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Stakeholder Theory At The Crossroads, Jay B. Barney, Jeffrey S. Harrison
Stakeholder Theory At The Crossroads, Jay B. Barney, Jeffrey S. Harrison
Management Faculty Publications
The stakeholder perspective has provided a rich forum for a variety of debates at the intersection of business and society. Scholars gathered for two consecutive years, first in North American, and then in Europe, to discuss the major issues surrounding what has come to be known as stakeholder theory, to attempt to find common ground, and to uncover areas in need of further inquiry. Those meetings led to a list of “tensions” and a call for papers for this special issue to help address them. In this article we introduce the resulting articles and provide some brief commentary on their …
Instrumental Stakeholder Theory Makes Ethically Based Relationship Building Palatable To Managers Focused On The Bottom Line, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Will Felps, Thomas M. Jones
Instrumental Stakeholder Theory Makes Ethically Based Relationship Building Palatable To Managers Focused On The Bottom Line, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Will Felps, Thomas M. Jones
Management Faculty Publications
We appreciate the opportunity to engage in this dialogue with Weitzner and Deutsch (2019) to clarify the meaning and intent of some of the arguments found in our article, “How Applying Instrumental Stakeholder Theory Can Provide Sustainable Competitive Advantage” (Jones, Harrison, & Felps, 2018). We are grateful for the high praise from the authors regarding the rigor and logic of our applications of resource-based criteria to instrumental stakeholder theory (IST). We begin this response by highlighting a few areas of agreement, followed by some points where we disagree.
Stakeholder Theory, Robert A. Phillips, Jay B. Barney, R. Edward Freeman, Jeffrey S. Harrison
Stakeholder Theory, Robert A. Phillips, Jay B. Barney, R. Edward Freeman, Jeffrey S. Harrison
Management Faculty Publications
Though there is clearly a “family resemblance” to the work that is typically done under its bailiwick, stakeholder theory continues to resist precise circumscription. Like the organizations it attempts to understand, the boundaries of the theory remain contentious. While various attempts have been made to clearly define the parameters of stakeholder theory (i.e., Clarkson Center for Business Ethics, 1999; Donaldson & Preston, 1995; Freeman, et al., 2010; Jones & Wicks, 1999; Phillips, 2003; Phillips, Freeman & Wicks, 2003), none of these efforts has gained universal acceptance. The following, which combines ideas from a variety of well-known sources (Freeman, 1984; Freeman, …
Sustainable Wealth Creation: Applying Instrumental Stakeholder Theory To The Improvement Of Social Welfare, Thomas M. Jones, Jeffrey S. Harrison
Sustainable Wealth Creation: Applying Instrumental Stakeholder Theory To The Improvement Of Social Welfare, Thomas M. Jones, Jeffrey S. Harrison
Management Faculty Publications
This chapter briefly reviews core ideas and research results in the existing instrumental stakeholder theory (IST) literature and then applies the IST concept to the simultaneous pursuit of two objectives—advancing social welfare, the presumed goal of morally legitimate social systems in general, and preserving the key elements of shareholder wealth enhancement—the traditional goal of the corporation. In so doing, we expand the range of ethical approaches to IST beyond deontological principles (e.g., treat stakeholders fairly; be trustworthy in dealing with stakeholders) present in extant versions of IST, to a consequentialist focus (i.e., a utilitarian concern for “the greatest good for …
How Applying Instrumental Stakeholder Theory Can Provide Sustainable Competitive Advantage, Thomas M. Jones, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Will Felps
How Applying Instrumental Stakeholder Theory Can Provide Sustainable Competitive Advantage, Thomas M. Jones, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Will Felps
Management Faculty Publications
Instrumental stakeholder theory considers the performance consequences for firms of highly ethical relationships with stakeholders, characterized by high levels of trust, cooperation, and information sharing. While research suggests performance benefits, an obvious question remains: If instrumental stakeholder theory-based stakeholder treatment is so valuable, why isn't it the dominant mode of relating to stakeholders? We argue that the existing instrumental stakeholder theory literature has three shortcomings that limit its ability to explain variance in performance. (1) Little theory exists around how instrumental stakeholder theory-based stakeholder management could provide sustainable competitive advantage. (2) The literature has largely neglected the potential downsides (i.e., …
Towards A More Productive Dialogue Between Stakeholder Theory And Strategic Management, Andrew Wicks, Jeffrey S. Harrison
Towards A More Productive Dialogue Between Stakeholder Theory And Strategic Management, Andrew Wicks, Jeffrey S. Harrison
Management Faculty Publications
This chapter highlights some of the tensions and most promising points of convergence between the strategic management and stakeholder theory literatures. We briefly examine the early development of both areas, identifying some of the background assumptions and choices that informed how the fields evolved, and how these factors led the two fields to engage in scholarly pursuits that seldom intersected for a period of years, followed by a renewal of interest among strategists in themes that are central to stakeholder theory. From this discussion, we develop a larger agenda with specific topics as examples of areas that offer promise for …
Responsible Accounting For Stakeholders, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Joyce Van Der Laan Smith
