Strategic orientation of the firm towards its stakeholders and inclination towards sustainability – the conceptual framework

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address issues related to better identification of strategic orientation of the firm and the impact of strategic orientation on sustainable development of the firm. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents an overview of the existing literature on strategic orientation of the firm, reexamines the major findings and fills the discovered gaps in theoretical constructs and models by new models. Findings In this paper, a new model of strategic orientation is proposed based on the type of relationship of aa firm with its stakeholders who are considered as suppliers of key strategic resources. Relationship between the firm and its particular stakeholder is presented on an input-output like scheme and the variants of the position of the firm towards all its stakeholders serve as foundation for determining strategic orientation types. Next, the authors present orientation of firms of different strategic types towards sustainability. Research limitations/implications The paper outlines several novels problems for strategic management and organizational design theory. Originality/value The paper provides a novel treatment of strategic orientation and particular strategic types.