Strategic Stakeholder Management

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The view regarding Strategic Stakeholder Management, described by Berman, Wicks, Kotha, Jones using earlier work of Edward Freeman is an Instrumental Approach. (Academy of Management Journal; Oct99, Vol. 42 Issue 5).

Instrumental approaches towards stakeholder theory hold that:

To maximize shareholder value over an uncertain time frame, managers ought to pay attention to key stakeholder relationships.

Firms have a stake in the behavior of their stakeholders. Prudent management of firms' operating environments, including relationships with their stakeholders, is a part of proper management in general. Therefore good stakeholder management has clear instrumental value for the firms.
 

A fundamental assumption of this type of model is that the ultimate objective of corporate decisions is marketplace success. Firms view their stakeholders as part of an environment that must be managed in order to assure revenues, profits, and ultimately, to provide returns to shareholders. Attention to stakeholder issues may help a firm avoid decisions that might prompt stakeholders to undercut or thwart its objectives. This possibility arises because stakeholders can control resources that can facilitate or enhance the implementation of corporate decisions (Pfeifer & Salancik, 1978); in short, Stakeholder Management is a means to reach an end; something what you have to do so that you can achieve something else. The end, or the ultimate result, is generally not the welfare of stakeholders. Instead, the firm's goal is the advancement of the interests of only one stakeholder group: its shareholders. Employing the terminology used by Donaldson and Preston (1995) and Quinn and Jones (1995), we see the concern of the firm for stakeholder relationships as instrumental and contingent on the value of those relationships to corporate financial success. Quinn and Jones stated: "Instrumental [strategic] ethics enters the picture as an addendum to the rule of wealth maximization for the manager-agent to follow" (1995: 25).

In this formulation, stakeholder management is part of a company's strategy but in no way drives that strategy. Implicit in this perspective is the assumption that modes of dealing with stakeholders that prove upon adoption to be unproductive will be discontinued, as will those that involve resources that are no longer needed. The concerns of stakeholders only enter a firm's decision-making processes if they have strategic value for the firm.

Two variants of the Strategic Stakeholder Management approach are the direct effects model and the moderation model. In the direct effects model, the attitudes and the actions of managers toward stakeholders (their stakeholder orientation) are perceived as having a direct effect on firm financial performance, independent of the corporate strategy. In the moderation model, the managerial orientation toward stakeholders does impact the corporate strategy by moderating the relationship between strategy and financial performance.

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Expert Tips Advanced insights about Strategic Stakeholder Management. Here you will find professional advices by experts. Stakeholder Capitalism (Freeman) Stakeholder Management Professor Freeman has recently published a formidable article about this subject in the Journal of Business Ethics (2007... 4 Levers to Pursue a Dual Corporate Purpose CSR, Impact on Society, Balancing Financial and Social Goals, Dual Purpose These is a slow but steadily increasing trend for corporations to diminish their single-minded pursuit of shareholder va... CEOs Time Spent per Stakeholder / Constituency CEO Coaching, CEO Time Management, Stakeholder Management Research by Porter, Nohria and Higgins among 27 CEOs revealed the following interesting data on with whom they spend the... How to Effectively Conduct a Stakeholders Meeting? Stakeholder Meetings, Best Practices Here are a few tips to effectively manage a stakeholders meeting: 1. Try to avoid getting into details and drawn into... The Role of the CEO in Strategic Change Initiation Communicating Strategic Change In management literature the role of the CEO in formulating and implementing strategic change has often been emphasized.... The Maturity Stages of Corporate Responsibility Organizational Development, Corporate Responsibility Maturity Simon Zadek provides a useful best practice five-stage maturity model of how organizations deal with Corporate Responsib...

Information Sources Various sources of information regarding Strategic Stakeholder Management. Here you will find powerpoints, videos, news, etc. to use in your own lectures and workshops. The Purpose of Business: Stockholder versus Stakeholder Theories Stakeholder Analysis; Stakeholder Commitment This presentation elaborates on the objectives and purposes of businesses according to different views: those of stockho... Strategy, Society and CSR CSR Strategy, Competitive Advantage, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility, Strategy and Society Presentation about the relationship between CSR and Competitive Advantage. It includes the following sections: - Busine... The Dawn of Conscious Capitalism Conscious Capitalism, Value-driven Consumer, Socially Responsible Investing, Corporate Responsibility This presentation provides an introduction into the concept of conscious capitalism, and includes the following sections... CSR Implementation and Communication Model (Schmeltz) CSR Communication, CSR Implementation, CSR Strategy, Corporate Identity, Corporate Values, CSR Stages, Because Corporate Social Responsibility is a value-based concept, it is highly connected with an organization’s values a... Introduction to Stakeholder Management Introduction to Stakeholder Management David Butter explains what stakeholders are and their importance for organizations, distinguishing internal from externa... Strategic Stakeholder Management Diagram Strategic Stakeholder Management Download and edit this 12manage PowerPoint graphic for limited personal, educational and business use. Republishing in ... Stephen Covey on the Speed of Trust Corporate Strategy, Global Economy, Banking System, Leadership Development, Stakeholder Management Steven Covey hints at some of the reasons why trust is so fundamental for corporations, the banking system, financial in...

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