Journal ArticleDOI
How Tight Are the Ties that Bind Stakeholder Groups
TLDR
It is suggested that the role primacy approach to stakeholder definition is less than ideal, and the extent to which roles are likely to determine priorities, and thus the likelihood of relatively homogeneous priorities within role-based stakeholder groups is examined.Abstract:
The purpose of stakeholder management is to facilitate our understanding of increasingly unpredictable external environments, thereby facilitating our ability to manage within these environments. We argue that a powerful implicit assumption within the stakeholder literature--that priorities within role-based stakeholder groups are relatively homogeneous--blurs our understanding of organization-stakeholder relationships. Two important and related areas of concern are presented. The first involves the primacy of role in stakeholder definition. This role primacy approach to stakeholder definition is appropriate if, for a particular issue, role-based stakeholder group members have similar priorities. Individual and collective self-interest provides a rationale for this assumption. However, an important problem with this approach arises in situations in which self-interest is not the primary motivator of individuals' priorities. In these instances, subgroups within different role-based stakeholder groups might have more similar priorities than either subgroup has with others within their role-based stakeholder group. In these situations the role primacy approach impedes, rather than facilitates, an understanding of our environment. Our second concern is related to insufficient rigor in the application of stakeholder analysis. Most stakeholder studies, both theoretical and empirical, fall short in the determination of relevant interests and the subsequent subdivision of role-based stakeholder groups into rigorously defined specific stakeholder groups. Having suggested that the role primacy approach to stakeholder definition is less than ideal, we examine the extent to which, and the conditions under which, roles are likely to determine priorities, and thus, the likelihood of relatively homogeneous priorities within role-based stakeholder groups. In addition, we present an illustrative empirical analysis of stakeholder group priorities. The illustrative study is conducted within the context of intercollegiate athletics. Related literature and our empirical results indicate that role-based self-interest frequently is not a sufficient "binding tie" of stakeholder groups. Given this background, we present an alternative approach to stakeholder analysis that borrows heavily from the customer segmentation literature of marketing. Our alternative approach can accommodate heterogeneous priorities within role-based stakeholder groups.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Misery Loves Companies: Rethinking Social Initiatives by Business:
TL;DR: The authors argue that companies are increasingly asked to provide innovative solutions to deep-seated problems of human misery, even as economic theory instructs managers to focus on maximizing their shareholders' wealt.
Journal ArticleDOI
Stakeholder Theory: Reviewing a Theory That Moves Us
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed the academic stakeholder theory literature as it developed between 1984 and 2007 and found five themes: (a) stakeholder definition and salience, (b) stake holder actions and responses, (c) firm actions and response, (d) firm performance, and (e) theory debates.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Stakeholder Model Refined
Yves Fassin,Yves Fassin +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the managerial and organizational aspects of the stakeholder model and propose an upgraded and refined version of the original model, with incremental ameliorations close to Freeman's original model and a return of focus to its essence, the managerial implications in a strategic approach.
Journal ArticleDOI
Dialogue: toward superior stakeholder theory
Bradley R. Agle,Thomas Donaldson,R. Edward Freeman,Michael C. Jensen,Ronald K. Mitchell,Donna J. Wood +5 more
TL;DR: A review of research and theory that has developed since the major stakeholder theorizing efforts ofthe 1990s can be found in this paper, where the authors individually of- fer their perspectives on the key issues relevant today to stakeholder thinking, and suggest possible approaches that might lead toward and enable the continuing development of superior stakeholder theory.
Book
Business and Society
TL;DR: Corporate ethics have become a hot topic in the last few decades as mentioned in this paper, and the number of companies adopting a code of ethics has reached 80 per cent of the 500 largest corporations in the US.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Hierarchical Grouping to Optimize an Objective Function
TL;DR: In this paper, a procedure for forming hierarchical groups of mutually exclusive subsets, each of which has members that are maximally similar with respect to specified characteristics, is suggested for use in large-scale (n > 100) studies when a precise optimal solution for a specified number of groups is not practical.
Book
Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach
TL;DR: The Stakeholder Approach: 1. Managing in turbulent times 2. The stakeholder concept and strategic management 3. Strategic Management Processes: 4. Setting strategic direction 5. Formulating strategies for stakeholders 6. Implementing and monitoring stakeholder strategies 7. Conflict at the board level 8. The functional disciplines of management 9. The role of the executive as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
Toward a Theory of Stakeholder Identification and Salience: Defining the Principle of who and What Really Counts
TL;DR: In this paper, a theory of stakeholder identification and saliency based on stakeholders possessing one or more of three relationship attributes (power, legitimacy, and urgency) is proposed, and a typology of stakeholders, propositions concerning their saliency to managers of the firm, and research and management implications.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Stakeholder Theory of the Corporation: Concepts, Evidence, and Implications
Thomas Donaldson,Lee E. Preston +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine three aspects of the stakeholder theory and critique and integrate important contributions to the literature related to each, concluding that the three aspects are mutually supportive and that the normative base of the theory-which includes the modern theory of property rights-is fundamental.
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