Stakeholder Framework Research Articles

Accountability framework for managing stakeholders of health programs

Understanding the incentives of stakeholders and employing effective management practices with various stakeholder groups is essential for program sustainability. This paper offers a conceptual model that depicts four different types of stakeholder interests that are relevant to health service organizations. The study identified the major stakeholders of telehealth programs, compared the influence of stakeholders by organizational ownership and investigated the practices used to manage these stakeholders. Quantitative and qualitative analyses demonstrated empirical support for the stakeholder model. The paper suggests that the model can be used as a stakeholder management tool in healthcare organizations and offers an assessment of the utility of the stakeholder framework in organizational research

Stakeholder theory and organizational ethics

- The only detailed, comprehensive treatment of stakeholder theory-the most popular framework for discussions of business ethics-currently in print - Examines stakeholder theory from the perspective of several fields of study, including strategic management, economics, moral and political philosophy, social psychology, and environmental ethics - Provides a means for determining who are and are not stakeholders and why-including such controversial stakeholder candidates as competitors, activists, and the natural environment Business ethics is a staple in the news today. One of the most difficult ethical questions facing managers is, To whom are they responsible? Organizations can affect and are affected by many different constituencies-these groups are often called stakeholders. But who are these stakeholders? What sort of managerial attention should they receive? Is there a legal duty to attend to stakeholders or is such a duty legally prohibited due to the shareholder wealth maximization imperative? In short, for whose benefit ought a firm be managed? Despite the ever growing importance of these questions, there is no comprehensive, theoretical treatment of the stakeholder framework currently in print. In Stakeholder Theory and Organizational Ethics, Robert Phillips provides an extended defense of stakeholder theory as the preeminent theory of organizational ethics today. Addressing the difficult question of what the moral underpinning of stakeholder theory should be, Phillips elaborates a of stakeholder fairness based on the ideas of the late John Rawls-the most prominent moral and political philosopher of the twentieth century. Phillips shows how this principle clarifies several long-standing questions in stakeholder theory, including: Who are an organization's legitimate stakeholders? What is the basis for this legitimacy? What, if any, are the limits of stakeholder theory? What is the relationship between stakeholder theory and other moral, political, and business ethical theories? Applying research from many related disciplines, Stakeholder Theory and Organizational Ethics is an overdue response to several long-standing and fundamental points of contention within business ethics and management theory.

Banks' Orientation and Performance in Stakeholders-Shareholders Business Systems

The role of stakeholder frameworks in the success of business and society has recently become a crucial area of academic research. The purpose of this paper is to show the close compatibility between relatively strong banking industries and the values of stakeholder systems. Since the late 1980's, there has been an ongoing academic debate between the relative strengths of the shareholder and stock market-driven Anglo-Saxon countries, such as the U.S., UK versus the stakeholder and bank-driven countries such as Germany and Japan. In order to better understand either the Japanese or German stakeholder system, there is a need for greater understanding of the role of banks that work with the private corporations in establishing a strong institutions network for the whole country. We follow a qualitative international comparison of successful shareholders systems such as the U.S. and the UK, with successful stakeholder systems such as Japan, Germany, and most of continental Europe. The overall picture of banks governance in different business systems shows that banks have been positively contributing to companies' performance. Therefore, banks can provide an institutional certification and governance process and structure capable of producing and monitoring both the tangible and intangible measures of corporate performance and governance. The results of banks performance associated with their orientations toward corporate stakeholders contribution indicate a very logic and practical perspectives, which concludes banks' support to corporate stakeholders' contribution.

A stakeholder framework for analyzing the impact of environmental management on firm value

This article develops a stakeholder framework for analyzing the impact of environmental management on the value of the firm. The traditional financial model of firm valuation is reexamined using stakeholder theory. Next, environmental management is analyzed in this framework. The analysis focuses first on the firm's decision to undertake voluntary, costly, environmental management and considers why some firms undertake such activities while others do not. Conditions under which firm value is maximized by undertaking costly, voluntary environmental policies are outlined as are the expected limitations on such activities. Finally, public policy approaches aimed at encouraging corporate environmental management are examined.

