Stakeholder Theory Classification: A Theoretical and Empirical Evaluation of Definitions

Journal of Business Ethics

Volumn 142, Issue 3, 2017, Pages 437-459

  Miles, Samantha ^a  

^a OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Classification; Essentially contested concepts; Stakeholder classification; Stakeholder definitions; Stakeholder identification; Stakeholder theory

Indexed keywords

EID: 84936797059     PISSN: 01674544     EISSN: 15730697     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10551-015-2741-y     Document Type: Article

References (131)

1. Aaltonen, K., & Kujala, J. (2010). A project lifecycle perspective on stakeholder influence strategies in global projects. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 26, 381–397.
2. Adelman, I., & Morris, C. T. (1965). A factor analysis of the interrelationship between social and political variables and per capita gross national product. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 79(4), 555–578.
3. Agle, B. R., Mitchell, R. K., & Sonnenfeld, J. A. (1999). Who matters to CEOs? An investigation of stakeholder attributes and salience, corporate performance and CEO values. Academy of Management Journal, 42(5), 507–525.
4. Alkhafaji, A. F. (1989). A stakeholder approach to corporate governance; managing in a dynamic environment. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.
5. Almond, G. A. (1956). Comparative political systems. The Journal of Politics, 18(3), 391–409.
6. Barton, S. L., Hill, N. C., & Sundaram, S. (1989). An empirical test of stakeholder theory predictions of capital structure. Financial Management, 18, 36–44.
7. Boatright, J. R. (2000). Ethics and the conduct of business (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
8. Boonstra, A., & Govers, M. J. G. (2009). Understanding ERP system implementation in a hospital by analysing stakeholders. New Technology, Work and Employment, 24(2), 177–193.
9. Bosse, D. A., Phillips, R. A., & Harrison, J. S. (2009). Stakeholders, reciprocity, and firm performance. Strategic Management Journal, 30, 447–456.
10. Bourne, L., & Walker, D. H. T. (2005). Visualising and mapping stakeholder influence. Management Decision, 43, 649–660.
11. Bowmann-Larsen, L., & Wiggen, O. (2004). Responsibility in world business: Managing harmful side-effects of corporate activity. New York: United Nations University Press.
12. Brenner S. N. (1993). The stakeholder theory of the firm and organizational decision making: Some propositions and a model. In J. Pasqueroa & D. Collins (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Meeting of the International Association for Business and Society. San Diego.
13. Buysse, K., & Verbeke, A. (2003). Proactive environmental strategies: a stakeholder management perspective. Strategic Management Journal, 24(5), 453–470.
14. Carroll, A. B. (1989). Business & society: Ethics and stakeholder management. Cincinnati: South-Western Publishing Company.
15. Carson, T. L. (1993). Does the stakeholder theory constitute a new kind of theory of social responsibility? Business Ethics Quarterly, 3(2), 171–176.
16. Choi, N., & Majumdar, S. (2014). Social entrepreneurship as an essentially contested concept: Opening a new avenue for systematic future research. Journal of Business Venturing, 29(3), 363–376.
17. Clarkson, M. E. (1994). Risk-based model of stakeholder theory. Toronto: The Centre for Corporate Social Performance and Ethics.
18. Clarkson, M. E. (1995). A stakeholder framework for analyzing and evaluating corporate social performance. Academy of Management Journal, 20(1), 92–118.
19. Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics. (1999). Principles of stakeholder management, Joseph L. Rotman school of management, University of Toronto, Toronto. Reproduced in 2002. Business Ethics Quarterly, 12(1), 256–264.
20. Clifton, D., & Amran, A. (2011). The stakeholder approach: A sustainability perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 98, 121–136.
21. Cornell, B., & Shapiro, A. C. (1987). Corporate stakeholders and corporate finance. Financial Management, 16(1), 5–14.
22. Crane, A., & Ruebottom, T. (2011). Stakeholder theory and social identity: Rethinking stakeholder identification. Journal of Business Ethics, 102, 77–87.
23. Darnall, N., Henriques, I., & Sadorsky, P. (2010). Adopting proactive environmental strategy: the influence of stakeholders and firm size. Journal of Management Studies, 47(6), 1072–1094.
