IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v114y2013i2p225-237.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

In Defence of Stakeholder Pragmatism

Author

Listed:
  • Tommy Jensen
  • Johan Sandström

Abstract

This article seeks to defend and develop a stakeholder pragmatism advanced in some of the work by Edward Freeman and colleagues. By positioning stakeholder pragmatism more in line with the democratic and ethical base in American pragmatism (as developed by William James, John Dewey and Richard Rorty), the article sets forth a fallibilistic stakeholder pragmatism that seeks to be more useful to companies by expanding the ways in which value is and can be created in a contingent world. A dialogue between a defence company and peace and arbitration society is used to illustrate the main plot of this article. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Tommy Jensen & Johan Sandström, 2013. "In Defence of Stakeholder Pragmatism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 225-237, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:114:y:2013:i:2:p:225-237
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1338-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-012-1338-y
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-012-1338-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew C. Wicks & R. Edward Freeman, 1998. "Organization Studies and the New Pragmatism: Positivism, Anti-positivism, and the Search for Ethics," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 123-140, April.
    2. Freeman, R. Edward, 1994. "The Politics of Stakeholder Theory: Some Future Directions1," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(4), pages 409-421, October.
    3. Orts, Eric W. & Strudler, Alan, 2002. "The Ethical and Environmental Limits of Stakeholder Theory," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 215-233, April.
    4. Sandberg, Joakim, 2008. "Understanding the Separation Thesis," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(2), pages 213-232, April.
    5. Stanley Deetz, 1996. "Crossroads---Describing Differences in Approaches to Organization Science: Rethinking Burrell and Morgan and Their Legacy," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(2), pages 191-207, April.
    6. Dunham, Laura & Freeman, R. Edward & Liedtka, Jeanne, 2006. "Enhancing Stakeholder Practice: A Particularized Exploration of Community," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 23-42, January.
    7. Phillips, Robert A., 1997. "Stakeholder Theory and A Principle of Fairness," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(1), pages 51-66, January.
    8. Phillips, Robert & Freeman, R. Edward & Wicks, Andrew C., 2003. "What Stakeholder Theory is Not," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(4), pages 479-502, October.
    9. Wicks, Andrew C. & Gilbert, Daniel R. & Freeman, R. Edward, 1994. "A Feminist Reinterpretation of The Stakeholder Concept," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(4), pages 475-497, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fabien Martinez, 2014. "Corporate strategy and the environment: towards a four-dimensional compatibility model for fostering green management decisions," Post-Print hal-02887618, HAL.
    2. Mollie Painter & Sally Hibbert & Tim Cooper, 2019. "The Development of Responsible and Sustainable Business Practice: Value, Mind-Sets, Business-Models," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 885-891, July.
    3. Valentinov, Vladislav & Chia, Robert, 2022. "Stakeholder theory: A process‐ontological perspective," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 762-776.
    4. Sergiy D. Dmytriyev & R. Edward Freeman & Jacob Hörisch, 2021. "The Relationship between Stakeholder Theory and Corporate Social Responsibility: Differences, Similarities, and Implications for Social Issues in Management," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(6), pages 1441-1470, September.
    5. Jianhong Zhang & David L. Deephouse & Désirée van Gorp & Haico Ebbers, 2022. "Individuals’ Perceptions of the Legitimacy of Emerging Market Multinationals: Ethical Foundations and Construct Validation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(4), pages 801-825, April.
    6. Max Visser, 2019. "Pragmatism, Critical Theory and Business Ethics: Converging Lines," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 45-57, April.
    7. Diego F. Uribe & Isabel Ortiz-Marcos & Ángel Uruburu, 2018. "What Is Going on with Stakeholder Theory in Project Management Literature? A Symbiotic Relationship for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-23, April.
    8. Mollie Painter & Mar Pérezts & Ghislain Deslandes, 2021. "Understanding the human in stakeholder theory : a phenomenological approach to affect-based learning," Post-Print hal-03188192, HAL.
