IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v131y2015i3p665-680.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pivoting the Role of Government in the Business and Society Interface: A Stakeholder Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Nicolas Dahan
  • Jonathan Doh
  • Jonathan Raelin

Abstract

The growing popularization of stakeholder theory among management scholars has offered a useful framework for understanding the multiple and interdependent roles of government and business in an increasingly challenging political and regulatory environment. Despite this trend, attention to the role and responsibility of government to protect citizen rights has been limited. To the two traditional stakeholder theory views of government where the focal organization remains the firm, we propose to add two views by pivoting the government’s place and making it the focal organization. We thus describe governments as serving four roles in the business–government–society nexus (namely, “framework,” “business partner,” “interfering,” and “advocate”). For each role, we analyze typical governmental activities/behaviors, relationships with firms’ stakeholders, as well as the challenges and limits to these roles. We also focus on the central notion of salience amplification, as a means of checks and balances across stakeholders in order to safeguard citizen rights and reveal the greater good. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Nicolas Dahan & Jonathan Doh & Jonathan Raelin, 2015. "Pivoting the Role of Government in the Business and Society Interface: A Stakeholder Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 665-680, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:131:y:2015:i:3:p:665-680
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-014-2297-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-014-2297-2
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-014-2297-2?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. Strange,Susan, 1996. "The Retreat of the State," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521564298, September.
    2. Ashman, Darcy, 2001. "Civil Society Collaboration with Business: Bringing Empowerment Back in," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 1097-1113, July.
    3. Paul L. Joskow & Richard Schmalensee, 1988. "Markets for Power: An Analysis of Electrical Utility Deregulation," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262600188, April.
    4. Jonathan P. Doh & Terrence R. Guay, 2006. "Corporate Social Responsibility, Public Policy, and NGO Activism in Europe and the United States: An Institutional‐Stakeholder Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 47-73, January.
    5. Nicolas Dahan & Milton Gittens, 2010. "Business and the public Affairs of Slavery: A Discursive Approach of an Ethical Issue," Post-Print hal-00563588, HAL.
    6. Levy David L. & Prakash Aseem, 2003. "Bargains Old and New: Multinational Corporations in Global Governance," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 5(2), pages 1-21, December.
    7. Levy, David L. & Prakash, Aseem, 2003. "Bargains Old and New: Multinational Corporations in Global Governance," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(2), pages 131-150, August.
    8. Thomas P. Lyon & John W. Maxwell, 2004. "Astroturf: Interest Group Lobbying and Corporate Strategy," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 561-597, December.
    9. Wendy Haynes, 2002. "TRANSPORTATION AT THE MILLENNIUM: In Search of a Megaproject Lens," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 19(2), pages 62-64, June.
    10. Mair, Johanna & Marti, Ignasi, 2009. "Entrepreneurship in and around institutional voids: A case study from Bangladesh," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 419-435, September.
    11. Andreas Georg Scherer & Guido Palazzo, 2011. "The New Political Role of Business in a Globalized World: A Review of a New Perspective on CSR and its Implications for the Firm, Governance, and Democracy," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 899-931, June.
    12. Richard A. Posner, 1974. "Theories of Economic Regulation," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 5(2), pages 335-358, Autumn.
    13. 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.
    14. Nicolas Dahan & Milton Gittens, 2010. "Business and the Public Affairs of Slavery: A Discursive Approach of an Ethical Public Issue," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 92(2), pages 227-249, March.
    15. Julia Roloff, 2008. "Learning from Multi-Stakeholder Networks: Issue-Focussed Stakeholder Management," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 82(1), pages 233-250, September.
    16. Edward Freeman, R. & Phillips, Robert A., 2002. "Stakeholder Theory: A Libertarian Defense," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(3), pages 331-349, July.
    17. Thomas Lawton & Steven Mcguire & Tazeeb Rajwani, 2013. "Corporate Political Activity : A Literature Review and Research Agenda," Post-Print hal-02312913, HAL.
    18. Cutler,A. Claire, 2003. "Private Power and Global Authority," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521533973, September.
    19. Strange,Susan, 1996. "The Retreat of the State," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521564403, September.
    20. Stefanie Ann Lenway & Thomas P Murtha, 1994. "The State as Strategist in International Business Research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 25(3), pages 513-535, September.
    21. Nathan Fagre & Louis T Wells, 1982. "Bargaining Power of Multinationals and Host Governments," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 13(2), pages 9-24, June.
    22. Heath, Joseph, 2006. "Business Ethics without Stakeholders," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(4), pages 533-557, October.
    23. Yves Fassin, 2012. "Stakeholder Management, Reciprocity and Stakeholder Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(1), pages 83-96, August.
    24. Benjamin Neville & Bulent Menguc, 2006. "Stakeholder Multiplicity: Toward an Understanding of the Interactions between Stakeholders," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 66(4), pages 377-391, July.
    25. Cutler,A. Claire, 2003. "Private Power and Global Authority," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521826600, September.
    26. Bishop, John Douglas, 2012. "The Limits of Corporate Human Rights Obligations and the Rights of For-Profit Corporations," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(1), pages 119-144, January.
    27. Mahoney, Joseph & McGahan, Anita & Pitelis, Christos, 2009. "The Interdependence of Private and Public Interests," Papers DYNREG40, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    28. Bonardi, Jean-Philippe, 1999. "Market and Nonmarket Strategies During Deregulation: The Case of British Telecom," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(2), pages 203-231, August.
    29. Ruth Aguilera & Abhijeet Vadera, 2008. "The Dark Side of Authority: Antecedents, Mechanisms, and Outcomes of Organizational Corruption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 77(4), pages 431-449, February.
    30. Lawton, Thomas C. & Doh, Jonathan P. & Rajwani, Tazeeb, 2014. "Aligning for Advantage: Competitive Strategies for the Political and Social Arenas," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199604753.
    31. Andrew L. Friedman & Samantha Miles, 2002. "Developing Stakeholder Theory," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 1-21, January.
    32. Mitnick, Barry M., 1981. "The strategic uses of regulation -- And deregulation," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 71-83.
    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. Yi Xiang & Ming Jia & Zhe Zhang, 2022. "Hiding in the Crowd: Government Dependence on Firms, Management Costs of Political Legitimacy, and Modest Imitation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(4), pages 629-646, April.
    2. Sabrina Lechler & Angelo Canzaniello & Anton Wetzstein & Evi Hartmann, 2020. "Influence of different stakeholders on first-tier suppliers’ sustainable supplier selection: insights from a multiple case study in the automotive first-tier industry," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 13(2), pages 425-454, July.
    3. Jiaxin Wang & Qinghong Xie & Xinyu Geng, 2024. "Exploring the Effects of Multi-Governance Mechanisms throughout the Dynamic Evolution of the Cooperative Innovation Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-27, February.
    4. Yakovleva, Natalia & Vazquez-Brust, Diego Alfonso, 2018. "Multinational mining enterprises and artisanal small-scale miners: From confrontation to cooperation," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 52-62.
    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.
    6. Dan Prud’homme & Tony W. Tong & Nianchen Han, 2021. "A stakeholder-based view of the evolution of intellectual property institutions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(4), pages 773-802, June.