24. de Bakker, F. G. A., & den Hond, F. (2008). Introducing the politics of stakeholder influence. Business and Society, 47(1), 8–20.
25. Dimovski, B., & Brooks, R. (2004). Stakeholder representation on the boards of Australian initial public offerings. Applied Financial Economics, 14, 233–1238.
26. Donaldson, T., & Preston, L. E. (1995). The stakeholder theory of the corporation: concepts evidence and implications. Academy of Management Review, 20, 65–92.
27. Driscoll, C., & Starik, M. (2004). The primordial stakeholder: advancing the conceptual consideration of stakeholder status for the natural environment. Journal of Business Ethics, 49, 55–74.
28. Emshoff, J. R & Freeman, R. E. (1978). Stakeholder management. Working paper July, Wharton Applied Research Center, University of Pennsylvania.
29. Evan, W. M., & Freeman, R. E. (1988). A stakeholder theory of the modern corporation: Kantian capitalism. In T. L. Beauchamp & N. E. Bowie (Eds.), Ethical theory and business. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
30. Fassin, Y. (2009). The stakeholder model refined. Journal of Business Ethics, 84, 113–135.
31. Ferrell, O. C., & Ferrell, L. (2009). An enterprise-wide strategic stakeholder approach to sales ethics. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 17(3–4), 257–270.
32. Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Boston: Pitman Publishing.
33. Freeman, R. E. (1994). The politics of stakeholder theory: Some future directions. Business Ethics Quarterly, 4, 409–421.
34. Freeman, R. E. (1997). A stakeholder theory of the modern corporation. In T. L. Beauchamp & N. E. Bowie (Eds.), Ethical theory and business. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
35. Freeman, R. E., & Evan, W. M. (1990). Corporate governance: A stakeholder interpretation. Journal of Behavioral Economics, 19, 337–359.
36. Freeman, R. E., Harrison, J. S., Wicks, A. C., Parmar, B. L., & DeColle, S. (2010). Stakeholder theory: The state of the art. New York: Cambridge University Press.
37. Freeman, R. E., & Reed, D. L. (1983). Stockholders and stakeholders: A new perspective on corporate governance. California Management Review, 25(3), 88–106.
38. Friedman, M. (1970). The social responsibility of a firm is to increase its profits. The New York Times Magazine, 13, 32–33.
39. Friedman, A. L., & Miles, S. (2002). Developing stakeholder theory. Journal of Management Studies, 39(1), 1–21.
40. Friedman, A. L., & Miles, S. (2006). Stakeholders: Theory and practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
41. Frooman, J. (1999). Stakeholder influence strategies. Academy of Management Review, 24, 191–205.
42. Frooman, J., & Murrell, A. J. (2005). Stakeholder influence strategies: The roles of structural and demographic determinants. Business and Society, 44(1), 3–31.
43. Gallie, W. B. (1956). Essentially contested concepts. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 56, 167–198.
44. Gilbert, D. U., & Rasche, A. (2008). Opportunities and problems of standardised ethics initiatives: A stakeholder theory perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 82, 755–773.
45. Goodpaster, K. E. (1991). Business ethics and stakeholder analysis. Business Ethics Quarterly, 1(1), 53–73.
46. Gray, J. N. (1977). On the contestability of social and political concepts. Political Theory, 5(3), 331–348.
47. Greenwood, M., & De Cieri, H. (2006). Stakeholder theory and the ethics of human resource management. In A. Pinnington, R. Macklin, & T. Campbell (Eds.), Ethics in human resource management and employment relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
48. Hanly, K. (1992). Hostile takeovers and methods of defense: A stakeholder analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 11, 895–913.
49. Hart, S. L., & Sharma, S. (2004). Engaging fringe stakeholders for competitive imagination. Academy of Management Executive, 18, 7–18.
50. Harzing, A. W. (2013). Journal quality list. Retrieved from http://www.harzing.com/jql.htm.
51. Heaton, P., Miles, S., & Duhan, S. (2012). Dynamic mapping of stakeholders for dealing with plant closure complexity. Social Business, 2(2), 95–119.
