Stakeholder Value Research Articles

Ethics of tourism: a Horizon 2050 paper

Purpose This paper is part of Horizon 2050 series of papers. This paper aims to highlight the importance of stronger engagement with ethical philosophy in tourism. A number of potential research streams are identified. Design/methodology/approach The paper first introduces several theories of ethics. It then reviews the history of tourism’s engagement with ethics, especially within academia. Subsequently, several themes for the future of research on tourism ethics are discussed according to four scales: the tourist, tourism business, tourism destination and the tourism system. Findings At the individual tourist level, future research should focus on better understanding tourist (un)ethical behaviour by considering the hedonic and cross-cultural nature of tourism. At business level, motivations to be ethical, ethical corporate models should be studied. Endurance of tourist products that are deemed unethical needs further analysis. At destination level, further understanding of stakeholder relations, stakeholder values and dissemination of those values is required. Fair and just options to sustainably manage visitation merit further discussion. At tourism system level, a stronger engagement with political philosophies and more creative alternatives for the current global tourism system require exploration. Originality/value While several reviews of ethics of tourism research exist, this paper is oriented towards opportunities for future research. The paper does not intend to cover all current ethical debates; however, it provides a number of topics within the tourism ethics field that merit further exploration in hope to inspire new research.

Concave and convex effects of ESG performance on corporate sustainable development: Evidence from China

Research background: Corporate sustainable development (CSD) is essential to a company's success and survival. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) are regarded as major factors in measuring the impact of CSD. Companies that perform well in terms of ESG can maintain a competitive advantage and achieve sustainable development. Poor management of ESG performance and involvement in controversial activity can harm a company's credibility and reputation in the market, as well as negatively impact sustainable development. Purpose of the article: Drawing on the stakeholder and signaling theories, this paper investigates the curvilinear nexus between ESG performance and CSD. Methods: Empirical studies were conducted on a sample of 697 Chinese listed manufacturing firms that disclosed ESG information from 2010 to 2020, with a total of 5699 firm-year observations. Quantile regression analysis and the U-test were used to examine the curvilinear ESG-CSD relationship. This technique was supplemented by conducting instrumental variables tests and propensity score matching to address concerns relating to the potential existence of endogeneity problems. Findings & value added: The results of the quantile regression estimation confirm the concave-convex (inverted U-shaped and U-shaped) ESG-CSD relationship via the U-test. The relationships between the environmental and social components and CSD follow an inverted U-shaped or half-inverted U-shaped pattern, while the relationship between the governance component and CSD exhibits a concave-convex pattern. A concave ESG-CSD nexus is evident in environmentally sensitive industries, whereas a half concave-convex ESG-CSD nexus is confirmed in non-environmentally sensitive industries. This study improves scholars’ understanding of ESG performance and provides a comprehensive perspective on the double-edged effects (positive and negative consequences) of ESG practices. The instrumentalization of ESG practices for management to seek personal gain has a negative impact on CSD, while ESG practices that add value for stakeholders have a positive impact. These findings provide empirical evidence for Chinese publicly listed manufacturing firms to effectively conduct ESG practices.

An Engineered Assessment System to Manage Demand Reduction Initiatives

The Joint Warfighting Concept is a framework for how the United States will fight in the future security landscape. To successfully carry out these new concepts, the military services must find ways to lessen the logistics burden at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels. Only by reducing the demands on its current and planned sustainment systems can the United States continue to be a dominant force on the world stage. However, defense agencies such as the Logistics Functional Capability Board lack a quantitative, credible, repeatable process to effectively assess and manage demand reduction initiatives. This paper is based on work from a student/faculty team that created an assessment system for demand reduction initiatives. Discussion highlights the systems engineering techniques that were used in the effort, which includes but is not limited to stakeholder analysis, functional analysis, morphological analysis, and value modeling. The blended qualitative and quantitative methods focused on user and stakeholder needs to create a process system to evaluate technologically disparate, multicriteria systems. The team expects that the resultant assessments system’s applicability to a range of demand reduction initiatives would be of interest to organizations that must prioritize technology proposals, as well as perform trade-off analysis. Additionally, the approach to create the assessment system has the flexibility to adapt to changes in the stakeholders’ requirements from the reduction initiatives, as well as the ongoing evolution of the warfighting concepts.

