Stakeholder Theory and Value Creation Models in Brazilian Firms

Vidal, Natalia Giugni; Berman, Shawn; Buren, Harry Van

doi:10.7819/rbgn.v17i55.2070

ABSTRACT

Objective:

The purpose of this study is to understand how top Brazilian firms think about and communicate value creation to their stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach:

We use qualitative content analysis methodology to analyze the sustainability or annual integrated reports of the top 25 Brazilian firms by sales revenue.

Findings:

Based on our analysis, these firms were classified into three main types of stakeholder value creation models: narrow, broad, or transitioning from narrow to broad. We find that many of the firms in our sample are in a transition state between narrow and broad stakeholder value creation models. We also identify seven areas of concentration discussed by firms in creating value for stakeholders: better stakeholder relationships, better work environment, environmental preservation, increased customer base, local development, reputation, and stakeholder dialogue.

Practical implications:

This study shows a trend towards broader stakeholder value creation models in Brazilian firms. The findings of this study may inform practitioners interested in broadening their value creation models.

Originality/value:

This study adds to the discussion of stakeholder theory in the Brazilian context by understanding variations in value creation orientation in Brazil.

Keywords:
value creation; stakeholders; Brazil

Texto completo disponível apenas em PDF.

Full text available only in PDF format.

REFERENCES

Atkinson, P., & Hammersley, M. (2007). Ethnography: principles in practice (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Bartley, T., & Child, C. (2014). Shaming the corporation: the social production of targets and the anti-sweatshop movement. American Sociological Review, 79(4), 653-659 doi: 10.1177/0003122414540653.
» https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122414540653
Boaventura, J. M. G. (2012). Dominância de stakeholders em empresas brasileiras: contribuições à teoria dos stakeholders (Doctoral thesis). Department of Management, Faculty of Economics, Management and Accounting of São Paulo University, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
Boaventura, J. M. G., Cardoso, F. R., Silva, E. S., & Silva, R. S. (2009). Teoria dos stakeholders e teoria da firma: um estudo sobre a hierarquização das funções-objetivo em empresas brasileiras. Revista Brasileira de Gestão de Negócios, 11(32), 289-307.
Buysse, K., & Verbeke, A. (2003). Proactive environmental strategies: a stakeholder management perspective. Strategic Management Journal, 24(5), 453-470.
Carroll, A. B. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders. Business Horizons, 34(4), 39-48.
Christian Aid. (2004) Behind the mask: the real face of CSR London: Autor.
Costa, B. K., Vieira, S. F. A., Boaventura, J. M. G., & Anez, M. E. M. (2013). A influência dos stakeholders na estratégia de órgãos públicos: o caso da diretoria de turismo de Guarulhos/SP. Revista Gestão Organizacional, 5(1), 28-40.
Crisóstomo, V. L., Freire, F. S., & Vasconcellos, F. C. (2011). Corporate social responsibility, firm value and financial performance in Brazil. Social Responsibility Journal, 7(2), 295-309.
Forbes. Forbes Global 2000 (2014 list) - The World’s Biggest Public Companies. (2014, May 22). Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/global2000/list/#page:1_sort:0_direction:asc_search:_filter:All%20industries_filter:Brazil_filter:All%20states
» http://www.forbes.com/global2000/list/#page:1_sort:0_direction:asc_search:_filter:All%20industries_filter:Brazil_filter:All%20states
Fox-Wolfgramm, S. J., Boal, K. B., & Hunt, J. G. (1998). Organizational adaptation to institutional change: A comparative study of first-order change in prospector and defender banks. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(1), 87-126.
Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: a stakeholder approach Marshfield, MA: Pitman Publishing Inc.
Freeman, R. E. (1994). The politics of stakeholder theory: some future directions. Business Ethics Quarterly, 4(4), 409-421.
Freeman, R. E. (2000). Business ethics at the millennium. Business Ethics Quarterly , 10(1), 169-180.
Freeman, R. E., Harrison, J. S., & Wicks, A. C. (2007). Managing for stakeholders: survival, reputation, and success New Haven: Yale University Press.
Freeman, R. E., Martin, K., & Parmar, B. (2004). Stakeholder theory and “the corporate objective revisited.” Organization Science, 15(3), 364-369.
Frooman, J. (1997). Socially irresponsible and illegal behavior and shareholder wealth: a meta-analysis of event studies. Business and Society, 36(3), 221-243.
Gallon, A. V., & Beuren, I. M. (2007). Análise do conteúdo da evidenciação nos relatórios da administração das empresas participantes dos níveis de governança da Bovespa. UnB Contábil, 10(2), 11-42.
Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research New York, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.
Gonçalves, P. C., Boaventura, J. M. G., Costa, B. K., & Fischmann, A. A. (2008). Stakeholders na atividade hospitalar: uma investigação setorial no Estado de São Paulo. Administração Estratégica, 7(2), 84-101.
Harris, J., & Freeman, R. E. (2008). The impossibility of the separation thesis: a response to Joakim Sandberg. Business Ethics Quarterly , 18(4), 541-548.
Harrison, J. F., Bosse, D. A., & Phillips, R. A. (2010). Managing for stakeholders, stakeholder utility functions, and competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal , 31(1), 58-74.
Hoffman, A. J. (1999). Institutional evolution and change: environmentalism and the US chemical industry. Academy of Management Journal, 42(4), 351-371.
Jensen, M. C. (2001). Value maximization, stakeholder theory, and the corporate objective function. Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 14(3), 8-21.
Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. (1976). Theory of the firm: managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3(4), 305-360.
Jones, T. M. (1995). Instrumental Stakeholder Theory: A Synthesis of Ethics and Economics. Academy of Management Review, 20(2), 404-437.
Junqueira, R. R., & Wada, E. K. (2011). Stakeholders: estratégia organizacional e relacionamento. Estudo de casos múltiplos do setor hoteleiro. Revista Ibero-Americana de Estratégia, 10(3), 94-125.
Krippendorff, K. (2004). Content analysis: an introduction to its methodology (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Machado, C. A. P., Fº. (2002). Responsabilidade social corporativa e a criação de valor para as organizações: um estudo multicasos (Doctoral thesis). Faculty of Economics, Management and Accounting of São Paulo University, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
Martin, K. E., & Freeman, R. E. (2004). The separation of technology and ethics in business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 53(4), 353-364.
Matos, S., & Silvestre, B. S. (2013). Managing stakeholder relations when developing sustainable business models: the case of the Brazilian energy sector. Journal of Cleaner Production, 45, 61-73.
Mitchell, R. K., Agle, B. R., & Wood, D. J. (1997). Toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: defining the principle of who and what really counts. Academy of Management Review , 22(4), 853-886.
Naddler, D. A., Shaw, R. B., & Walton, A. E. (1995). Discontinuous change: leading organizational transformation San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Phillips, R. A. (1997). Stakeholder theory and a principle of fairness. Business Ethics Quarterly , 7(1), 51-66.
Stout, L. A. (2012). The shareholder value myth: how putting shareholders first harms investors, corporations, and the public San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Sundaram, A. K., & Inkpen, A. C. (2004). The corporate objective revisited. Organization Science, 15(3), 350-363.
Tantalo, C., & Priem, C. L. (2014). Value creation through stakeholder synergy. Strategic Management Journal . doi: 10.1002/smj.2337
» https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2337
Van Buren, H. J., III (2001). If fairness is the problem, is consent the solution? Integrating ISCT and stakeholder theory. Business Ethics Quarterly , 11(3), 481-499.
Weick, K. E., & Quinn, R. E. (1999). Organizational change and development. In J. T. Spence, J. M. Darley, & D. J. Foss (Eds.), Annual Review of Psychology (Vol. 50, pp. 361-386). Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews.

