The decision making process for social issue behaviors : a stakeholder perspective / Katherine Carol Lafreniere

Abstract

This study argues that Stakeholder Theory (Mitchell, Agle, & Wood, 1997) can be applied from the stakeholder‘s perspective in order to understand how stakeholders perceive their claims in an organization and consequently decide how to influence an organization. Using this audience-centric perspective, organizations can influence the stakeholder‘s claims and ultimately how the stakeholder will support the organization. These arguments are supported based on the case of farmers who voted in the 2007 water transfer agreement between the Municipality of Rocky View and the Western Irrigation District (WID). Personal interviews, employing Narrative Research, were conducted to document the participant‘s interpretations. The interview transcripts were analyzed in order to test and expand Stakeholder Theory as well as determine how marketers can use this perspective to successfully target different groups of stakeholders. This understanding contributes to potential management effectiveness because it explains how managers can deal with multiple stakeholder interests.