Using Exemplary Business Practices to Identify Buddhist and Confucian Ethical Value Systems1

Initially, a brief history of Buddhism and Confucianism describes for the reader a framework developed to determine right versus wrong action and to guide followers of these religions to do the right thing in social or business practice. In addition, this article uncovers exemplary business practices grounded in Buddhist and Confucian ethical values system and practiced in the global business arena and uses these discoveries to describe an application of Buddhist and Confucian ethical values systems. The result is the recognition that these ethical values systems have an honorable and moral place in global business practice.     

Corporate Governance in Asian Countries: Has Confucianism Anything to Offer?

Although Confucianism is a resilient cultural tradition in Asian societies, its role in their corporate governance systems is ambiguous. Confucian values have been pushed to the periphery because of a preoccupation in these countries to emulate corporate governance systems from the West. This article argues that Confucianism has much to offer in enhancing director conduct and corporate governance standards. As the attention of the global business community turns eastwards, it is opportune to revive interest in Confucianism and to explore ways in which it can be integrated formally into companies' governance systems.     

Stakeholder Theory: The State of the Art

Abstract

For the last 30 years a growing number of scholars and practitioners have been experimenting with concepts and models that facilitate our understanding of the complexities of today’s business challenges. Among these, “stakeholder theory” or “stakeholder thinking” has emerged as a new narrative to understand and remedy three interconnected business problems—the problem of understanding how value is created and traded, the problem of connecting ethics and capitalism, and the problem of helping managers think about management such that the first two problems are addressed. In this article, we review the major uses and adaptations of stakeholder theory across a broad array of disciplines such as business ethics, corporate strategy, finance, accounting, management, and marketing. We also evaluate and suggest future directions in which research on stakeholder theory can continue to provide useful insights into the practice of sustainable and ethical value creation.     

A stakeholder perspective on process improvement behaviours: delivering the triple bottom line in SMEs

Abstract

The primary focus of operations management is to add value through operational processes. Considerable attention has been given to using process improvement (PI) techniques to reduce costs and time, in order to develop a competitive advantage for the wider organization. However, this narrow definition of value at times overlooks the triple bottom line (TBL) which can result in a number of unintended consequences, specifically issues related to environmental and social measures of performance. To address this, a stakeholder theory lens will be used to analyze PI activities within the context of small and medium-sized enterprises. The TBL will be used to complement the stakeholder perspective, to interpret the benefits that are realized from PI activities. This article highlights both the direct benefits from PI as well as more indirect benefits realized by involving a selection of salient stakeholders in PI. It will show how a developed view of PI can provide an important mechanism for delivering improvements to a firm’s TBL. The work concludes by highlighting the contributions made to both PI practice and stakeholder theory, while acknowledging the need for more research on PI, both from a stakeholder perspective and how it impacts a firm’s TBL.     

The Impact of Stakeholder Management on Corporate International Diversification

This article explores the relationship between stakeholder management and international diversification. We differentiate between strengths and concerns in stakeholder management to demonstrate the differential effects of the two aspects of stakeholder management. Previous research on stakeholder theory often focuses on the importance of stakeholder relations, trying to build a business case of relational capital that results from strong stakeholder management. Such a relational approach, however, overlooks the process of managing stakeholders, a process that allows firms with strengths in stakeholder management to develop an important capability of managing tensions. In this study, we argue that this capability, an inherent part of stakeholder management, can be critical when firms face increased complexity during the process of international diversification. We therefore propose that strengths in stakeholder management are positively related to international diversification, while concerns in stakeholder management are negatively related to international diversification. Using panel data for 169 US multinational firms over a 10‐year period, we find support that strengths in stakeholder management facilitate international diversification. We discuss the contributions of our findings to stakeholder theory and international business research.     

Corporate Governance: Stakeholder Value Versus Shareholder Value

Unsatisfied with the dominatingshareholders' point of view, that appears to betoo limited to build a relevant theory ofcorporate governance, we propose an enlargeddefinition of the value which may be called,the stakeholder value. This definition and itsassociated measure are more suitable for thestakeholder approach to the firm and morerelevant to understand the value creation andsharing mechanisms.     

