Focus on Sustainability and Stakeholders in Management Practices: Exploiting the Potential of Self-assessment

Stakeholder theory is the heart of interrelated theories of Sustainable Development, Social Responsibility, Quality Management and Organisational Excellence. Their integrity and discrepancy lie in the focus on stakeholders that shifts to different angles in different theories.The paper’s objective is the comparison of contemporary management theories in terms of stakeholder focus and engagement. The empirical part of the paper presents the results of a study of management approaches implemented in 2014–2018 at 32 major business enterprises of the Republic of Mordovia (Russian Federation) that belong to the industry and service sectors. The study is based on a self-assessment model offered by the international standard ISO 9004:2009 “Managing for the sustained success of an organization — A quality management approach”. After the survey in 2018, standard ISO 9004 was replaced by a new version but has not yet been put into force in Russian Federation (the due date is 01.10.2020).The results of a self-assessment reflects the level of maturity of key elements of management at the enterprises of the Republic of Mordovia, the factors and the dynamics of its development. A generalised evaluation showed that the management systems are at the third level of maturity. Half of the enterprises adopt a balanced approach to the needs of stakeholders; continual improvement is in the focus of these organisations. At the same time, the management of a number of enterprises is oriented only to the employees’ needs. The results show that the business community is stakeholder oriented but not stakeholder driven, and corporate sustainability is at the initial stage of development. For a region’s sustainable development, the authorities have to find additional incentives for the companies to improve stakeholder engagement and for the development of stakeholder networking practices.