A Structured Abstract: Combining Co-creation and CSR (An Investigation into Innovative Service Business Models)

Abstract

Today’s competitive marketplace increasingly pressures organizations to provide benefits beyond those desired by end consumers, to enhance some facet of the surrounding community (Lacey et al. 2015). In response, many companies express broadening their value delivery aim from the shareholder to a more inclusive arena including multiple stakeholders and social causes. This focus shift is reflected in a variety of corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts in practice—from discrete charitable donations to the development of entirely new service innovations—with the overarching goal of “doing well by doing good” (Rangan et al. 2015). Corporate social responsibility, broadly, refers to organizational activities that benefit society (Brown and Dacin 1997; McWilliams and Siegel 2001) to enhance brand image in the eyes of consumers while stimulating market performance (Bruch and Walter 2005; Luo and Bhattacharya 2009). Specifically, one emerging trend in CSR practices involves incorporating a minority community in need directly into their service offering. In fact, businesses are creating opportunities for minority groups to be frontline employees that provide services to the majority population. These organizations operate with the dual goals of bridging the gap between majority-minority populations while providing tools for subsistence—not targeted aid—for the need community, achieving both through profitable service operations.