2
Evaluation process: Double Blind Review

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
Apr 2015

History

Received
08 Aug 2014
Accepted
29 May 2015

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License

[1] Atkinson, P., & Hammersley, M. (2007). Ethnography: principles in practice (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge.

[2] Bartley, T., & Child, C. (2014). Shaming the corporation: the social production of targets and the anti-sweatshop movement. American Sociological Review, 79(4), 653-659 doi: 10.1177/0003122414540653.
» https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122414540653

[3] Boaventura, J. M. G. (2012). Dominância de stakeholders em empresas brasileiras: contribuições à teoria dos stakeholders (Doctoral thesis). Department of Management, Faculty of Economics, Management and Accounting of São Paulo University, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.

[4] Boaventura, J. M. G., Cardoso, F. R., Silva, E. S., & Silva, R. S. (2009). Teoria dos stakeholders e teoria da firma: um estudo sobre a hierarquização das funções-objetivo em empresas brasileiras. Revista Brasileira de Gestão de Negócios, 11(32), 289-307.

[5] Buysse, K., & Verbeke, A. (2003). Proactive environmental strategies: a stakeholder management perspective. Strategic Management Journal, 24(5), 453-470.

[6] Carroll, A. B. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders. Business Horizons, 34(4), 39-48.

[7] Christian Aid. (2004) Behind the mask: the real face of CSR London: Autor.

[8] Costa, B. K., Vieira, S. F. A., Boaventura, J. M. G., & Anez, M. E. M. (2013). A influência dos stakeholders na estratégia de órgãos públicos: o caso da diretoria de turismo de Guarulhos/SP. Revista Gestão Organizacional, 5(1), 28-40.

[9] Crisóstomo, V. L., Freire, F. S., & Vasconcellos, F. C. (2011). Corporate social responsibility, firm value and financial performance in Brazil. Social Responsibility Journal, 7(2), 295-309.