Accounting information for managerial decision-making in shareholder management versus stakeholder management

With global challenges like climate change and, of course, the crisis of capital markets in the recent past stakeholder oriented management receives enhanced attention whereas shareholder value management is increasingly criticized for its undesirable external effects on stakeholders other than owners. Regardless of whether these criticisms are well founded or not, the question arises how accounting-related techniques for supporting managerial decision-making differ in shareholder and stakeholder value management. Accounting information can affect managerial decision-making in two ways: directly as input to decisions or indirectly by influencing the behavior of managers. This article reviews the contributions and limitations of information that prominent accounting-related techniques of shareholder management and stakeholder management provide for managerial decision-making. In a comparative perspective we find that the approaches in shareholder value management are much more advanced. In particular the two roles of information in shareholder value management are manifest in accounting-related techniques which are focused on increasing firm value. The value driver models or residual income-based performance measures may serve as examples. In comparison, accounting-related techniques to support managerial decision-making in stakeholder management are not as well advanced. So far we have approaches which concentrate on selective stakeholder groups and only partially address the multi-dimensionality of stakeholder value creation. From a conceptual perspective our findings indicate that stakeholder value creation requires a more integrated approach for answering the question whether stakeholder value is created or diminished. As a consequence, if stakeholder-orientation is taken seriously, the time has come to pay more attention to related accounting techniques.     

Confucian philosophy and influence on perceived values and behavioural orientations by Taiwan’s millennials

This study examines the millennials’ perceptions of Confucianism and their influence on their personal values and behavioural orientations with a sample from Taiwan to address the research gap in intergenerational and intercultural human resource development (HRD) research. It complements results from western research and offers important insights to worldwide managers and HRD practitioners for talent development and learning-related initiatives when working with employees and organizations with East Asia backgrounds. The concept of Confucius’ process of developing into a virtuous person seems to be rooted in the Taiwanese millennials’ mind, who as guided by Confucius tend to have a primary focus on accumulating knowledge, practicing moral behaviour, and correcting one’s mind and behaviour. Along with the globalization and technology advancement, the sampled millennials hold a strong traditional values of Confucian philosophy; yet, such strong cultural values may be attenuated a great deal after exposing to western culture over times. The Confucian virtue (moral) behaviour practice, harmonious relations, and self-cultivation are found as top three factors of Confucian values. Implications for HRD practices and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Ethics as Politics: Federal Ethics as the Basis for a ‘Normative’ Stakeholder Theory

This paper argues that business ethics needs to deal more effectively with situations in which stakeholder interests conflict – the essence of politics. The nature of conflicting interests and the inability of current theory to deal with conflict are explored. Federal ethics is offered as a promising approach to conflict in stakeholder relations. The paper begins by tracing the development of federal theory and then defines the central value of federal ethics – fidelity. Building on the work of Gabriel Marcel, I ground an ethic of fidelity in consent and creativity. The distinctive features of this approach are highlighted by contrasting it with integrative social contracts theory. Unlike traditional approaches, federal ethics provides a focus on process, rather than principle, which lends itself better to the essentially political nature of stakeholders in conflict. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Linking Entrepreneurial Orientation to Environmental Collaboration: A Stakeholder Theory and Evidence from Multinational Companies in an Emerging Market

Revisiting stakeholder theory as a potential theory of the firm giving rise to expectations about organizing, we analyze when and under what circumstances entrepreneurially oriented firms increase their environmental collaboration with suppliers. Specifically, we investigate the association between entrepreneurial orientation and environmental collaboration with suppliers by accounting for the degree of employees’ work engagement and market environment complexity as stakeholder-oriented moderators of this relationship. We test our hypotheses using multi-level analyses on 249 managers nested in 66 multinational companies (MNCs) in Turkey. We find that entrepreneurial orientation positively impacts environmental collaboration with suppliers. A high level of work engagement (as an organizing principle favouring a stakeholder focus) and a low level of market environment complexity (as an organizing principle favouring the customer as an instrumental stakeholder) moderate this linkage. We enrich the debate on entrepreneurial orientation, strategy, and environmental sustainability by providing logic rooted in stakeholder theory of the conditions under which MNCs’ entrepreneurial orientation in emerging markets prioritizes and privileges environmental collaboration with suppliers.     