Stakeholder Salience: Business and Educational Policy

With the advent of the current school reform movement, an increasing number of interest groups have claimed stakeholder status and have tried to influence educational policy. The purpose of this study is to employ a stakeholder framework to examine the changing salience levels of a state business group as it tried to shape educational policy during a 5-year period of intense state-level reform. Using case study methods, we address the relationship between the changing salience of the group and the dynamic environment of educational policy making.

Stakeholder Salience: Business and Educational Policy

With the advent of the current school reform movement, an increasing number of interest groups have claimed stakeholder status and have tried to influence educational policy. The purpose of this study is to employ a stakeholder framework to examine the changing salience levels of a state business group as it tried to shape educational policy during a 5-year period of intense state-level reform. Using case study methods, we address the relationship between the changing salience of the group and the dynamic environment of educational policy making.

Preparation and implementation of a general planning scheme in Tanzania: Kahama strategic urban development planning framework

General planning schemes are prepared to guide urban development in most cities. Schemes based on master planning have been criticized for their blueprint output and exclusion of development stakeholders in the planning process. Responding to the criticism, some cities have in the last decade prepared schemes based on strategic planning. The output of strategic planning is a dynamic framework for a city's stakeholders to implement their development decisions. Stakeholders’ participation is essential in strategic planning. Whereas the methodology of master planning is well documented, that of strategic planning is not. This case documents the methodology of strategic planning based on the 2000 Kahama Strategic Urban Development Planning Framework in Tanzania. The methodology involved appraising the town's profile, agreeing on critical issues, working in taskforces to develop strategies and projects required to address the issues, agreeing on workable strategies and bankable projects, and facilitating implementation of the planning framework. The conclusion is that participatory urban planning through stakeholders’ action planning is practicable and welcome in tackling pressing problems and addressing conflicts of development–environment interactions.

Deforestation in Cambodia: a stakeholder management approach

SUMMARY Although widely used in the development area, the stakeholder concept has its origins in the field of management. Stakeholder management consists of understanding the actions of stakeholders, and devising strategies to ethically and effectively deal with them. The paper presents a stakeholder management framework for conservation and illustrates it with a study of deforestation in Cambodia. The framework comprises three steps: stakeholder analysis, stakeholder mapping, and development of stakeholder management strategies. The exercise shows the existence of a strong coalition of stakeholders whose main goal is to exploit the forest resources of Cambodia without any regard for sustainability. The efforts of the international community to control deforestation have focused on a reform of forest concessions. Consequently, several primary stakeholders have been ignored. These include local communities, the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, the Ministry of Environment and Cambodia's neighbours. The paper concludes with strategic management guidance for donor intervention. Unless a comprehensive stakeholder management framework is adopted, the forests of Cambodia will rapidly succumb to destruction.

Stakeholder management for conservation projects: a case study of Ream National Park, Cambodia.

The paper gives an account of the development and implementation of a stakeholder management framework at Ream National Park, Cambodia. Firstly, the concept of stakeholder is reviewed in management and in conservation literatures. Secondly, the context in which the stakeholder framework was implemented is described. Thirdly, a five-step methodological framework is suggested: (1) stakeholder analysis, (2) stakeholder mapping, (3) development of generic strategies and workplan, (4) presentation of the workplan to stakeholders, and (5) implementation of the workplan. This framework classifies stakeholders according to their level of influence on the project and their potential for the conservation of natural resources. In a situation characterized by conflicting claims on natural resources, park authorities were able to successfully develop specific strategies for the management of stakeholders. The conclusion discusses the implications of the Ream experience and the generalization of the framework to other protected areas.

Social Responsibility and the Utilities

This paper examines recent developments in U.K. utility regulation from a business ethics perspective. The regulatory framework that facilitated privatisation of the utility companies has foundations based upon free market principles involving a transfer from regulation to competitive markets wherever possible. Where competition is not feasible, continuing economic regulation is relied upon, designed to mirror the competitive market to induce, through comparative competition and the price capping mechanism, incentives for greater efficiency. The New Labour Government, having fundamentally reviewed this framework when it came to office, has surprisingly endorsed its basic tenets. However, it wishes to superimpose social responsibility regulations designed to achieve social policy rather than economic objectives. This interventionist approach is in itself in conflict with the free market inspired regulatory framework but additionally, the imposition of social policy objectives creates fundamental ambiguities within the framework for the key stakeholders. The paper concludes that the Government's policy, by eliciting stakeholder confusion and perverse behaviour, could be counter-productive but that ethical theories and frameworks can contribute to thinking in this vital area of the economy.

