A core issue in stakeholder theory is how firms can engender joint interests among competing stakeholders. We draw on theories of normative influence and reciprocity to identify how firms positively influence the relations between their internal and external stakeholders. We propose that firms can send credible corporate signals, such as philanthropy and sustainability reporting, to exert social influence on employees, but that employees’ own treatment by their firm and career prospects are also important in shaping their behavior toward the external community. We investigate these arguments in the context of Chinese firms’ donation behavior following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Empirical analysis shows that the credibility of corporate signals differs. Sustainability reporting that adheres to global standards has a direct bearing on employees’ behavior. In contrast, corporate giving by itself has no general influence on the willingness of employees to donate. However, firms that have either positive employee relations or have employees with superior career prospects and make donations to earthquake relief stimulate their employees to make their own donations too. In so doing, firms gain from the efforts of internal stakeholders to serve external stakeholders. We discuss the implications of our study for stakeholder theory and, in particular, the jointness of stakeholder interests.

Sustainability is fast becoming fashionable in strategic management, and yet its meaning is often elusive. Some people restrict sustainability to environmental issues, and others use it synonymously with corporate social responsibility. In this essay, we return to the roots of its original meaning and argue that sustainability requires the consideration of time. Sustainability obliges firms to make intertemporal trade-offs to safeguard intergenerational equity. In this essay, we clarify the meaning of sustainability by showing that the notion of ‘time’ discriminates sustainability from responsibility and other similar concepts. We then argue that the omission of time from most strategic management has contributed to short-termism, which is the bane sustainability. We conclude with directions for future research that will integrate sustainability into strategy and contribute to a world in which both business and society can thrive for generations to come.