52. Henriques, I., & Sadorsky, P. (1999). The relationship between environmental commitment and managerial perceptions of stakeholder importance. Academy of Management Journal, 42(1), 87–99.
53. Heugens, P. P. M. A. R., & van Oosterhout, H. (2002). The confines of stakeholder management: Evidence from the Dutch manufacturing sector. Journal of Business Ethics, 40, 387–403.
54. Hill, C. W. L., & Jones, T. W. (1992). Stakeholder-agency theory. Journal of Management Studies, 29(2), 131–154.
55. Hofsted, G. (1984). Cultural dimensions in management and planning. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 1, 81–99.
56. Jacobs, M. (2006). Sustainable development as a contested concept. In A. Dobson (Ed.), Fairness and futurity: Essays on environmental sustainability and social justice (pp. 21–45). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
57. Jensen, M. C. (1983). Organization theory and methodology. Accounting Review, 8, 319–339.
58. Jones, T. M. (1995). Instrumental stakeholder theory: A synthesis of ethics and economics. Academy of Management Review, 20, 404–438.
59. Jones, T. M., & Wicks, A. C. (1999). Convergent stakeholder theory. Academy of Management Review, 24(2), 206–221.
60. Kaler, J. (2002). Morality and strategy in stakeholder identification. Journal of Business Ethics, 39, 91–100.
61. Kaler, J. (2003). Differentiating stakeholder theories. Journal of Business Ethics, 46, 71–83.
62. Kaler, J. (2009). An optimally viable version of stakeholder theory. Journal of Business Ethics, 86, 297–312.
63. Key, S. (1999). Toward a new theory of the firm: A critique of stakeholder ‘‘theory’’. Management Decision, 37(4), 317–328.
64. Knox, S., & Gruar, C. (2007). The application of stakeholder theory to relationship marketing strategy development in a non-profit organization. Journal of Business Ethics, 75, 115–135.
65. Laan, G., Ees, H., & Witteloostuijn, A. (2008). Corporate social and financial performance: An extended stakeholder theory, and empirical test with accounting measures. Journal of Business Ethics, 79, 299–310.
66. Langtry, B. (1994). Stakeholders and the moral responsibilities of the firm. Business Ethics Quarterly, 4, 431–443.
67. Laplume, A. O., Sonpar, K., & Litz, R. A. (2008). Stakeholder theory: Reviewing a theory that moves us. Journal of Management, 34(6), 1152–1189.
68. Lawrence, A. T. (2010). Managing disputes with nonmarket stakeholders: wage a fight, withdraw, wait, or work it out? California Management Review, 53(1), 90–113.
69. Lea, D. (2004). The imperfect nature of corporate responsibilities to stakeholders. Business Ethics Quarterly, 14, 201–217.
70. Lehmann, A. (2013). Quality and Governance in High Frequency Trading Systems. University of Oslo, Department of Informatics.
71. Luoma, P., & Goodstein, J. (1999). Research notes: Stakeholders and corporate boards: institutional influences on board composition and structure. Academy of Management Journal, 42(5), 553–563.
72. Madsen, H., & Ulhøi, J. P. (2001). Integrating environmental and stakeholder management. Business Strategy and the Environment, 10(2), 77–88.
73. Mahoney, J. (1994). Stakeholder responsibilities: turning the ethical tables. Business Ethics: A European Review, 3(4), 31–35.
74. Maignan, I., Ferrell, O. C., & Ferrell, L. (2005). A stakeholder model for implementing social responsibility in marketing. European Journal of Marketing, 39, 956–977.
75. Maignan, I., Gonzalez-Padron, T. L., Tomas, G., Hult, M., & Ferrell, O. C. (2011). Stakeholder orientation: development and testing of a framework for socially responsible marketing. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 19(4), 313–338.
76. Mainardes, E. W., Alves, H., & Raposo, M. (2012). A model for stakeholder classification and stakeholder relationships. Management Decision, 50(10), 1861–1879.
77. Marcoux, A. M. (2003). A fiduciary argument against stakeholder theory. Business Ethics Quarterly, 13, 1–24.
78. McLarney, C. (2002). Stepping into the light: Stakeholder impact on competitive adaptation. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 15, 255–272.