Integrating distributive justice in system dynamics models of sustainability transitions

AbstractSocial‐ecological‐technological transitions for decarbonisation and sustainable development goals can perpetuate or introduce environmental and socio‐economic injustices. The just transitions literature provides useful perspectives for assessing transition pathways. This paper explores integrating distributive justice into system dynamics modelling for sustainability transitions. For this purpose, we adapt existing requirements to enable the evaluation of distributive justice in model‐based support for climate planning to the specific case of system dynamics modelling. We test the requirements by using a previously developed system dynamics model to (1) gain insights into the application of the requirements and (2) reflect on their further development. Our findings underscore the importance of transparency in model assumptions and results. They suggest exploring the behaviour space of models to account for uncertainty and plurality of stakeholder values. Furthermore, they emphasise the need to discuss the implications of model results and the plurality of stakeholder values to foster deliberation and inclusive decision‐making.

Key antecedents and consequences of blockchain technology adoption in the wine industry: a multiple case study analysis

PurposeThe present study aims to identify the antecedents and consequences of blockchain adoption in the wine industry from the absorptive capacity perspective through a multiple case study approach.Design/methodology/approachA multiple case study approach was utilized, wherein data was gathered through semi-structured interviews and secondary sources of information from the five Italian innovative wineries.FindingsThe results show that the dynamic capabilities of wineries and the creation of strategic partnerships are common conditions for the adoption of blockchain technology (BCT). In addition, findings reveal that creating value for all supply chain stakeholders and preventing counterfeit products are the most important consequences of BCT adoption.Research limitations/implicationsThis study fills a gap in the literature by investigating the drivers of BCT technology adoption under two theoretical lenses, Absorptive capacity and Dynamic capability theories, confirming the usefulness of these two theories in explaining the process of innovation adoption.Originality/valueThe originality of our research study lies in its investigation of the antecedents and consequences of BCT adoption in the wine supply chain, focusing specifically on the role of dynamic capabilities, knowledge acquisition and assimilation, strategic partnerships and open interactions with external actors in driving technological innovation and the successful implementation of BCT in the wine industry. By offering empirical data on the drivers and impacts of BCT adoption, as well as theoretical implications for technological innovation and value creation in the wine sector, our study contributes to filling gaps in the existing literature and provides practical insights for wineries and AgTechs seeking to integrate BCT into their business models.

Business Transformation Towards Sustainability: The Role of Green Accounting in Sustainability Management

Green accounting, as an accounting approach that integrates environmental and social factors into a company's financial reporting system, plays an important role in supporting business transformation towards sustainability. This article aims to explore the role of green accounting in sustainability management and how its application can assist companies in managing and reporting their sustainability performance effectively. Through a review of literature and previous research, it is found that green accounting enables companies to identify, measure and disclose the environmental impacts of their business activities more comprehensively. The integration of green accounting in sustainability management also allows companies to develop more comprehensive sustainability performance indicators, set targets, and monitor progress in achieving their sustainability goals. The implementation of green accounting can increase corporate transparency and accountability, build trust and a better reputation, and increase the competitiveness and value of the company in the long run. This article concludes that the role of green accounting is crucial in ensuring that companies consider environmental and social impacts in their business decisions, and create long-term value for stakeholders while minimizing negative impacts on the environment and society.

