Relationships Between Stakeholder Orientation, Corporate Social Responsibility and Performance of Tourism Small and Medium Enterprises

Tourism industry in Malaysia is still in its recovery period after COVID19. The performance of small and medium businesses in tourism sector is considered low. Thus, this paper focused on investigating the relationships among stakeholder orientation, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and performance of tourism small and medium enterprises (TSMEs). The theory of stakeholder orientation was employed to develop the research framework. This study used quantitative research methods. A total of 180 TSMEs were randomly selected and surveyed through questionnaire. Partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data. The results indicated that elements of stakeholder orientation, namely employee orientation had significant relationships with performance of TSMEs, while customer orientation, competitor orientation and supplier orientation significantly influenced CSR. In addition, CSR significantly mediated the relationships between customer orientation and performance of TSMEs, and supplier orientation and performance of TSMEs. As a conclusion, elements in stakeholder orientation and CSR should not be neglected in determining performance of TSMEs. This study added new insights to the current literature by investigating performance of TSMEs through stakeholder orientation and CSR. Practically, it provided useful ideas to TSMEs in developing appropriate strategic initiatives and implementing key activities to outperform their competitors.