How do European SME owner-managers make sense of stakeholder management? Insights from a cross-national study

Schlierer, Hans-Jorg, Werner, Andrea ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3746-7248, Signori, Silvana, Garriga, Elisabeth, Von Weltzien Hoivik, Heidi, Van Rossem, Annick and Fassin, Yves (2012) How do European SME owner-managers make sense of stakeholder management? Insights from a cross-national study. Journal of Business Ethics, 109 (1) . pp. 39-51. ISSN 0167-4544 [Article]

Abstract

The vast majority of empirical research on stakeholder management has traditionally focused on multinational corporations. Only in recent years, scholars have begun to pay attention to the stakeholder management concept in relation to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The few existing studies in this area, however, discuss SMEs as a context free category or remain focused on single country analysis. This cross-national empirical research investigates SME owner–managers’ perceptions of stakeholder management in six European countries. The comparative analysis is followed by a discussion of how institutional, cultural and linguistic contexts can influence owner–managers’ sensemaking of stakeholder management. Our study questions the universality of specific management terms and proposes that more attention should be paid to the institutional, cultural and linguistic environments that shape economic activity in different parts of Europe.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: From the issue entitled "Special issue on Stakeholder Theory(ies): Ethical Ideas and Managerial Action"
Keywords (uncontrolled): comparative research; language; national business environments; sensemaking; small- and medium-sized enterprises; small business; stakeholder management
Research Areas: A. > Business School > International Management and Innovation
A. > Business School > International Management and Innovation > Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics group
Item ID: 9283
Useful Links:
Depositing User: Andrea Werner
Date Deposited: 06 Aug 2012 07:05
Last Modified: 11 Oct 2019 12:44
URI: https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/id/eprint/9283

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