Conscientious Business-to-business Organizations: Status Quo and Future Research Agenda

Nowadays, manifold business-to-business (B2B) organizations are embracing corporate social responsibility (CSR) to contribute to society. However, and largely due to several bad past practices, stakeholders are increasingly skeptical of CSR initiatives, often perceiving them as insincere and manipulative. This skepticism has been further accentuated during the COVID-19 pandemic, and stakeholders have started to demand organizations for a broader and more holistic approach to contributing to society. In this editorial, we present ‘conscience’ as such broader and more holistic approach, and describe how the papers included in our special issue examine organizational conscience in the B2B context from different angles, including identity, leadership, relationships, communication, activism, social impact, corporate purpose, and co-creation. Finally, we propose several future research opportunities that can further advance knowledge in relation to conscientious organizations.