    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. Doh, Jonathan P. & Dahan, Nicolas M. & Casario, Michelle, 2022. "MNEs and the practice of international business diplomacy," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1).
    2. John Gerard Ruggie, 2018. "Multinationals as global institution: Power, authority and relative autonomy," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(3), pages 317-333, September.
    3. Pei Sun & Jonathan P. Doh & Tazeeb Rajwani & Donald Siegel, 2021. "Navigating cross-border institutional complexity: A review and assessment of multinational nonmarket strategy research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(9), pages 1818-1853, December.
    4. Barkemeyer, Ralf & Preuss, Lutz & Lee, Lindsay, 2015. "On the effectiveness of private transnational governance regimes—Evaluating corporate sustainability reporting according to the Global Reporting Initiative," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 312-325.
    5. Mbalyohere, Charles & Lawton, Thomas C., 2018. "Engaging Stakeholders Through Corporate Political Activity: Insights From MNE Nonmarket Strategy in an Emerging African Market," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 369-385.
    6. 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.
    7. Shirodkar, Vikrant & Liedong, Tahiru Azaaviele & Rajwani, Tazeeb & Lawton, Thomas C., 2024. "MNE nonmarket strategy in a changing world: Complexities, varieties, and a values-based approach," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(2).
    8. Kenneth Amaeshi & Emmanuel Adegbite & Tazeeb Rajwani, 2016. "Corporate Social Responsibility in Challenging and Non-enabling Institutional Contexts: Do Institutional Voids matter?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(1), pages 135-153, March.
    9. Vanel, Grégory, 2008. "La normalisation financière internationale face à l’émergence de nouvelles autorités épistémiques américaines," Revue de la Régulation - Capitalisme, institutions, pouvoirs, Association Recherche et Régulation, vol. 3.
    10. Mende, Janne, 2020. "Business authority in global governance: Beyond public and private," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Global Governance SP IV 2020-103, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    11. Andrew Crane & Trish Ruebottom, 2011. "Stakeholder Theory and Social Identity: Rethinking Stakeholder Identification," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 102(1), pages 77-87, March.
    12. Wagner, Marcus, 2015. "A European perspective on country moderation effects: Environmental management systems and sustainability-related human resource benefits," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 379-388.
    13. David Detomasi, 2015. "The Multinational Corporation as a Political Actor: ‘Varieties of Capitalism’ Revisited," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 685-700, May.
    14. Lauwo, Sarah & Otusanya, Olatunde Julius, 2014. "Corporate accountability and human rights disclosures: A case study of Barrick Gold Mine in Tanzania," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 91-108.
    15. Mende, Janne, 2022. "Business authority in global governance: Beyond public and private," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Global Governance SP IV 2020-103r, WZB Berlin Social Science Center, revised 2022.
    16. Silvana Signori & Yves Fassin, 2023. "Family Members’ Salience in Family Business: An Identity-Based Stakeholder Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(1), pages 191-211, February.
    17. Judith Schrempf-Stirling, 2018. "State Power: Rethinking the Role of the State in Political Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 1-14, June.
    18. George O. White & Jean J. Boddewyn & Tazeeb Rajwani & Thomas A. Hemphill, 2018. "Regulator Vulnerabilities to Political Pressures and Political Tie Intensity: The Moderating Effects of Regulatory and Political Distance," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 743-769, October.
    19. Ivan Bozhikin & Nikolay Dentchev, 2018. "Discovering a Wilderness of Regulatory Mechanisms for Corporate Social Responsibility: Literature Review," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 2, pages 145-174, June.
    20. Richard W. Carney & Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Jane W. Lu & He Wang, 2022. "Political corporate social responsibility: The role of deliberative capacity," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(8), pages 1766-1784, October.

    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:131:y:2015:i:3:p:665-680. 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.