GREEN STAKEHOLDERS: INDUSTRY INTERPRETATIONS AND RESPONSE*

This paper argues that industrial responses to ‘green’ pressures may fruitfully be explored using a stakeholder framework. However, the common view of an objective configuration of stakeholders is replaced with one that favours an interpretive perspective. Managers are viewed as crucial mediators of stakeholder influence; how they identify, define and construct stakeholders is an important feature of the meaning of greening and an industry's subsequent response. A qualitative study of managers in four UK industries ‐ supermarkets, automotives, power and chemicals ‐ is reported. the effect of a small number of stakeholders ‐ campaigners and regulators ‐ is examined in some detail, distinguished differentially according to their perceived legitimacy and the threat they pose to industry. Also examined is the large group of traditionally powerful stakeholders ‐ customers, creditors and employees ‐ who fail markedly to impact on industry's greening. the implications of the findings for pro‐environmental change and stakeholder theory are discussed.

STAKEHOLDER MISMATCHING: A THEORETICAL PROBLEM IN EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON CORPORATE SOCIAL PERFORMANCE

This paper uses a stakeholder framework to review the empirical literature on corporate social performance (CSP), focusing particularly on studies attempting to correlate social with financial performance. Results show first that most studies correlate measures of business performance that as yet have no theoretical relationship (for example, the level of corporate charitable giving with return on investment). To make sense of this body of research, CSP studies must be integrated with stakeholder theory. Multiple stakeholders (a) set expectations for corporate performance, (b) experience the effects of corporate behavior, and (c) evaluate the outcomes of corporate behavior. However, we find that the empirical CSP literature mismatches variables in terms of which stakeholders are relevant to which kind of measure. Second, only the studies using market‐based variables and theory show a consistent relationship between social and financial performance, particularly those showing a negative abnormal return to the stock price of companies experiencing product recalls. Although this paper shows that the CSP construct is not yet well‐specified enough to produce stronger results, recent research suggests that much progress is being made both empirically and theoretically in developing valid and reliable measures of corporate social performance.

A Stakeholder Framework for Analyzing and Evaluating Corporate Social Performance

A Stakeholder Framework for Analyzing and Evaluating Corporate Social Performance

A Stakeholder Framework for Analyzing and Evaluating Corporate Social Performance

This article presents conclusions from a 10-year research program, the purpose of which has been to develop a framework and methodology, grounded in the reality of corporate behavior, for analyzing and evaluating corporate social performance. There are three principal sections: (a) a summary of the approaches, models, and methodologies used in conducting more than 70 field studies of corporate social performance from 1983-1993; (b) a discussion of the principal conclusions derived from the data that (1) corporations manage relationships with stakeholder groups rather than with society as a whole, (2) it is important to distinguish between social issues and stakeholder issues, and (3) it is necessary to identify the appropriate level of analysis in order to evaluate CSP; and (c) a discussion of propositions and areas for further research.

Free Competition and the Optimal Amount of Fraud

THIS paper explores the reasons for and determinants of the provision by a firm of false information to a consumer so as to induce purchases which would not be made if the consumer possessed full information about the qualities of his purchase. Market responses to potential for fraud are analyzed in detail. It is shown that fraud and related practices follow from significant costs both in the determination of quality of a particular good or service and in the effective vertical integration of seller and buyer through some exchange of property rights. Much of our discussion focuses on the key problem of the joint provision of diagnosis and services-such as the choice and execution of an automobile repair or taxicab route--but the model developed will be seen to have general applicability whenever the seller provides information which influences purchases, as through advertising or salesmen's promises. In the context of the repair problem, we explore the reasons for and the determinants of the provision of repair services in amounts greater than would be economically efficient, given the price of the services and their marginal product in terms of the service flow from the repaired commodity.' The possibility of this situation is suggested by the observation that in a considerable number of cases involving medical, automotive, and other repair services, contrary to the basic assumption of conventional demand theory, the consumer is unaware of the ability of the repair service to satisfy a given want.2