ethics,” Academy of Management Review, vol. 20,
pp. 379-403, 1995.
[20] J. Plender, "Giving people a stake in the future,” Long Range Planning,
vol. 31, pp. 211-217, 1998.
[21] T. Donaldson and L. E. Preston, "The stakeholder theory of the
corporation: Concepts, evidence, and implications,” Academy of
Management Review, vol. 20, pp. 65-91, 1995.
[22] E. T. Penrose, The theory of the growth of the firm. New York:
John Wiley & Sons, 1959.
[23] G. Vinten, "Shareholder v.s. stakeholder- Is there a governance
dilemma?,” Corporate Governance, vol. 9, pp. 36-47, 2001.
[24] T. Clarke, "The stakeholder corporation: A buiness philosophy for the
information age,” Long Range Planning, vol. 31, pp. 182-194, 1998.