79. Merrilees, B., Getz, D., & O’Brien, D. (2005). Marketing stakeholder analysis: Branding the Brisbane goodwill games. European Journal of Marketing, 39, 1060–1077.
80. Miles, S. (2011). Stakeholder definitions: profusion and confusion. EIASM 1st interdisciplinary conference on stakeholders, resources and value creation, IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Barcelona.
81. Miles, S. (2012). Stakeholders: Essentially contested or just confused? Journal of Business Ethics, 108, 285–298.
82. Miller, R. L., & Lewis, W. F. (1991). A stakeholder approach to marketing management using the value exchange models. European Journal of Marketing, 25(8), 55–68.
83. Mir, M. Z., & Rahaman, A. S. (2011). In pursuit of environmental excellence: A stakeholder analysis of the environmental management strategies and performance of an Australian energy company. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 24(7), 848–878.
84. Mitchell, R. K. (2012). Book review: Stakeholder theory: impacts and prospects. Organization Studies, 33(10), 1407–1411.
85. Mitchell, R. K., Agle, B. R., & Wood, D. J. (1997). Towards a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: Defining the principle of who and what really counts. Academy of Management Review, 22, 853–886.
86. Mitroff, I. I. (1983). Stakeholders of the organizational mind. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
87. Murray, K. B., & Vogel, C. M. (1997). Using a hierarchy-of effects approach to gauge the effectiveness of corporate social responsibility to generate goodwill toward the firm: Financial versus non-financial impacts. Journal of Business Research, 38, 141–159.
88. Nair, R. D., & Frank, W. G. (1980). The impact of disclosure and measurement practices on international accounting classifications. Accounting Review, 55, 426–450.
89. Nobes, C. W. (1983). A judgmental international classification of financial reporting practices. Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 10(1), 1–19.
90. Nuti, D. M. (1997). Democracy and economy: What role for stakeholders? Business Strategy Review, 8(2), 14–20.
91. Ojala, J., & Luoma-aho, V. (2008). Stakeholder relations as social capital in early modern international trade. Business History, 50(6), 749–764.
92. Okoye, A. (2009). ‘Theorising corporate social responsibility as an essentially contested concept: Is a definition necessary? Journal of Business Ethics, 89, 613–627.
93. O’Riordan, L., & Fairbrass, J. (2008). Corporate social responsibility (CSR): Models and theories in stakeholder dialogue. Journal of Business Ethics, 83, 745–758.
94. Orts, E. W., & Strudler, A. (2002). The ethical and environmental limits of stakeholder theory. Business Ethics Quarterly, 12(2), 215–234.
95. Orts, E. W., & Strudler, A. (2009). Putting a stake in stakeholder theory. Journal of Business Ethics, 88, 605–615.
96. Patton, M. Q. (1978). Utilization-focused evaluation. Beverly Hills: Sage.
97. Pfeffer, J., & Salancik, G. R. (1978). The external control of organizations: A resource dependence perspective. New York: Harper and Row.
98. Phillips, R. A. (1997). Stakeholder theory and a principle of fairness. Business Ethics Quarterly, 7, 51–66.
99. Phillips, R. A. (1999). On stakeholder delimitation. Business and Society, 38, 32–34.
100. Phillips, R. A. (2003). Stakeholder legitimacy. Business Ethics Quarterly, 13, 25–41.
101. Phillips, R. A., Freeman, R. E., & Wicks, A. C. (2003). What stakeholder theory is not. Business Ethics Quarterly, 13(4), 479–502.
102. Post, J. E., Preston, L. E., & Sachs, S. (2002). Redefining the corporation: Stakeholder management and organizational wealth. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
103. Rasche, A., & Esser, D. E. (2006). From stakeholder management to stakeholder accountability. Journal of Business Ethics, 65, 251–267.
104. Roberts, A. D. (1995). The very idea of classification in international accounting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 20, 639–664.
105. Roberts, R. W., & Mahoney, L. (2004). Stakeholder conceptions of the corporation: Their meaning and influence in accounting research. Business Ethics Quarterly, 14, 399–431.
106. Rowley, T. J. (1997). Moving beyond dyadic ties: A network theory of stakeholder influences. Academy of Management Review, 22, 885–910.