Navigating green horizons: An empirical exploration of business practices aligned with environmental goals in the era of sustainable economy

AbstractIn modern business operations, ensuring that business strategies are in harmony with environmental goals has emerged as a pivotal consideration. More and more companies are realizing the significance of integrating environmentally friendly methods into their activities. This boosts their performance and adds value for stakeholders in an economy focused on sustainability. This quantitative research explores the alignment of business practices with environmental goals in the context of green finance (GF) and corporate strategy for enhanced performance and stakeholder value within a sustainable economy. Utilizing a structured online questionnaire, data was collected from 420 entrepreneurs through a stratified random sampling method, ensuring diverse representation. The subsequent analysis using SPSS software yielded robust statistical insights into the intricate relationships between variables. The findings support six hypotheses, indicating that strategic integration of GF positively influences financial performance, enhances resilience, positively affects stakeholder satisfaction, fosters innovation, leads to cost efficiency, and facilitates long‐term sustainable growth. Investigating how GF‐driven practices lead to cost efficiency and enhance operational effectiveness brings forth practical implications for organizations seeking financial savings through sustainable practices. This aspect introduces a novel perspective on the financial benefits of green initiatives. These results contribute as empirical evidence to the field of GF, offering practical insights for businesses, policymakers, and researchers seeking to align strategies with environmental goals for sustainable and responsible corporate practices.

Organizational learning capacity and international development project success in West Africa: A case study

Very few studies have focused on organizational learning within a team as a key success factor for international development projects. In particular, the relationship between organizational learning capacity, organizational efficacy, and project success has received little attention. This is the objective of this case study. It explores this relationship based on 23 semi-structured interviews with project coordinators, team members, and beneficiaries of two projects financed by the West African Development Bank (WADB) in Benin and Senegal. The results show that the social process of developing organizational learning capacity within a project team is a crucial issue for organizational efficacy and project success. Points for practitioners Within a team, establishing a framework for developing organizational learning capacity, characterized by autonomy, experimentation, and interaction with stakeholders, is a key project success factor. Flexible and adaptive approaches may foster organizational learning and help explore, through action, new project capacities. Such approaches may help increase the odds of project success in terms of international development and, thus, create value for stakeholders including beneficiaries.

Advancing Customer Feedback Systems with Blockchain

AbstractOrganizations have to adjust to changes in the ecosystem, and customer feedback systems (CFS) provide important information to adapt products and services to changing customer preferences. However, current systems are limited to single-dimensional rating scales and are subject to self-selection biases. The work contributes design principles for CFS and implements a CFS that advances current systems by means of contextualized feedback according to specific organizational objectives. The authors apply Design Science Research (DSR) methodology and report on a longitudinal DSR journey considering multiple stakeholder values by utilizing value-sensitive design methods. They conducted expert interviews, design workshops, demonstrations, and a four-day experiment in an organizational setup, involving 132 customers of a major Swiss library. In the process, the identified design principles and the implemented software artifact were validated qualitatively and quantitatively, leading to conclusions for their efficient instantiation. The authors found that i) blockchain technology can afford four design principles of effective CFS. Also, ii) combining DSR with value-sensitive design methods explicitly provides rationale for design principles in the form of identified important values. Moreover, iii) combining DSR with value-sensitive design methods makes the construction of software artifacts more efficient it terms of design time by restricting the design space of a software artifact to those options that align with stakeholder values. The findings of this work thus extend the knowledge about the design of CFS and offer both researchers a theoretical contribution to reasoning about design principles and managers and decision makers a guide for the efficient design of software artifacts.

A Critical Review of the Underlying Dynamics Between Stakeholder Value Addition and Organisational Strategies

This paper critically examines how stakeholder value addition influences organisational strategies, highlighting key strategic outcomes affected by various stakeholder engagements. Utilizing a theoretical framework that integrates the Stakeholder Theory with the Strategic Management Model, the study systematically explores the reciprocity between stakeholders' expectations and organisational policy-making. Through a qualitative analysis of case studies across diverse sectors, the research illuminates the processes through which stakeholder interests are prioritized and integrated into the strategic objectives of organizations. The findings underscore the importance of aligning stakeholder management with core business strategies to foster sustainable growth and competitive advantage. Additionally, this review identifies potential pitfalls and best practices in stakeholder engagement, providing insights into how effective stakeholder integration can drive strategic innovation and enhance organisational resilience. This synthesis of stakeholder-related strategic dynamics offers significant contributions to both academic literature and practical management approaches, advocating for a more inclusive understanding of stakeholder impacts on organizational success.

