Strategic orientation and corporate citizenship: Are there differences in strategy types?

Abstract

Corporate citizenship is a strategic imperative, one that can significantly affect firm competitiveness. However, there is little research to demonstrate what actually shapes or drives firms towards a more proactive posture with respect to corporate citizenship. This paper makes a case that strategic orientation is one such driver, in that a firm?s strategic behavior in adapting to the environment is linked to corporate citizenship. However, levels of corporate citizenship are argued to differ depending on the type of strategy pursued. By examining a sample of 280 firms in Australia, the findings suggest that differences do exist across Defenders, Prospectors, Analyzers and Reactors with respect to corporate citizenship. Further analysis reveals differences across the strategy types on two dimensions of corporate citizenship; namely economic and legal citizenship. The results provide empirical insights that have not been previously reported.