107. Rowley, T. J., & Moldoveanu, M. (2003). When will stakeholder groups act? An interest and identity based model of stakeholder group mobilization. Academy of Management Review, 28(2), 204–219.
108. Sachs, S., & Maurer, M. (2009). Toward dynamic corporate stakeholder responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 85, 535–544.
109. Savage, G. T., Nix, T. W., Whitehead, C. J., & Blair, J. D. (1991). Strategies for assessing and managing organizational stakeholders. Academy of Management Executive, 5(2), 61–75.
110. Schneider, M. (2002). A stakeholder model of organizational leadership. Organization Science, 13(2), 209–220.
111. Schneper, W. D., & Guillén, M. (2004). Stakeholder rights and corporate governance: A cross-national study of hostile takeovers. Administrative Science Quarterly, 49, 263–295.
112. Seidler, L. J. (1967). International accounting—the ultimate theory course. The Accounting Review, 42, 775–781.
113. Shankman, N. A. (1999). Reframing the debate between agency and stakeholder theories of the firm. Journal of Business Ethics, 19, 319–334.
114. Sirgy, M. J. (2002). Measuring corporate performance by building on the stakeholder’s model of business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 35, 143–162.
115. Solomon, M. R., & Buchanan, B. (1991). A role-theoretic approach to product symbolism: Mapping a consumption constellation. Journal of Business Research, 22, 95–109.
116. SRI (Stanford Research Institute). (1963). Internal memo (unpublished). Stanford Research Institute, California, USA.
117. Starik, M. (1995). Should trees have managerial standing? Towards stakeholder status for nonhuman nature. Journal of Business Ethics, 14, 207–217.
118. Sternberg, E. (1997). The defects of stakeholder theory. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 5, 3–10.
119. Stoney, C., & Winstanley, D. (2001). Stakeholding: confusion or Utopia? Mapping the conceptual terrain. Journal of Management Studies, 38(5), 603–626.
120. Swanton, C. (1985). On the “essential contestedness” of political concepts. Ethics, 95(4), 811–827.
121. Teklemariama, D., Azadi, H., Nyssena, J., Haile, M., & Witloxa, F. (2015). Transnational land deals: Towards an inclusive land governance framework. Land Use Policy, 42, 781–789.
122. Thomasson, A. (2009). Exploring the ambiguity of hybrid organizations: a stakeholder approach. Financial Accountability & Management, 25(3), 353–366.
123. Thompson, J. K., Wartick, S. L., & Smith, H. L. (1991). Integrating corporate social performance and stakeholder management: Implications for a research agenda in small business. Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy, 12, 207–230.
124. Trinkaus, J., & Giacalone, J. (2005). The silence of the stakeholders: Zero decibel level at Enron. Journal of Business Ethics, 58, 237–248.
125. Unerman, J., & Bennett, M. (2004). Increased stakeholder dialogue and the internet: towards greater corporate accountability or reinforcing capital hegemony? Accounting, Organizations and Society, 29, 685–707.
126. Van Buren, H. J, I. I. I. (2001). If fairness is the problem, is consent the solution? Integrating ISCT and stakeholder theory. Business Ethics Quarterly, 11(3), 481–499.
127. Vazquez-Brust, D. A., Liston-Heyes, C., Plaza-Úbeda, J. A., & Burgos-Jiménez, J. (2010). Stakeholders pressures and strategic prioritisation: An empirical analysis of environmental responses in Argentinean firms. Journal of Business Ethics, 91, 171–192.
128. Vinten, G. (2000). The stakeholder manager. Management Decisions, 38, 377–383.
129. Wheeler, D., & Sillanpää, M. (1997). The stakeholder corporation: A blueprint for maximizing stakeholder value. London: Pitman Publishing.
130. Wicks, A. C., Gilbert, D. R, Jr, & Freeman, R. E. (1994). A feminist reinterpretation of the stakeholder concept. Business Ethics Quarterly, 4, 475–497.
131. Woodward, D. G., Edwards, P., & Birkin, F. (1996). Organizational legitimacy and stakeholder information provision. British Journal of Management, 7(4), 329–347.