Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Business Administration

Advisor

Meridith Wentz

Abstract

Some small business leaders lack strategies to incorporate corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives into their organizations to manage financial risk. Small business leaders who do not successfully use CSR to balance stakeholder interests may face additional or avoidable financial hardships. Grounded in stakeholder theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore successful strategies small business leaders use to incorporate CSR initiatives into their organizations to manage financial risk. The participants were four business leaders from a small business in the mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the United States. Data were gathered from organizational documents, archival records, and semistructured interviews. The framework method of thematic coding was used to analyze the data. Key themes were meaningful communication, using voice-of-the-customer data, and consensus decision-making. A key recommendation from this study is for small business leaders to use voice-of-the-customer data to create new revenue streams and improve product and service quality. Implications for positive business and social change include the potential for other small business leaders to use CSR strategies to manage financial risk. Because stakeholders use CSR initiatives to hold business leaders accountable for their influence on society, this study demonstrated how CSR helped create social infrastructure. Viewing risk from a stakeholder perspective might help other small business leaders balance stakeholder interests leading to collaborative, loyal relationships with their stakeholders. Therefore, small business leaders could manage financial risk by incorporating CSR initiatives based on stakeholder interests into their organization.

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