Title: Crowdsourcing corporate sustainability strategies

Authors: Peter Jones; Daphne Comfort; David Hillier

Addresses: The Business School, University of Gloucestershire, The Park, Cheltenham GL50 2RH, UK ' The Business School, University of Gloucestershire, The Park, Cheltenham GL50 2RH, UK ' Centre for Police Sciences, University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd, Wales CF 37 1DL, UK

Abstract: This paper provides cameo case studies of the way in which two large companies namely, J. Sainsbury and Unilever, have employed crowdsourcing to review and develop their corporate sustainability strategies and it offers some wider reflections on this process. The paper begins with an outline of the characteristics of crowdsourcing and this is followed by a discussion of the concept of sustainability. The empirical material for the paper is drawn from the reports the two companies posted on the internet about the crowdsourcing exercises they conducted during 2012. The findings reveal that the exercises conducted by the two companies attracted wide range of constructive comments and produced range of recommendations designed to enhance their existing corporate sustainability strategies. While crowdsourcing offers a number of attractions to companies looking to review and develop sustainability strategies it is not without its problems.

Keywords: crowdsourcing; sustainable development; corporate sustainability strategies; J. Sainsbury; Unilever.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2013.052993

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2013 Vol.10 No.3, pp.345 - 356

Published online: 21 Nov 2013 *

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