Expectations Of External Stakeholders Research Articles

EXPRESS: From Seller to Broker: When and How Issue Sellers Engage with External Stakeholders to Sell Issues Inside Organizations

Issue sellers employ a variety of tactics to create internal support for issues they seek to advance within an organization. While the relationship between internal issue “sellers” and “buyers” has been examined in prior work, we address a crucial omission in this body of literature, namely how issue sellers engage with external stakeholders to influence internal issue selling. We study corporate social responsibility (CSR) managers, their organizational counterparts who are expected to implement CSR, and external stakeholders (in our study non-governmental organizations). We find that issue sellers have three issue-selling tactics at their disposal that they employ dynamically and depending on internal buyers’ perception of the issue: First, mobilizing external stakeholders when internal support for the issue is low; second, buffering external expectations when they are incongruent with internal requirements; and third, moderating between external stakeholders and internal buyers when issues are difficult to implement. Our contribution is to explain why issue sellers’ role vis-à-vis internal buyers and external stakeholders can be better understood as that of “issue brokers” when they navigate strategically between external stakeholder expectations and organizational goals. This advances the issue-selling literature, research on brokerage roles and contributes to individual-level research on CSR.

Continuous Improvement System on Outcome Planning and Assessment: Case Study of UFE

Purpose of Research: The move to outcome-based education necessitates a process of continuous improvement for academic programs including outcome-based planning, implementation, and assessment. UFE has been demonstrating a commitment to academic excellence through emphasizing outcome-based education since 2009. To do so, the university initiated and developed undergraduate program policy and regulations that indicate learning outcomes at each level including the course and programs. In other words, it shows how course learning outcomes support the programs and we constantly try to measure and evaluate them accordingly. Our learning outcomes model is based on a three-level hierarchically structured definition of learning outcomes that consistently apply to both the entire undergraduate program as well as to each individual course and faculty use this model to design, monitor, and revise both the entire curriculum as well as each individual course on an ongoing basis. As part of this development, the program learning outcomes are being integrated into the information system to link each course's learning outcomes. The new system will make it possible to perform a detailed data analysis to directly assess the program learning outcomes. The overall process guides the university in planning, improving, implementing, and monitoring based on stakeholder satisfaction and performance analysis. This research focuses on quantitative and qualitative analysis of program learning outcomes based on student performance and stakeholder assessment to determine educational achievement, and which can be used in the decision-making about developing or updating programs. 1. During the planning process, we developed a curriculum matrix mapping program learning outcomes onto each of the individual courses and its tasks that would be automated by our information system. So, based on this data, to ensure that all outcomes are covered in at least one course, and preferably more than one. 2. Reviewing the assessment results of determined learning outcomes and its performance. Additionally, Student self assessment is used for this investigation. 3. As well as stakeholders’ assessments are designed and used as significant indicators of educational achievement. So, the gap analysis was employed to examine differences between student performance and the stakeholders’ assessments. 4. To review external stakeholders’ assessment which learning outcomes are preferred or not and their expectations are met. Methods of Research: The research employs a mix of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods to comprehensively assess program education objectives (PEO) and program learning objectives (PLO) at UFE. The following research methods are used in this research. • Quantitative Analysis: Quantitative data from assessments and student performance is statistically analyzed to measure the achievement of program learning outcomes. This includes descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and potentially regression analysis to identify significant factors influencing outcomes. • Qualitative Analysis: Qualitative data, including stakeholder assessments and student self-assessment narratives, is analyzed using thematic analysis or content analysis to identify recurring themes, patterns, and insights. • Gap Analysis: The gap analysis assesses the differences between student performance and stakeholder assessments, high lighting areas where perceptions may differ. • External Stakeholder Assessment Review: The preferences and expectations of external stakeholders are analyzed to determine which learning outcomes are preferred and if they align with UFE's educational objectives. • By employing these research methods, this study aims to contribute valuable insights into the continuous improvement system of UFE and provide evidence-based recommendations for enhancing the outcome planning and assessment processes within the institution.