How safety value is exchanged in Chinese modern megaprojects: A stakeholder value network perspective

To visualize and quantify these exchanges among primary stakeholders in megaprojects, this study introduces network stakeholder value network as the core methodology. Starting with a qualitative organizational safety behavior model encompassing 8 stakeholders and 61 value flows, it's built based on 3 organizational safety behavior categories. Moreover, questionnaire data from 356 experts quantifies the model, and the design structure matrix identifies 13845 safety value paths, including 4827 cycles. Analysis delves into critical cycles, stakeholders, flows, and organizational safety behavior types to refine safety strategies. The findings, based on Chinese megaprojects, suggest that contractors and governments must lead safety awareness efforts, with safety compliance paramount for all parties. The study's contributions are threefold: firstly, it broadens the scope to encompass organizational safety behavior; secondly, it introduces a novel approach to visualize and quantify safety value flows; and thirdly, it considers multiple types of value exchanges, underscores their significance in promoting safety value, and offers practical recommendations to strengthen construction safety performance.

Integrated pain care models and the importance of aligning stakeholder values.

Sustained widespread deployment of clinically and cost-effective models of integrated pain care could be bolstered by optimally aligning shared stakeholder values.

Impact Analysis of Sustainable Financial Reporting and Environmental Regulatory Compliance on Decision Making Effectiveness in Bandung Manufacturing Industry

This research investigates the impact of sustainable financial reporting and compliance with environmental regulations on decision-making effectiveness within the Bandung manufacturing industry. A quantitative analysis was conducted using survey data collected from manufacturing firms in Bandung, Indonesia. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis were employed to examine the relationships between sustainable financial reporting, environmental regulations compliance, and decision-making effectiveness. The results reveal significant positive correlations between sustainable financial reporting, environmental regulations compliance, and decision-making effectiveness. Regression analysis demonstrates that both sustainable financial reporting and environmental regulations compliance are significant predictors of decision-making effectiveness, even after controlling for relevant covariates. These findings underscore the importance of integrating sustainability principles and regulatory compliance into organizational decision-making processes to enhance performance outcomes and stakeholder value within the manufacturing sector.

Under-representation of Diversity on American Urological Association and European Association of Urology Guideline Panels

ObjectiveTo assess the panel composition of the two most important guideline developers in urology as equity and acceptability, important domains in clinical guideline development, require broad stakeholder representation. MethodsFollowing a predefined protocol, we identified all current AUA and EAU guideline documents. Two authors independently abstracted data including guideline topic, number and roles of panel members, voting status, and academic rank. We determined panel member gender (woman, man, or nonbinary) and racialization (White or non-White) status based on name, internet picture, pronouns used, bios available, and gender listed on their profile. ResultsWe identified 31 AUA and 20 EAU guidelines for inclusion. Median panel size was 19 (interquartile range [IQR]: 17; 21) with 12 (IQR: 10; 14) voting members. The average composition of voting panels was predominantly male (81.8%) and White (86.8%). Eleven guideline panels (21.6%) did not include any women, and nine (17.6%) panels had no representation of individuals from non-White groups. While gender distribution was similar among guidelines of the two organizations, the AUA included more voting members from non-White groups (14.3% versus 8.0%; p=0.010). Analysis of the AUA panel composition over time revealed stable proportions of female and non-White individuals. ConclusionBoth AUA and EAU guidelines exhibit insufficient representation of females and non-White individuals, with no evident improvement observed over time. Implementing more transparent processes that advocate for diverse panel representation may enhance the incorporation of stakeholder values and preferences, thereby improving the dissemination and adoption of guidelines.

