A taxonomy of corporate emergency responsibility to ensure social sustainability post-shock

F.J. Forcadell, E. Aracil

In the book International business in times of crisis: Tribute volume to Geoffrey

Emerald Group Publishing Ltd., Bingley, United Kingdom

Summary

Extreme events undermine progress toward social sustainability and require an immediate response from the private sector. The authors propose a twodimensional framework (response time and the scope of activities to the various stakeholders) to benchmark firms’ effectiveness in mitigating the threats to social sustainability post-disaster. This framework allows establishing a taxonomy of corporate emergency responses. Within such a framework, the authors group 218 corporate actions from 111 companies operating in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic into four corporate relief strategies: symbolic, selective, reactive, and supportive. The authors show how companies can use this framework as a guide to foster social sustainability in times of shock in an efficient way. Also, stakeholders can use this framework as a reference to distinguish corporate initiatives aiming to propel community resilience from corporate “covidwashing.”

Spanish layman's summary:

Proponemos un marco propósito-acción para examinar las intervenciones corporativas en la primera ola por COVID en España. El marco evalúa su diferente impacto en la sostenibilidad social y las capacidades dinámica sostenibles que sustentan las intervenciones más efectivas socialmente. 

English layman's summary:

We propose a purpose-action framework to examine post-shock corporate interventions in Spain in the first wave of the COVID pandemic. The framework assesses their heterogeneous social sustainability impact and dynamic sustainability capabilities underpinning effective post-shock interventions.  

Keywords: Social sustainability; emergency relief; COVID-19; stakeholder orientation; partnerships; corporate responsibility

Editors: van Tulder, R.; et al.,

ISBN: 978-1-80262-164-8

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1745-886220220000016025

DOI of the book: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1745-8862202216

Published: 2022

Citation:
F.J. Forcadell, E. Aracil, A taxonomy of corporate emergency responsibility to ensure social sustainability post-shock, in International business in times of crisis: Tribute volume to Geoffrey. Editors van Tulder, R.; et al., . Ed. Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.. Bingley, United Kingdom, 2022.

IIT-22-325L