    9. LaJuan Perronoski Fuller, 2021. "Foundational Leadership Theory: A New Ethical Approach to Reducing Knowledge-Hiding Practices Among Employees," International Journal of Social Science Studies, Redfame publishing, vol. 9(5), pages 67-76, September.
    10. Jensen, Tommy, 2018. "Interregnum and Critical Management Studies: The possible end of meaningful work," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 343-348.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Samantha Miles, 2017. "Stakeholder Theory Classification: A Theoretical and Empirical Evaluation of Definitions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(3), pages 437-459, May.
    2. Silvana Signori & Gianfranco Rusconi, 2009. "Ethical Thinking in Traditional Italian Economia Aziendale and the Stakeholder Management Theory: The Search for Possible Interactions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(3), pages 303-318, November.
    3. Tae Wan Kim & Alan Scheller-Wolf, 2019. "Technological Unemployment, Meaning in Life, Purpose of Business, and the Future of Stakeholders," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 319-337, December.
    4. Yafet Yosafet Wilben Rissy, 2021. "The stakeholder model: its relevance, concept, and application in the Indonesian banking sector," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(3), pages 219-231, September.
    5. Lorenzo Dorigo & Giuseppe Marcon, 2014. "A caring interpretation of stakeholder management for the social enterprise. Evidence from a regional survey of micro social cooperatives in the Italian welfare mix," Working Papers 01, Venice School of Management - Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    6. Yves Fassin, 2012. "Stakeholder Management, Reciprocity and Stakeholder Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(1), pages 83-96, August.
    7. Samantha Miles, 2012. "Stakeholder: Essentially Contested or Just Confused?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 108(3), pages 285-298, July.
    8. Cedric Dawkins, 2014. "The Principle of Good Faith: Toward Substantive Stakeholder Engagement," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(2), pages 283-295, May.
    9. Y. Fassin, 2008. "The Stakeholder Model Refined," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 08/529, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    10. Giuseppe Marcon & Lorenzo Dorigo, 2012. "Stakeholder theory and care management: An inquiry into social enterprises," Working Papers 21, Venice School of Management - Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    11. Lauren Purnell & R. Freeman, 2012. "Stakeholder Theory, Fact/Value Dichotomy, and the Normative Core: How Wall Street Stops the Ethics Conversation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(1), pages 109-116, August.
    12. Jill Brown & William Forster, 2013. "CSR and Stakeholder Theory: A Tale of Adam Smith," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(2), pages 301-312, January.
    13. Allen Kaufman & Ernie Englander, 2011. "Behavioral Economics, Federalism, and the Triumph of Stakeholder Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 102(3), pages 421-438, September.
    14. Kirsten Martin & Ari Waldman, 2023. "Are Algorithmic Decisions Legitimate? The Effect of Process and Outcomes on Perceptions of Legitimacy of AI Decisions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 653-670, March.
    15. K. V. James & R. G. Priyadarshini, 2021. "Responsible Leadership: A New Paradigm for Organizational Sustainability," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 46(4), pages 452-470, November.
    16. Silke Machold & Pervaiz Ahmed & Stuart Farquhar, 2008. "Corporate Governance and Ethics: A Feminist Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(3), pages 665-678, September.
    17. Nardia Haigh & Andrew Griffiths, 2009. "The natural environment as a primary stakeholder: the case of climate change," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(6), pages 347-359, September.
    18. Kaibin Xu & Wenqing Li, 2013. "An Ethical Stakeholder Approach to Crisis Communication: A Case Study of Foxconn’s 2010 Employee Suicide Crisis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 371-386, October.
    19. Janto S. Hess & Ilan Kelman & Rachel Dodds, 2023. "The environment and climate change as a primary stakeholder for accommodation suppliers: Stakeholder engagement for Koh Tao and Koh Phi Phi, Thailand," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4683-4692, November.
    20. Tae Wan Kim & Thomas Donaldson, 2018. "Rethinking Right: Moral Epistemology in Management Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 5-20, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:114:y:2013:i:2:p:225-237. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.