Taking Stock of the Stakeholder Salience Tradition: Renewing the Research Agenda

Abstract

Mitchell et al.’s (1997) stakeholder salience theory is one of the most prominent contributions to the management literature. Although the stakeholder salience theory is a powerful tool to identify and prioritize stakeholders and is one of the most frequently cited works, efforts to take stock of research in the stakeholder salience tradition have remained limited. In this paper, therefore, the authors conducted a systematic review of articles on stakeholder theory and stakeholder salience and identified 121 relevant research articles. The review shows that following Mitchell et al.’s (1997) original model, the concept of stakeholder salience has evolved remarkably and is being applied in various fields. The authors consolidated and synthesized the existing contributions into three mutually discernible themes: assessment of the salience framework, the refinement and development of the model and the integration of contextual factors. This study provides an organized map to scholars in the stakeholder salie...