Sustainable Management Practices and Stakeholder Pressure: A Systematic Literature Review

Fazli Haleem,Brian Vejrum Waehrens,Yang Cheng,Sami Farooq

doi:10.3390/su14041967

Abstract

This paper aims to summarize and analyze what is known regarding the ways in which stakeholder pressure may influence sustainable practices. Furthermore, this study extends this understanding to the development of several research opportunities for further investigation. A systematic extensive literature review was performed to investigate the relationship between stakeholder pressure and sustainable management practices. This literature review shows that organizational factors are more widely covered than the individual and macro-level factors as moderating variables, and suggests more organizational-, individual-, and macro-level factors, as well as the interaction of these factors as moderating variables on the link between stakeholder pressure and sustainable management practices. Furthermore, the use of the stakeholder theory is dominant, followed by the use of the institutional theory. The manufacturing sector is widely covered, survey methodology is extensively used, and the environmental dimensions are more addressed than the social dimensions of sustainability. The relationship between stakeholder pressure and the adoption of sustainable management practices is not obvious, due to the varied results. Therefore, it is difficult to establish a direct relationship between stakeholder pressure and the adoption of sustainable management practices. This study furthers insight into the stakeholder pressure influence on sustainable management practices by reviewing the comprehensive literature and suggesting future research opportunities.

Highlights

The globalization of business operations comes with many negative effects, including rising social inequalities, soaring disparities in income, and global environmental and social problems [1]
Most studies (62%) reviewed for this study have addressed the direct effects of stakeholder pressures on the adoption of sustainable management practices
We suggest the following research opportunity: ROP4: Further studies need to explore the influence of stakeholder pressure on sustainability practices in the service sector and conduct comparative studies between the service and manufacturing sectors

Summary

Introduction

The globalization of business operations comes with many negative effects, including rising social inequalities, soaring disparities in income, and global environmental and social problems [1]. Global concerns about environmental and social challenges resulted in forceful voices from different stakeholders, affecting the institutional environments in which companies operate, as well as increasing the pressure on companies to address the environmental and social impacts of their own operations, and their wider supply chain’s operations [2]. Despite the increasing stakeholder pressure, companies often do not conform to the stakeholder expectations [3] and the implementation of sustainable practices often trails behind the communication [4]. The broader social concerns of corporate social responsibility and environmental responsibility have currently become dominant themes in both theory and practice [5]. Despite the corporations’ efforts to implement social and environmental concerns, a gap exists between the communication and the sustainability implementation in practice [4].

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