Corporate responsibility for sustainable development: a review and conceptual comparison of market- and stakeholder-oriented strategies

This paper reviews and compares two mainstream business theories, namely market and stakeholder orientations, as contending strategies of corporate responsibility for sustainable development. We argue that even though stakeholder orientation offers a broader inclusion of values and expectations than market orientation, they share considerable similarities in terms of sustainability assumptions and how the role of the corporation becomes perceived in the quest for sustainable development. Both strategies leave responsibility outside the firm by emphasising the role of either customers or stakeholders as the basis of strategizing. Both strategies are also based on assumptions consistent with weak sustainability (at best), which is argued to be insufficient in order to achieve sustainability over time and space. Therefore, this article suggests that a new orientation is needed if corporations are to contribute to sustainable development, namely sustainable development orientation. We call for further research in outlining a business strategy that admits corporations' responsibility for sustainable development and departs from the strong sustainability assumption.