From Silent to Salient Stakeholders: A Study of a Coffee Cooperative and the Dynamic of Social Relationships

Abstract

Theoretical and empirical research on stakeholder behavior tends to focus on specific actions or responses in the context of the organization–stakeholder relationship. Despite increased efforts to look beyond the dyadic organization–stakeholder relationship, research still favors the perspective of the focal organization. The taken-for-granted assumption of the organization–stakeholder relationship may limit our understanding of how organization–stakeholder linkages are formed and evolve over time. By adopting the perspective of the stakeholder, this article examines organization–stakeholder relationship formation and tracks changes in the salience of stakeholder groups otherwise considered to be nonstakeholders. This research draws from a case study of small coffee producers in Southern Mexico who formed a cooperative and developed salience within their stakeholder network after a long history of diverse individual, organizational, and institutional arrangements. The findings suggest that the replacement of bureaucratic stakeholder relationships (i.e., those based on inequality, transactions, and hierarchy) with relationships characterized by strong moral commitment to stakeholders’ claims (in this case, the improvement of the community’s economic and social welfare) enabled independent farmers to transform into an integrated, solid, and worldwide competitive group of coffee producers.

Ambidexterity strategies in illegitimate institutional contexts: the role of informal institutions

“…Our findings also suggest emerging internal and external powers at firms (i.e. subordinates and popular legitimators, respectively), referred as salient stakeholders that emerge during crises (Davila and Molina, 2017). These findings suggest that it is not sufficient for front-line managers in illegitimate institutional contexts to be competent at their jobs.…”

When Democratic Principles are not Enough: Tensions and Temporalities of Dialogic Stakeholder Engagement

“…Despite this, over time, the co-operative reduced the space for dialogue with its stakeholders, which some of them moved from being salient to silent (cf. Davila and Molina 2015). In the case of the suppliers, while initially the relationships were characterised by specific concessions (Skilton and Purdy 2017) based also on reciprocal needs, the power structure of the co-operative became stronger over time.…”

Stakeholder Engagement analysis and performance over time

“…According to Davila and Molina (2017) the assumption taken for granted in the organization-stakeholder relationship can limit our understanding of how the relationships between the parties are formed and how they evolve over time. We know little about what takes place in the relationship with stakeholders, which is essential to understanding how value is created for various stakeholders (Freeman et al, 2017).…”