Corporate values, stakeholder orientation and social performance

The paper has explored the relationships of corporate values and stakeholder orientation as well as social performance from institutional perspective. Based on the legitimacy management model, we hypothesis and testify the efficient scope of the effect of corporate values on stakeholder orientation as well as social performance from legitimacy management process, and certified the mechanism from the substitute process of stakeholder orientation mediate the reversed U-shape relationship between corporate Values impact on social performance. With collected data from 309 Chinese firms, the empirical research found that it not just exist a reversed U-shape relationship between corporate values and stakeholder orientation, it along with the significantly reversed U-shape relationships between corporate values and social performance. Stakeholder orientation plays a mediator role on the reversed U-shape way of the effect of corporate values on social performance. The research has enriched the knowledge of stakeholder management and social performance theory from corporate values on cognitive legitimacy of internal institutional perspective.