Corporate reputation and social sustainability in the early stages of start-ups: A theoretical model to match stakeholders' expectations through corporate social commitment

Where the literature has neglected the investigation of the reputational-lack as a specific cause of start-ups' vulnerability, this theoretical paper addresses this gap setting three objectives: (1) highlighting the role of Corporate Reputation in the mitigation of the young-companies' vulnerability, (2) grasping the crucial influence of the firm's engagement in stakeholders' management (approximated by the Corporate Social Commitment CSC -) on the Corporate Reputation, (3) offering a mathematically-grounded model to match stakeholders' expectations through CSC and, thus, enhancing the company's reputation. Following a stakeholders' perspective, the paper suggests that the CSC constitutes an anticipation of a start-up's future social sustainability.