A Contribution to Sustainable Human Resource Development in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This examines the six drivers and twelve detailed practices of sustainable human resource development (S-HRD) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic across different organizations in Poland. The empirical strategy is based on explorative research conducted using surveys in Poland between 2020 and 2021. The results confirm that the surveyed organizations implemented S-HRD practices driven mainly by the expectations of external stakeholders. They neglected the areas of caring for employees' well-being and developing environmental awareness before the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, most companies maintained their approach to S-HRD. This research is unique because it adds to the body of literature advocating the significance of S-HRD for organizational resilience before, during, and after extreme events. Generalizing the results is challenging because the snowball sample has significant restrictions. However, future research may overcome these shortcomings by using larger samples based on probability or random sampling techniques.

External pressures on accounting study programs: An institutional approach of stakeholder expectations

Research Question: What are the requirements and expectations of each class of external stakeholders? Is there any convergence between the identified expectations? Motivation: There is a large variety of stakeholder expectations that universities are confronted with in their permanent search for social legitimacy, acknowledgement and survival. In the case of accounting study programs, their strong relationships with practitioners and professional associations, as emphasized in previous research in accounting education in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, add to the expectations that need to be met. Idea: This paper explores external stakeholder expectations of accounting study programs provided by Romanian universities, in order to identify the elements to which these expectations converge. Data: Data was collected only from public documents (laws and regulations, reports, studies, press releases, websites of relevant bodies etc.). Tools: A review of relevant public documents has been performed. Findings: As expected, all stakeholders require quality. Still, they ascribe different meanings to quality, evaluate quality in different manners, and hence exert various pressures. More, we observed that all types of isomorphism: coercive, mimetic, normative, as well as competitive are involved in assuring quality and meeting expectations. Contribution: The study contributes to literature with a complex approach, employing stakeholder and institutional theory, in the context of the extensive environment of higher education. In terms of practice, by taking stock of stakeholder requirements and expectations, the study calls the attention of decision makers to stakeholder pressures and the need to adjust accounting study programs accordingly.

Community-based ecotourism: beyond authenticity and the commodification of local people

ABSTRACTCommunity-based ecotourism (CBET) aims to empower local communities through participation. Thailand is a good example of a developing country where the local community requires long-term support from stakeholders for empowerment. Given that the inauthenticity and commodification of CBET have yet to be discussed in terms of the influences of policy and external stakeholders, this research connects the missing link in the literature between policy, tourism stakeholders and practices in relation to the authenticity and commodification of CBET. In order to gain an understanding of the policy related to the CBET operation, central Thai government agencies and related non-governmental organisations (NGOs) participated in in-depth interviews. This research involved a case study in the Khiriwong community, the first CBET community (since 1996) in Thailand, through the application of ethnographic techniques. The findings reveal that since the notion of CBET relies heavily on aspects of community participation, cohesion, forest guardianship, self-reliance and sustainability, all of which are part of the picturesque ideal of romanticism, the community itself becomes associated with the identity, subject to the national policy and the expectations of external stakeholders, which eventually fall into the commodification of staged authenticity.

The Growing Importance of HSSE-SR in Our Industry

Guest editorial In September 2012, SPE (in partnership with the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association) held its most successful international Health, Safety, Security, Environment, and Social Responsibility (HSSE-SR) conference to date in Perth, Australia, with 1,700 delegates from 44 countries. It included 375 accepted abstracts, which translated to 48 technical sessions (192 papers presented), 12 panels, 3 special sessions, 3 plenaries, and 89 ePosters. We also had an impressive 55 exhibitors and 16 sponsoring organizations. In addition to the success of these biannual international events (11 held to date), SPE also hosts five well-attended regional HSSE-SR conferences, plus a number of topic-specific workshops. So, what is all the fuss about? The easy answer to that question is that HSSE-SR is becoming a more prominent factor in our industry’s day-to-day life. As regulator and external stakeholder expectations in the area of HSSE-SR continue to grow, operators, service companies, and others working to address the world’s ever-increasing energy demands are faced with the challenge of safely exploring, developing, and producing oil and gas resources in a manner that is compatible with the balanced environmental and economic needs of the communities in which they operate. For example, in the past, many environmental expectations stemmed from regulatory requirements, whereas the opposite has become true more recently where global environmental and stakeholder expectations are influencing the regulatory framework. As these HSSE-SR challenges continue to emerge, the question we must ask ourselves is, are we as an industry and as integrated organizations prepared to meet these challenges? How do we prepare for the foreseeable future and what do we need to do to prepare for the unknown challenges that lie ahead? Facing Expectations Recent events around the globe have reminded us of the need for our industry to effectively address the broad HSSE-SR expectations as part of our obligation in earning our license to operate. Failure to do so will not only tarnish our image but also limit future access. As an industry, we need to focus on our license to operate, its scope and resulting expectations, and how to earn and protect that trust. All aspects of this industry have a vested interest in getting it right since what happens to one company essentially impacts everyone. Unlike other technical disciplines within SPE, such as reservoir, subsurface, drilling, and facilities, HSSE-SR is truly cross-functional in nature and affects all aspects of our business to varying extents. Personnel safety has long been a focus area, and the associated processes, practices, and lessons learned are relatively easy to transfer from region to region globally. The same cannot be said necessarily for the rest of HSSE-SR (i.e., health, environment, social responsibility) where many of the drivers and mitigations tend to be more local or regional. While not directly represented in the HSSE-SR acronym, we should also not underestimate the key role that quality plays, especially when dealing with process safety and risk management. Therein lies part of our challenge.