Squeezing or cuddling? The impact of economic crises on management control and stakeholder management

This paper analyzes the effects of economic crises on firms’ use of management control mechanisms and on their management of stakeholder relations. Moreover, the association between stakeholder management and management control system use is analyzed. In the wake of the economic crisis of 2008/2009, many firms were faced with severe threats that called for immediate short-term action to ensure firm survival. However, short-term action like massive cost-cutting and cash generation often are blamed for going at the expense of long-term health as key stakeholder relations may be irreversibly harmed. Hence, three interrelated questions are addressed theoretically and empirically: First, we analyze the impact of the recent economic crisis on firms’ control strategies. More specifically, we investigate whether a high crisis impact on firms is associated with a shortening of reporting cycles, a more interactive use of control-relevant information, restriction of employee autonomy and a focus on liquidity and cost-cutting. Second, we examine from the viewpoint of stakeholder theory how firms can make use of active stakeholder management for crisis management. Third, we explore whether firms can take short-term measures for ensuring liquidity and cutting costs and at the same time pursue a stakeholder strategy aiming at the long-term survival of the firm. Using survey data from 204 major Austrian corporations, we provide evidence that firms significantly adjusted their control systems as a response to the economic crisis. Our data do not indicate an immanent contradiction between a “short-term finance focus” and the pursuit of a sustainable stakeholder strategy.     

Corporate Profit,Social Welfare,and the Logic of Capitalism

Business ethics scholars have proposed strategies for mitigating the ill effects brought on by a wealth maximization business strategy by urging managers to either embrace corporate social responsibility (CSR) or to manage according to stakeholder theory. In this article I argue that these strategies are often ineffective in bringing about the behavior they promote because it is antithetical to the nature and logic of capitalism. I examine the organizing principles of capitalism and the role it assigns to capitalists, and juxtapose these with the behavior prescribed by three normative frameworks: strategic management theory (SMT), the CSR initiative, and stakeholder theory. Unlike the behaviors prescribed by the CSR initiative and stakeholder management theory, the behavior prescribed by SMT is consistent with the role of capitalists as defined by the organizing principles of capitalism, and SMT's “rules” have instilled habits that have, in turn, been able to mold managers’ aspirations and purposes. CSR and stakeholder theory must not only combat the habits instilled by the entrenched SMT, they must also find some way of instilling habits that run contrary to those defined by the nature and logic of capitalism itself.     

Reconstruction of decision-making behavior in shareholder and stakeholder theory: implications for management accounting systems

This paper focuses on two interrelated research questions. First, an analysis of managerial decision-making is incorporated into shareholder and stakeholder theory. Secondly, the paper investigates what consequences result for management accounting from inherent conceptions of managerial decision-making behavior. These research questions are based on assumptions of complex interrelationships among decision-making managers, management accountants, and techniques they employ. The findings of this research support that tenets of management accounting systems correspond best with shareholder theory. In doing so they apply financial measures, pursue the goal of profit maximization, and focus on decision-making behavior resulting from the agency relationship between shareholder and manager. Stakeholder theory, however, is fundamentally different from shareholder theory in terms of goals, management philosophy, relationships, behavioral assumptions etc. For these reasons differences with respect to managerial decision-making behavior are reasonable and different requirements related to management accounting systems appear appropriate.     

A Theory of the Stakeholder Corporation

There is a widely held view within the general public that large corporations should act in the interests of a broader group of agents than just their shareholders (the stakeholder view). This paper presents a framework where this idea can be justified. The point of departure is the observation that a large firm typically faces endogenous risks that may have a significant impact on the workers it employs and the consumers it serves. These risks generate externalities on these stakeholders which are not internalized by shareholders. As a result, in the competitive equilibrium, there is under‐investment in the prevention of these risks. We suggest that this under‐investment problem can be alleviated if firms are instructed to maximize the total welfare of their stakeholders rather than shareholder value alone (stakeholder equilibrium). The stakeholder equilibrium can be implemented by introducing new property rights (employee rights and consumer rights) and instructing managers to maximize the total value of the firm (the value of these rights plus shareholder value). If there is only one firm, the stakeholder equilibrium is Pareto optimal. However, this is not true with more than one firm and/or heterogeneous agents, which illustrates some of the limits of the stakeholder model.     

