Where is the Theory in Stakeholder Theory? A Meta-analysis of the Pluralism in Stakeholder Theory

Patzer, Moritz

doi:10.4337/9780857936349.00012

Cited by 16 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…Both practitioner and academic researcher aspects of measuring utility are relevant to this discussion. Our discussion of the measurement implications for academic research is positivist in the sense that we are assuming a process based on technical analysis in which researchers use large samples of data and statistical methods to explain observable phenomena (Scherer & Patzer, 2011). Thus, the measures described in that section will be fairly objective in nature but not as rich as what might be obtained through personal involvement.…”

Section: Measuring the Value Created Through A Firm's Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much attention has been paid to some basic themes that are now familiar in the literature-that firms have stakeholders and should proactively pay attention to them (i.e., Freeman, 1984), that stakeholder theory exists in tension (at least) with shareholder theory (i.e., Friedman, 1970), that stakeholder theory provides a vehicle for connecting ethics and strategy (i.e., Phillips, 2003), and that firms that diligently seek to serve the interests of a broad group of stakeholders will create more value over time (i.e., Campbell, 1997;Freeman, 1984;Freeman, Harrison & Wicks, 2009). Nevertheless, there are so many different interpretations of basic stakeholder ideas that theory development has been difficult (Scherer & Patzer, 2011).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Stakeholder Theory, Value, and Firm Performance

2013

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This paper argues that the notion of value has been overly simplified and narrowed to focus on economic retums. Stakeholder theory provides an appropriate lens for considering a more complex perspective of the value that stakeholders seek as well as new ways to measure it. We develop a four-factor perspective for defining value that includes, but extends beyond, the economic value stakeholders seek. To highlight its distinctiveness, we compare this perspective to three other popular performance perspectives. Recommendations are made regarding performance measurement for both academic researchers and practitioners. The stakeholder perspective on value offered in this paper draws attention to those factors that are most closely associated with building more value for stakeholders, and in so doing, allows academics to better measure it and enhances managerial ability to create it.

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Section: Measuring the Value Created Through A Firm's Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Stakeholder Theory, Value, and Firm Performance

2013

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“…Approaches to stakeholder theory range from those that define stakeholders broadly and address their multiple interests (including social interests), to those that focus strictly on creating value for a delimited set of stakeholders for the effective management of a firm (see Phillips, Freeman, & Wicks, 2003; Freeman et al, 2010; Harrison, Bosse, & Phillips, 2010; Harrison & Wicks, 2013). Thus, there are many perspectives on stakeholder theory, and even many variants of it (Scherer & Patzer, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stakeholder Judgments of Value

2016

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ABSTRACT:Although central to stakeholder theory, stakeholder value is surprisingly neglected in the literature. We draw upon prospect theory to show how stakeholder judgments of value depend crucially on the reference state, how there are several alternative reference states that may be operative when stakeholders judge value, how the choice of reference state for stakeholders’ value judgments can occur intuitively or deliberately, and how the level of the operant reference state may change with time and may also be incorrectly perceived by stakeholders or managers. Our theorizing results in a fundamentally different way of perceiving the value of corporate actions to stakeholders and shifts understanding of the avenues available for companies and others to influence stakeholder judgments of value. This novel perspective has implications both for theory and management practice, and not least for normative business ethics, if business is about stakeholder value creation.

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“…Kantian or Aristotelian approaches to organization studies are neglected; see Arnold and Bowie ; Solomon ). One can argue that ‘stakeholder theory’, for example, is not a clearly defined theory, but a discourse on descriptive, instrumental and normative perspectives on business firms and their relationships with stakeholders (see Donaldson and Preston ; Scherer and Patzer ). In this discourse, different and partly incoherent assumptions and approaches compete with each other.…”

Section: Frynas and Stephens’ Assessment: Its Contributions And Its Lmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, this paper questions Frynas and Stephens’ approach because of its conceptual ambiguity and normative vacuity and proposes an alternative agenda for research. It briefly describes the field, unfolds the critique and develops an alternative based on Scherer and Palazzo (, ) and other proponents of political CSR. The present paper goes beyond that literature, as (a) it is explicitly engaged with corporate political activity (CPA) scholarship, with Frynas and Stephens () as an important example, (b) the paper is broader, in that it also concerns domestic companies and public issues that do not have a transnational character, and (c) it explores further the concept of ‘politics’.…”

Section: Introduction: the Emergence Of Political Corporate Social Rementioning

confidence: 99%

Theory Assessment and Agenda Setting in Political CSR: A Critical Theory Perspective

Scherer

2017

Int J Management Reviews

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Frynas and Stephens (Political corporate social responsibility: reviewing theories and setting new agendas. International Journal of Management Reviews, 17, pp. 483-509, 2015) reviewed the literature on political corporate social responsibility (CSR). They described existing trends and suggested an agenda for future research. They attempted to develop 'a more inclusive pluralist research agenda in political CSR, which can integrate different perspectives on political CSR in order to account for different phenomena, including global governance changes at macro level, instrumental concerns at organizational level or cognitive dimensions at individual level, in both descriptive and normative terms'. This was an ambitious endeavour, given the rapid growth of the literature and the extensive heterogeneity of the field. There is much to like in Frynas and Stephens' paper, as it spans a broad range of perspectives and links together discrete research topics. In the present review, however, the author focuses on a number of critical aspects in their argument. Frynas and Stephens failed to define core concepts, to reveal their normative stance on CSR and their paradigmatic position, or to address the inherent conflict of values in political CSR. And they were too optimistic about the possibilities and benefits of 'integration'. The author suspects that their approach, when adopted in practice, will impede rather than promote social welfare. This paper starts with a brief summary of the field and continues by emphasizing critical issues in Frynas and Stephens' analysis. It concludes with an alternative agenda for research in political CSR.

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Where is the Theory in Stakeholder Theory? A Meta-analysis of the Pluralism in Stakeholder Theory

Cited by 16 publications

References 0 publications

Stakeholder Theory, Value, and Firm Performance

Stakeholder Theory, Value, and Firm Performance

Stakeholder Judgments of Value

Theory Assessment and Agenda Setting in Political CSR: A Critical Theory Perspective

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