[10] Forbes. Forbes Global 2000 (2014 list) - The World’s Biggest Public Companies. (2014, May 22). Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/global2000/list/#page:1_sort:0_direction:asc_search:_filter:All%20industries_filter:Brazil_filter:All%20states
» http://www.forbes.com/global2000/list/#page:1_sort:0_direction:asc_search:_filter:All%20industries_filter:Brazil_filter:All%20states

[11] Fox-Wolfgramm, S. J., Boal, K. B., & Hunt, J. G. (1998). Organizational adaptation to institutional change: A comparative study of first-order change in prospector and defender banks. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(1), 87-126.

[12] Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: a stakeholder approach Marshfield, MA: Pitman Publishing Inc.

[13] Freeman, R. E. (1994). The politics of stakeholder theory: some future directions. Business Ethics Quarterly, 4(4), 409-421.

[14] Freeman, R. E. (2000). Business ethics at the millennium. Business Ethics Quarterly , 10(1), 169-180.

[15] Freeman, R. E., Harrison, J. S., & Wicks, A. C. (2007). Managing for stakeholders: survival, reputation, and success New Haven: Yale University Press.

[16] Freeman, R. E., Martin, K., & Parmar, B. (2004). Stakeholder theory and “the corporate objective revisited.” Organization Science, 15(3), 364-369.

[17] Frooman, J. (1997). Socially irresponsible and illegal behavior and shareholder wealth: a meta-analysis of event studies. Business and Society, 36(3), 221-243.

[18] Gallon, A. V., & Beuren, I. M. (2007). Análise do conteúdo da evidenciação nos relatórios da administração das empresas participantes dos níveis de governança da Bovespa. UnB Contábil, 10(2), 11-42.

[19] Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research New York, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.

[20] Gonçalves, P. C., Boaventura, J. M. G., Costa, B. K., & Fischmann, A. A. (2008). Stakeholders na atividade hospitalar: uma investigação setorial no Estado de São Paulo. Administração Estratégica, 7(2), 84-101.

[21] Harris, J., & Freeman, R. E. (2008). The impossibility of the separation thesis: a response to Joakim Sandberg. Business Ethics Quarterly , 18(4), 541-548.

[22] Harrison, J. F., Bosse, D. A., & Phillips, R. A. (2010). Managing for stakeholders, stakeholder utility functions, and competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal , 31(1), 58-74.

[23] Hoffman, A. J. (1999). Institutional evolution and change: environmentalism and the US chemical industry. Academy of Management Journal, 42(4), 351-371.

[24] Jensen, M. C. (2001). Value maximization, stakeholder theory, and the corporate objective function. Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 14(3), 8-21.

[25] Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. (1976). Theory of the firm: managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3(4), 305-360.

[26] Jones, T. M. (1995). Instrumental Stakeholder Theory: A Synthesis of Ethics and Economics. Academy of Management Review, 20(2), 404-437.

[27] Junqueira, R. R., & Wada, E. K. (2011). Stakeholders: estratégia organizacional e relacionamento. Estudo de casos múltiplos do setor hoteleiro. Revista Ibero-Americana de Estratégia, 10(3), 94-125.

[28] Krippendorff, K. (2004). Content analysis: an introduction to its methodology (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

[29] Machado, C. A. P., Fº. (2002). Responsabilidade social corporativa e a criação de valor para as organizações: um estudo multicasos (Doctoral thesis). Faculty of Economics, Management and Accounting of São Paulo University, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.

[30] Martin, K. E., & Freeman, R. E. (2004). The separation of technology and ethics in business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 53(4), 353-364.

[31] Matos, S., & Silvestre, B. S. (2013). Managing stakeholder relations when developing sustainable business models: the case of the Brazilian energy sector. Journal of Cleaner Production, 45, 61-73.

[32] Mitchell, R. K., Agle, B. R., & Wood, D. J. (1997). Toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: defining the principle of who and what really counts. Academy of Management Review , 22(4), 853-886.

[33] Naddler, D. A., Shaw, R. B., & Walton, A. E. (1995). Discontinuous change: leading organizational transformation San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

[34] Phillips, R. A. (1997). Stakeholder theory and a principle of fairness. Business Ethics Quarterly , 7(1), 51-66.

[35] Stout, L. A. (2012). The shareholder value myth: how putting shareholders first harms investors, corporations, and the public San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

[36] Sundaram, A. K., & Inkpen, A. C. (2004). The corporate objective revisited. Organization Science, 15(3), 350-363.

[37] Tantalo, C., & Priem, C. L. (2014). Value creation through stakeholder synergy. Strategic Management Journal . doi: 10.1002/smj.2337
» https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2337

[38] Van Buren, H. J., III (2001). If fairness is the problem, is consent the solution? Integrating ISCT and stakeholder theory. Business Ethics Quarterly , 11(3), 481-499.

[39] Weick, K. E., & Quinn, R. E. (1999). Organizational change and development. In J. T. Spence, J. M. Darley, & D. J. Foss (Eds.), Annual Review of Psychology (Vol. 50, pp. 361-386). Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews.

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