Communication with stakeholders: An integrated approach

doi:10.1016/S0024-6301(98)00007-7

Long Range Planning

Volume 31, Issue 2, April 1998, Pages 227-238

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0024-6301(98)00007-7 Get rights and content

Abstract

The influence of all stakeholder groups on the values, beliefs, policies, decisions and management of organisations is on the rise and here to stay. This article examines the factors driving stakeholder power, and proposes steps that organisations can take to manage what are becoming increasingly complex relationships, both between groups and the company, and between the groups themselves. Prioritising the challenges and balancing and integrating the corporate response are the main themes.

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There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

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Exploring Unanticipated Consequences of Strategy Amongst Stakeholder Segments: The Case of a European Revenue Service
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Citation Excerpt :
Thus, the larger and more varied a stakeholder group is in terms of attitudes, interests and other biographical data, the more likely it is that responses will differ within that group (Jones et al., 2007; Husted and Allen, 2007; Jones and Fleming, 2003). Secondly, the nature of the issue around which strategic actions take place is also influential in eliciting either more heterogeneous or less heterogeneous responses amongst stakeholders (Lew and Sinkovics, forthcoming; Money et al., 2010; Godfrey, 2005; Scholes and Clutterbuck, 1998; Mitchell et al., 1997). Where stakeholder relationships are more complex and affected by other issues beyond the purely transactional then it is likely that attitudinal differences will arise amongst the stakeholder population (Hillenbrand and Money, 2009; Sen et al., 2006).
This article applies FIMIX-PLS segmentation methodology to detect and explore unanticipated reactions to organisational strategy among stakeholder segments. For many large organisations today, the tendency to apply a “one-size-fits-all” strategy to members of a stakeholder population, commonly driven by a desire for simplicity, efficiency and fairness, may actually result in unanticipated consequences amongst specific subgroups within the target population. This study argues that it is critical for organisations to understand the varying and potentially harmful effects of strategic actions across differing, and previously unidentified, segments within a stakeholder population. The case of a European revenue service that currently focuses its strategic actions on building trust and compliant behaviour amongst taxpayers is used as the context for this study. FIMIX-PLS analysis is applied to a sample of 501 individual taxpayers, while a novel PLS-based approach for assessing measurement model invariance that can be applied to both reflective and formative measures is also introduced for the purpose of multi-group comparisons. The findings suggest that individual taxpayers can be split into two equal-sized segments with highly differentiated characteristics and reactions to organisational strategy and communications. Compliant behaviour in the first segment (n = 223), labelled “relationships centred on trust,” is mainly driven through positive service experiences and judgements of competence, while judgements of benevolence lead to the unanticipated reaction of increasing distrust among this group. Conversely, compliant behaviour in the second segment (n = 278), labelled “relationships centred on distrust,” is driven by the reduction of fear and scepticism towards the revenue service, which is achieved through signalling benevolence, reduced enforcement and the lower incidence of negative stories. In this segment, the use of enforcement has the unanticipated and counterproductive effect of ultimately reducing compliant behaviour.
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Communication with stakeholders: An integrated approach

Abstract

The Winning Streak Mark II

Financial Times

Tomorrow's Company: the Role of Business in a Changing World

The Hungry Spirit

The Quality of Working Life