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From Rationality to Emotionally Embedded Relations: Envy as a Signal of Power in Stakeholder Relations

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  • Marjo Siltaoja
  • Merja Lähdesmäki

Abstract

Although stakeholder salience theory has received a great deal of scholarly attention in the business ethics and management literature, the theory has been criticized for overemphasizing rationality in managerial perceptions. We argue that it is important to better understand what socially constructed emotions signal in business relations, and we posit the role of envy as a discursive resource used to signal and construct the asymmetrical power relations between small business owner–managers and their stakeholders. Our study is based on a qualitative study on discursive accounts elicited from 33 interviews with small business owner–managers in Finland. Our study makes two primary contributions. First, we suggest that socially and culturally constructed emotions (such as envy) have significance in stakeholder salience analyses. Second, we suggest that socially and culturally constructed emotions provide a fruitful context in which to understand the limitations of owner–managers’ personal and moral autonomy. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Marjo Siltaoja & Merja Lähdesmäki, 2015. "From Rationality to Emotionally Embedded Relations: Envy as a Signal of Power in Stakeholder Relations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(4), pages 837-850, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:128:y:2015:i:4:p:837-850
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-1987-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Weiping Liu & Yanling Lian & Cuili Qian, 2022. "Buffering and bridging: How firms manage the burden of celebrity," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 483-513, June.
    2. Benedict E. DeDominicis, 2021. "Multinational Enterprises And Economic Nationalism: A Strategic Analysis Of Culture," Global Journal of Business Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 15(1), pages 19-66.
    3. Hannah Charlotte Joos, 2019. "Influences on managerial perceptions of stakeholder salience: two decades of research in review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 69(1), pages 3-37, February.
    4. Merja Lähdesmäki & Marjo Siltaoja & Laura J. Spence, 2019. "Stakeholder Salience for Small Businesses: A Social Proximity Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 373-385, August.
    5. Carola Hillenbrand & Kevin Guy Money & Chris Brooks & Nicole Tovstiga, 2019. "Corporate Tax: What Do Stakeholders Expect?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 403-426, August.

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