A Learning Health System to Generate and Accelerate Innovation: The HealthPartners Institute

The HealthPartners Institute is a research and education division embedded within HealthPartners — a nonprofit, member-governed integrated health system. The Institute aims to generate and accelerate innovation for the HealthPartners health system, its patients and members, and the communities it serves. It has taken a formal, organized approach to building the necessary capabilities, infrastructures, relationships, and tools to do so. This article outlines an innovative approach by which the HealthPartners Institute created an environment conducive to accelerated system performance. Key components of building this organizational milieu include (1) integration, (2) strategic planning, (3) democratization of knowledge (especially internally generated knowledge), (4) funding, and (5) a capability to listen to diverse perspectives from both within the organization and the community at large. In recent years, based on a 2023 survey of the HealthPartners Senior Strategy team, nearly two thirds of 34 respondents (61%) have seen more connections between their work and the work of the Institute, and just over half (52%) report that the Institute has become more relevant to their work. Notably, care delivery is the area to which respondents (78%) find the Institute brings the most value, followed by our patients (74%), HealthPartners as a whole (70%), and our community (70%). In addition, a series of multiyear federally funded trials involving patients with uncontrolled hypertension collectively represent an example of clinical and financial impact. This collaborative effort involving system division partnerships through the Institute’s core research department and centers of excellence compared usual hypertension care with an intervention that combined home blood pressure telemonitoring and pharmacist-led telephone care and found that the intervention group not only had lowered blood pressure and reduced cardiovascular disease events, but that for every US$1.00 spent the program realized US$1.82 in averted cardiovascular disease event costs. Efforts such as these advance system performance through a closer connection between the Institute and the health system’s strategic multiyear goals, shared leadership among major research portfolios and the care delivery service lines, preprofessional clinical education aligned with workforce needs, systemwide implementation of clinical simulation, aligned and integrated financial operations, and compliance and integrity programs. Based on these experiences and results, the authors present several themes that may support acceleration of progress toward achieving a high-performing learning health system. Future development will include focus on the generation and quantification of value for internal and external stakeholders, strategic alignment of priorities to enhance value, and continued focus on workforce development.

A Systematic Literature Review of Working Capital Management in Business Organizations

Working capital management is a crucial aspect of financial management that focuses on the effective management of a company's current assets and liabilities to ensure the smooth operation of day-to-day activities. A literature review on working capital management reveals a plethora of research studies highlighting the significance of optimizing working capital to enhance a firm's profitability, liquidity, and overall financial performance. Several studies have emphasized the importance of maintaining an optimal level of working capital to strike a balance between liquidity and profitability. By efficiently managing components such as cash, inventory, accounts receivable, and accounts payable, companies can minimize the risk of financial distress and improve their operational efficiency. Researchers have proposed various models and techniques to assess and improve working capital management practices, such as the cash conversion cycle, the operating cycle, the current ratio, and the quick ratio. Moreover, studies have also explored the impact of working capital management on firm value and performance. It has been widely documented that effective working capital management positively influences a company's profitability and shareholder value. By reducing the cash conversion cycle and operating cycle, firms can release trapped capital and reinvest it in value-creating activities. Conversely, inadequate working capital management can lead to financial constraints, increased costs, and reduced profitability. Furthermore, researchers have investigated the determinants and challenges of working capital management across different industries and regions. Factors such as industry characteristics, firm size, profitability, growth rate, and macroeconomic conditions have been identified as key determinants of working capital management practices. Cultural, regulatory, and technological factors also play a significant role in shaping companies' approaches to working capital management. In conclusion, the literature review on working capital management underscores the importance of adopting efficient strategies to manage current assets and liabilities effectively. By optimizing working capital levels, companies can improve their financial performance, enhance liquidity, and create long-term value for stakeholders.