利益相关者关系视角下考虑非期望产出的商业银行效率问题研究

商业银行效率评价及影响因素分析一直是学术界和实务界研究的热点问题,但尚未有文献从利益相关者视角展开研究。本文运用SBM模型对考虑非期望产出的商业银行效率评价问题进行了分析。结合契约理论、商业银行生产函数、期望理论的分析,得出利益相关者关系是影响考虑非期望产出的商业银行效率的关键变量,并构建了分析两者关系的Tobit模型。在此基础上,选取我国2004-2011年14家代表性商业银行为样本,对考虑非期望产出的商业银行效率的评价与影响因素问题进行实证研究,结果表明,利益相关者关系是影响考虑非期望产出的我国商业银行效率的关键因素。     

Zombies and Originals: How Cultural Theory Informs Stakeholder Management

The question of stakeholder salience has recently resurfaced in the suggestion that the ethical foundations of corporate cultures result in stakeholder cultures that largely explain how firms allocate resources among stakeholders. The present article seeks to complement this novel approach to understanding stakeholder management by adding insights from the multilevel influences that create the corporate culture in the first place, and ultimately affect managers in their stakeholder decisions. This article draws on cultural theory to examine how the individuals who compose firms present group and grid solidarity that results in cultural biases in the corporate culture. These cultural biases—individualism, hierarchy, fatalism, and egalitarianism—are then paired with the stakeholder cultures they enable, and inferences are extracted concerning the salience managers are likely to accord to various classes of stakeholders as a result. Future research and managerial implications stemming from this new view on stakeholder management conclude this article.     

Managerial Networking and Stakeholder Support in Public Service Organizations

Resource dependence theory suggests that to function successfully, organizations must obtain certain resources controlled by actors in their environment. To do this effectively, managers often develop networking relationships with key stakeholder groups in order to make critical resources available. Managers in public service organizations, in particular, are frequently under great pressure to network with relevant actors from stakeholder groups in order to build support for service (co)production and legitimacy for strategic and operational decisions. To identify networking strategies which are conducive to stakeholder support, we explore the networking behaviour of over 1,000 English local government managers. Fuzzy cluster analysis identifies four distinctive, though inter-related types of managerial networking: technical, reputational, political, and tokenistic. The cluster membership functions from this analysis are used to examine the relationship between types of networking and stakeholder support in depth. The results of hierarchical regression analysis suggest that technically-orientated networking is the most conducive to stakeholder support, with tokenistic networking the least conducive.     

Beneficiary participation as an instrument of downward accountability: A multiple case study

In this study, the focus is on nonprofit organizations’ (NPOs’) beneficiary participation mechanisms, a component of downward accountability, and surprisingly seldom studied in the NPO governance literature. We address this gap in a combined stakeholder/contingency framework by investigating, with a multiple case design, the perceived quality of beneficiary participation mechanisms (8 Belgian NPOs in 4 industries, 35 semi-structured interviews, 13 focus groups, organizational documents, and 713 questionnaires).The following conclusions can be drawn. In general, beneficiaries are recognized as very important stakeholders. Several of our observations document the positive image board, (middle) management and (nonpaid) employees have of beneficiary participation mechanisms in place. Also, all board members and managers are open to the idea of beneficiaries’/representatives’ participation in policy making. Other findings however indicate that their perceived value should not be overrated, especially when taking into consideration the perceptions of the beneficiaries themselves. From a theoretical point of view, it has become clear that a stakeholder theory without acknowledging interactions between stakeholder groups and their perceptions can only be partial.From an empirical point of view, we clearly demonstrate that surveying non-beneficiaries on NPOs’ organizational performance and the quality of participation mechanisms frequently results in measurement bias.     

基于SVN的重大工程组织安全行为价值网络及驱动路径研究

重大基础设施工程(以下简称重大工程)的实施涉及多方组织，组织之间形成复杂的利益相关者关系，合作效率及组织安全行为的有效性对重大工程安全管理绩效具有重要影响。本文基于价值理论、利益相关者理论和利益相关者价值网络(Stakeholder Value Network，SVN)分析方法，研究重大工程组织安全行为(Organizational Safety Behavior in Megaproject，MOSB)在利益相关者之间的价值交换和传递情况，构建了包含三类组织安全行为、八类利益相关者和61条价值流的MOSB-SVN模型。研究表明，MOSB-SVN模型能够通过识别关键利益相关者、关键行为和高分价值路径，得出各利益相关者的价值获取能力以及三类组织安全行为的执行效果。依据模型分析结果提出价值提升建议，为提高重大工程安全绩效提供新的思路。