Responsible Accounting For Stakeholders, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Joyce Van Der Laan Smith
Management Faculty Publications
Through a critique of existing financial theory underlying current accounting practices, and reapplication of this theory to a broad group of stakeholders, this paper lays a normative foundation for a revised perspective on the responsibility of the public accounting profession. Specifically, we argue that the profession should embrace the development of standards for reporting information important to a broader group of stakeholders than just investors and creditors. The FASB has recently moved in the opposite direction. Nonetheless, an institution around accounting for stakeholders continues to grow, backed by a groundswell of support from many sources. Based on institutional theory, we …
Walking The Talk: A Multistakeholder Exploration Of Organizational Authenticity, Employee Productivity, And Post-Merger Performance, Margaret Cording, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Robert E. Hoskisson, Karsten Jonsen
Walking The Talk: A Multistakeholder Exploration Of Organizational Authenticity, Employee Productivity, And Post-Merger Performance, Margaret Cording, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Robert E. Hoskisson, Karsten Jonsen
Management Faculty Publications
Does consistency between how a firm treats employees (what it does) and its espoused employee-oriented values (what it says) affect employee productivity? Furthermore, given that the stakeholder theory perspective holds that what happens to one stakeholder influences other stakeholders, does this sort of consistency vis-à-vis a firm’s customers also influence employee productivity? We empirically investigate the influence of organizational authenticity—defined as consistency between a firm’s espoused values and realized practices—in the context of a merger, and specifically during post-merger integration. Our findings show that a lack of organizational authenticity in terms of both under-promising and over-promising to both employees and …
Anticipating, Preventing, And Surviving Secondary Boycotts, Judith Schrempf-Stirling, Douglas A. Bosse, Jeffrey S. Harrison
Anticipating, Preventing, And Surviving Secondary Boycotts, Judith Schrempf-Stirling, Douglas A. Bosse, Jeffrey S. Harrison
Management Faculty Publications
Even the best stakeholder-managed firms can suffer when they become the targets of a secondary boycott, as recent headlines attest. A secondary boycott is a group’s refusal to engage a target firm with which the group has no direct dispute in an attempt to sway public opinion, draw attention to an issue, or influence the actions of a disputant. This article provides a new perspective and tools for both scholars and managers concerned with this phenomenon. Building on a stakeholder theory foundation, we examine possible actions managers can take to avoid being surprised by a secondary boycott, propose conditions that …
How Much Is Too Much? The Limits To Generous Treatment Of Stakeholders, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Douglas A. Bosse
How Much Is Too Much? The Limits To Generous Treatment Of Stakeholders, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Douglas A. Bosse
Management Faculty Publications
Firms must allocate some minimum amount of value to stakeholders in order to retain access to the resources they provide. Stakeholder theory suggests managers optimize firm-level performance by allocating more than this minimum amount. However, how much is too much? This article addresses the misleading notion that more is always better when it comes to the treatment of stakeholders and, in doing so, provides needed refinement of the boundary of stakeholder theory's predictions. The upside for managers is guidance in distinguishing between the types of value-allocating behaviors that will lead to greater value creation in their firms and actions that …
Managing For Stakeholders, Stakeholder Utility Functions, And Competitive Advantage, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Douglas A. Bosse, Robert A. Phillips
Managing For Stakeholders, Stakeholder Utility Functions, And Competitive Advantage, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Douglas A. Bosse, Robert A. Phillips
Management Faculty Publications
A firm that manages for stakeholders allocates more resources to satisfying the needs and demands of its legitimate stakeholders than what is necessary to simply retain their willful participation in the productive activities of the firm. Firms that exhibit this sort of behavior develop trusting relationships with stakeholders based on principles of distributional, procedural and interactional justice. Under these conditions, stakeholders are more likely to share nuanced information regarding their utility functions, which increases the ability of the firm to allocate its resources to areas that will best satisfy them (thus increasing demand for business transactions with the firm). In …
What Stakeholder Theory Is Not, Robert A. Phillips, R. Edward Freeman, Andrew C. Wicks
What Stakeholder Theory Is Not, Robert A. Phillips, R. Edward Freeman, Andrew C. Wicks
Management Faculty Publications
The term "stakeholder" is a powerful one. this is due, to a significant degree, to its conceptual breadth. The term means many different things to many different people and hence evokes praise or scorn for a wide variety of scholars and practitioners of myriad academic disciplines and backgrounds. Such breadth of interpretation, though one of stakeholder theory's greatest strengths, is also one of its most prominent theoretical liabilities as a topic of reasoned discourse. Much of the power of stakeholder theory is a direct result of the fact that, when used unreflectively, its managerial prescriptions and implications are nearly limitless. …