Sustaining Thai SMEs through perceived benefits and happiness

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between stakeholders’ perceived benefits and happiness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that follow Thai’s corporate sustainability practices, called sufficiency economy, and their impact on stakeholder–company relationship quality and firm performance outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Derived from the literature, a structural model, expressing the relationship between stakeholders’ perceived benefits and happiness of SMEs and their impact on stakeholder–company relationship quality and firm performance outcomes, was developed. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 636 stakeholders from sufficiency economy SMEs in Thailand. Structural equation modeling was used to test the model. Findings Results indicate that utilitarian benefits, and hedonic and eudaimonic happiness impact enhanced stakeholder–company relationship quality with the firm to varying degrees. Different levels of relationship quality also impact perceived corporate reputation and perceived brand equity differently. Originality/value This study is among the first that identifies the positive impact of happiness on corporate sustainability performance.

Sustainable Social Enterprise Model: Relationships and Consequences

“…It is not surprising that a socially responsible hospital such as Theptarin can enhance its Brand Equity as numerous literature suggests that corporate social responsibility or responsibility toward a wide range of stakeholders leads to enhanced brand and reputation [37,148]. As discussed elsewhere earlier, social responsibility is a core value at Theptarin.…”

“…The literature review clearly indicates that corporate sustainability practices lead to enhanced brand equity [29,147], a relationship to be hypothesized in the present study. To elaborate the relationship, firms having sustainability embedded in their corporate vision and realizing such a vision are sustainable [148] because they ensure that their operations deliver both functional benefits and psychological benefits or "happiness" to a broad range of stakeholders. In turn, stakeholder-perceived benefits and happiness lead to different levels of stakeholder-company relationship quality, resulting in enhanced corporate reputation and brand equity [148].…”

“…To elaborate the relationship, firms having sustainability embedded in their corporate vision and realizing such a vision are sustainable [148] because they ensure that their operations deliver both functional benefits and psychological benefits or "happiness" to a broad range of stakeholders. In turn, stakeholder-perceived benefits and happiness lead to different levels of stakeholder-company relationship quality, resulting in enhanced corporate reputation and brand equity [148]. Although brand equity is typically evaluated by stakeholders of a company, it has become increasingly critical as a consequence of adopting corporate sustainability practices [29,149].…”

“…An extensive literature review on corporate sustainability and its related areas was conducted to inform the development of our questionnaire, covering areas such as corporate sustainability, sustainable business, leadership, hospital management, brand management, and social enterprise. Measured items were either adopted or adapted from the established literature [30,33,34,123,148,160]. Multi-item measures of a construct were adopted to improve the total reliability and reduce measurement errors [161].…”

Achieving Corporate Sustainability: Toward a Practical Theory

“…As explained by the Stakeholder theory [35], corporations that take into account a broad range of stakeholders by focusing their efforts and resources on delivering relevant values to them strengthen their business and societal relationships to ensure sustainable profitability and survival, indicating the necessity of developing strong and trusted relationships. A good reputation among stakeholders outside the corporation helps to enhance brand equity [112], leading to improving long-term, sustainable success.…”