The role of organizational learning in stakeholder marketing

Abstract

As the roles of customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders, regulators, and communities become more significant in today's business environment, a precise understanding of the organization's internal drivers in delivering value to its stakeholders is critical. To this end, this study integrates stakeholder theory and the organizational learning literature to propose that stakeholder-focused organizational learning drives organizations to respond to their stakeholders. Using a sample of 349 organizations, we introduce three stakeholder-focused knowledge acquisition mechanisms (experiential, vicarious, and contact) and, along with the other organizational learning processes (information distribution, information interpretation, and organizational memory), examine their influence on the behavioral actions of stakeholder-focused responsiveness, innovation, and imitation. Subsequently, we assess the impact of these behavioral actions on organizational performance. Overall, the results show that stakeholder-focused organizational learning is positively associated with responsiveness. More uniquely, the propensity to employ innovative or imitative stakeholder practices is found to be influenced by the way the organization acquires information about stakeholders. Lastly, the findings suggest that simply responding to stakeholders does not guarantee superior performance, but the manner in which the organization responds matters just as much.

Does It Pay to Be Innovation and Imitation Oriented? An Examination of the Antecedents and Consequences of Innovation and Imitation Orientations

“…Against this mixed evidence, we believe that both orientations have their own merits to drive positive performance outcomes. Nonetheless, we further argue that innovation orientation likely results in higher firm performance than imitation orientation, as recent findings have suggested (Mena and Chabowski, ). In particular, although innovation may cost more than imitation, it emphasizes originality and breakthroughs, and is likely to shape customer preferences and further create barriers to entry (Drucker, ).…”

“…Lieberman and Montgomery (1988), for example, argue that first movers benefit from the early preemption of technology and resources, increased customer switching costs, and positive network effects, making it almost impossible for late movers to outperform them. Some recent research confirms the premise that innovation-oriented firms are likely to achieve superior performance (Mena and Chabowski, 2015). Other research, however, shows that imitators who learn from pioneers can substantially reduce their investment costs and eventually outperform the pioneers (Lieberman and Montgomery, 1998).…”

Eco-friendly product development strategy: antecedents, outcomes, and contingent effects

“…Specifically, some managers experienced limited change in product development effectiveness during the last year, but the majority reported considerable change in terms of improving or deteriorating product development outcomes. This choice is also consistent with common research practice in marketing (e.g., Mena and Chabowski 2015). Thus, 1 year later (t 2 ), we contacted the respondents again and asked them to provide data on product development effectiveness by completing a short follow-up questionnaire.…”

Effect of Stakeholders-Oriented Behavior on the Performance of Sustainable Business

“…In order to consolidate stakeholder-oriented behavior at the company, managers should collect information on stakeholder issues, disseminate this information company-wide, and both design and implement strategies to satisfy diverse stakeholder demands [141]. Stakeholder information collection should allow the identification of critical stakeholders, their demands, and the extent of organization influence in satisfying these demands.…”