**2. Corporate social opportunity vs. corporate social responsibility**

Where does economic value come from? That's not a rhetorical question; but it is a question that we – as both academics and business leaders – frequently take for granted. Yet, through the social and economic tumult of 2020, many business leaders

#### *From Corporate Social Opportunity to Corporate Social Responsibility DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105445*

were forced to try to answer that question. The Covid-19 pandemic and related shutdowns put many companies out of business and left many others scrambling for a strategy to survive through the crisis. At the same time, business leaders were working to design strategies to address the Black Lives Matter and other social justice movements around the world, while also dealing with the short-term and long-term effects of a worsening global Climate Crisis. The historic economic shocks of 2020 shed a bright light on where economic value comes from: economic value is created by people working to create a better life, greater wellbeing and greater opportunity for themselves and their loved ones. More simply, economic value is created by people.

Economic and social shocks can present business leaders with short-term opportunities to connect with people and to create economic value. Companies that are agile and able to adapt to these new opportunities will benefit the most. For entrepreneurs, agility and adaptability – or organizational improvisation – can be extremely valuable in being able to quickly turn a short-term shock into the start-up's long-term strategy [8]. The same mentality applies to companies of all sizes. And when the shocks are so intense, such as the pandemic-related shocks of 2020, business leaders feel like they have to capitalize on every fleeting opportunity. But what if these opportunities do not align with their missions, strategies and resources? What if the businesses cannot strategically improvise? Should the companies still pursue them because they seem good opportunities?

A recent study by the U.S. Federal Reserve studied business closures during the Covid-19 pandemic [9]. In an average year 7.5% of all businesses close. During the first year of the pandemic, business closures were approximately one-quarter to one-third higher than normal. This increase was dominated by "Other Services" (barber shops and yoga studios) and "Leisure & Hospitality." However, there were some industries that experienced lower than typical closure rates during the pandemic, including grocery stores, take-out restaurants, electronics stores and arts, entertainment and leisure. Why? What did companies in these industries do differently? Perhaps it was as simple as being essential and providing both needs and wants in safe and efficient ways. But maybe it's not that simple.

We present an approach that business leaders can use to think beyond these short-term opportunities and stay committed to their long-term missions and strategies – which is especially useful in times of turbulence and uncertainty. Since the beginning of 2020, business leaders have seen many chances to take advantage of these windows of opportunity and (perhaps) realize some short-term profits; we know that the time perspective regarding windows of opportunity is particularly critical for entrepreneurs and small businesses [10]. But what happens when those windows close? What happens if the company does not have the resources to effectively leverage those opportunities?

Corporate social responsibility is generally thought of as creating value in ways that satisfy legal obligations and society's prevailing conventions [11]; we use the term "corporate social opportunity" to refer to these windows where business leaders think they can follow a social movement to create economic value. Corporate social opportunity is distinct from corporate social responsibility because it has a short-term focus and may be disconnected from the strategic intent of any corporate actions. Corporate social opportunities are frequently symbolic and empty gestures, aimed at following moments of economic and social chaos, but are not part of longer-term strategy or movement.

During the summer of 2020, as the Black Lives Matter and anti-racism movements were growing around the world, many businesses announced new initiatives and positions focused on diversity, equity and inclusion. But what has been done since then? The concern, obviously, is not with business leaders wanting to address systemic racism, both within their companies and within society. The concern is with the authenticity of these initiatives [12]. Business leaders know there is a lot to do in this area; but are they genuinely intent on building the infrastructure and developing the strategies necessary to address racism over the long-term [13]? Are they willing the make the necessary financial investments; or are they looking capitalize on short-term emotions? A similar analogy can be made about corporate initiatives to buy carbon offsets, rather than to actually reduce carbon emissions, in order to (appear to) address the Climate Crisis. In environmental circles, we have referred to such actions as greenwashing for decades; our term "corporate social opportunity" includes greenwashing, but also includes empty gestures about fighting racism, investing in essential employees, caring about employees and their mental health and any other fleeting words that do not have the necessary financial and strategic investments behind them.

In scholarly research, we frequently separate financial and strategic investments, even though we innately appreciate how interconnected they are. We explicitly connect financial, strategic, corporate social responsibility, leadership and entrepreneurship perspectives in order to provide more relevant policy and practical lessons. We use the foundations of stakeholder theory to consider the decisions that individuals are constantly making regarding short-term costs and long-term benefits as they work to create better lives. But then we expand on that to show how an inclusive stakeholder theory perspective can help business leaders understand their role in decision-making and what they need to do to ensure their business can survive in the short-term and thrive in the long-term. Where does economic value come from? Economic value comes from people working to improve their lives; for businesses, economic value comes from offering products, services and relationships that help their stakeholders improve their lives.
