Socially Responsible Organizational Buying: Environmental Concern as a Noneconomic Buying Criterion

Abstract

The greening of corporate America has added a new and different type of criterion to some organizational buying decisions—social responsibility. Scholars have given little attention to such noneconomic buying criteria. On the basis of a study of 35 buying processes in ten organizations and an in-depth examination of 21 of those processes, the author addresses how and why socially responsible buying comes about in organizations. The findings suggest that two factors have been key to the success of socially responsible buying initiatives. One factor is the presence of a skillful policy entrepreneur. Policy entrepreneurs are found to have many of the same characteristics as business entrepreneurs, but invest their resources in instituting new organizational policies. Their zeal for socially responsible buying is rooted in a commitment based on a complex and often difficult process of moral reasoning. The second factor influencing the success of socially responsible buying is the organizational context within which policy entrepreneurs operate. The author differentiates organizational contexts on the basis of whether the socially responsible buying is part of a deliberate corporate strategy and further classifies them through a framework and identifies themes observed across the contexts. Guidance is offered for vendors marketing socially responsible products and services.