Contemporary University Strategising: The Financial Imperative

AbstractThis paper examines the financially focused strategies now evident amongst institutions competing for space in the global higher education system. In their search for increasing financial self‐sufficiency, universities and other higher education providers are examined for their primary competitive strategies. The study provides comprehensive evidence of their cost and operating efficiency strategies, facilitated by increasingly pervasive financial performance accountability systems. The primary operational strategies of teaching and research are found to have been transmogrified into strategies of customised education and research that is primarily focused upon and measured in terms of its funds generation. These trends contribute to complex performance management and accountability challenges as universities’ senior managers balance their internal financial ambitions with the expectations of external stakeholders, while simultaneously projecting sanitised imagery through corporate public relations strategies.

The evolution of strategic environmental assessments for oil and gas developments—an approvals practitioner's perspective

Recent impact assessments for large-scale developments in Australia have brought a new focus and evolution in thinking in the application of strategic environmental assessments (SEA). The opportunity to provide a robust strategic-planning framework to facilitate certainty in approvals outcomes and timeframes is balanced by the risks of mis-aligned regulatory and external stakeholder expectations for data, engineering definition, process and condition-setting that may set onerous precedents. The need to consider the commercial reality of longer-term strategic assets and the associated confidentiality considerations is particularly important. While the concept of SEA is facing renewed interest in Australia with regulatory signals that it will continue to be made more standard in approach, it is certainly not a new science. Indeed, it is well established in international approvals circles, with some jurisdictions (e.g. the SEA Directive in the European Union) providing valuable insights. If planned well, SEA can deliver positive approvals outcomes with up-front definition of development zones and forward environmental protection objectives. This extended abstract provides a practitioner’s perspective on the merits of SEA for the oil and gas industry, referencing lessons learnt at domestic and international levels. Selected case studies and practices from other jurisdictions are outlined, with emphasis on providing a practical solution. The present approach to identify best practice objectives for SEA application for achieving optimal benefits for industry, government and community stakeholders are reviewed. The role of strategic assessment in the context of regional offsets planning is also considered.

New Insight into the Competitiveness of Supplier Firms: Aligning Competences and Customer Expectations

The focal issue of the paper is firm competitiveness and the way in which operations can contribute to it. The problem of firm competitiveness has been extensively researched in operations strategy, mainly using the concept of strategic fit, but there has been little discussion in the literature of the criteria that should be used to guide the selection of strategic capabilities to be acquired. We argue that this selection should be guided by the expectations of external stakeholders with special emphasis on customers′ expectations. We develop and test a theoretical model of expectations-based operational competitiveness, building on the concepts and terms developed by two important management approaches, the theory of customer value and the capability-based theory of the firm. To test the model, statistical analysis is carried out using the database of the research programme “In global competition - competitiveness of the Hungarian enterprise sector” at the Competitiveness Research Centre of Corvinus University of Budapest. The model developed is a useful instrument for gaining a deeper insight into firm competitiveness. We define three kinds of operational competences: production, adaptation and supply chain management competence. Our empirical analysis reveals that Hungarian companies in the manufacturing industry possess a well-developed capability base as far as production competence is concerned. However, they usually cannot effectively internalise adaptation and supply chain management competences and cannot utilise them as sources of improved operational performance.