Assessing the Role of Sustainability and ESG Accounting in Driving Corporate Performance and Stakeholder Value

Assessing the Role of Sustainability and ESG Accounting in Driving Corporate Performance and Stakeholder Value

Evidence-informed stakeholder consultations to promote rights-based approaches for children with disabilities.

To strengthen the translation of evidence to actionable policy, stakeholder engagement is necessary to synthesize, prioritize and contextualize the academic research content into accessible language. In this manuscript we describe a multi-level evidence-based stakeholder consultation process and related outcomes proposed to promote awareness of and foster cross-sectorial collaborations towards human rights-based approaches for children with disabilities. Mixed-methods participatory action research done in three steps: (1) A literature review of peer-reviewed evidence on rights-based approaches in childhood disabilities; (2) Consultation with researchers in diverse fields, grassroot organizations, caregivers, and youth with disabilities; (3) A constructive dialogue with decision makers at federal and provincial levels in Canada to discuss consultations results. Stakeholders value human rights approaches that can have a direct impact on practical aspects of their daily living. Organizations give high importance to adopting rights-based approaches to measure policy outcomes, while parents value service provision and youth emphasize accessibility. The implementation of rights-based approaches in childhood disabilities can support policy, services, and daily lives of children with disabilities and the ecosystems around them. It can also guide research priorities, and create a common language to foster collaborations across sectors and interested parties.

Developing meaningful water-energy-food-environment (WEFE) nexus indicators with stakeholders: An Upper White Nile case study

The Upper White Nile (UWN) basin plays a critical role in supporting essential ecosystem services and the livelihoods of millions of people in East Africa. The basin has been exposed to tremendous environmental pressures following high population growth, urbanisation, and land use change, all of which are compounded by the threats posed by climate change and insufficient financial and human resources. The water-energy-food-environment (WEFE) nexus provides a framework to assess solution options towards sustainable development by minimising the trade-offs between water, energy, and food resources. However, the majority of existing WEFE nexus indicators and tools tend to be developed without consideration of practitioners at the local level, thus constraining the practical application within real-world contexts. To try to address this gap and operationalise the WEFE nexus, we examined how local stakeholders frame the most pressing WEFE nexus challenges within the UWN basin, how these can be represented as indicators, and how existing WEFE nexus modelling tools could address this. The findings highlight the importance of declining water quality and aquatic ecosystem health as a result of deforestation and increasing agricultural intensity, with stakeholders expressing concerns for the uncertain impacts from climate change. Furthermore, a review of current WEFE nexus modelling tools reveals how they tend to be insufficient in addressing the most pressing environmental challenges within the basin, with a significant gap regarding the inclusion of water quality and aquatic ecosystem indicators. Subsequently, these findings are combined in order to guide the development of WEFE nexus indicators that have the potential to spatially model the trade-offs within the WEFE nexus in the UWN basin under climate change scenarios. This work provides an example of how incorporating local stakeholder's values and concerns can contribute to the development of meaningful indicators, that are fit-for-purpose and respond to the actual local needs.

Leading with purpose: Unraveling the impact of responsible leadership on employee green behavior in the workplace

Although sustainability has been a priority for organizations, there is still a lack of research on how leaders with a stakeholder perspective can motivate employees to adopt green behavior for sustainability in a complex and changing environment. This paper introduced social cognitive theory to describe two mechanisms by which responsible leadership predicts employee green behavior. Our research considers felt obligation for constructive change and stakeholder value as mediations with cognitive perspective in this process. Additionally, we consider the moderating effects of positive emotion and the superior-subordinate relationship. Our model received support from the investigation and research. By emphasizing the significance of perceived responsible leadership and proposing a new way of perceiving employee green behavior that ensures guidance from responsible leadership along the cognition perspective, the present research contributes to our understanding of the incentive effect of responsible leadership on employee green behavior.