What’s in It for Me? The Creation and Destruction of Value for Firms from Stakeholders

Abstract

‘What’s in it for me?’ is a ubiquitous question posed by managers at all levels of decision making. While firms aim to create value for all entities they are associated with, it is important for them to continuously ensure that their value expectations are being met. Also, firms are constantly looking to safeguard their value from being hurt. This study aims to better understand the management of value for firms as seen through the stakeholder perspective. Specifically, this study defines value for firms from a stakeholder’s perspective, identifies the key stakeholder groups as customers, employees, investors, channel partners, community and government, and categorizes them into essential and ancillary stakeholders. Furthermore, the study traces the creation and destruction of value for the firm from the essential and ancillary stakeholders. The insights presented in this study will benefit managers across a wide range of business settings.