Literature Review on Global Trends and Thematic Insights in the Stakeholder Theory, CSR and Sustainability

This paper aims to explore the connection between Stakeholder Theory (ST), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by reviewing 278 articles from Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) database published between 1960s to the present. From the 111 studies initially identified, 17 studies were included in the study of results, following the process of screening and exclusion. The study shows that the CSR practices differ from region to region based on cultural and structural contexts of organizations; the most frequent terms include ‘stakeholder,’ ‘corporate social responsibility,’ and ‘sustainability.’ The keyword analysis highlighted important keywords like economics, social impacts, supply chain management, and decision-making, which indicates that CSR implies ethical and business actions. The most productive countries were identified in WoS and Scopus databases as USA, China, Spain, UK, Germany, and the most productive journals and authors were also revealed. The analysis of co-occurrences and clustering also reveals that CSR involves stakeholder engagement, corporate reputation, and employee well-being. This research discovers that sustainable development goals can be realized by deploying complex and comprehensive CSR initiatives that engage all the stakeholders, create company-wide sustainability, and enhance the corporate image, which provides a coherent framework that can be adopted by firms to align with global development frameworks for sustainable organizational performance.