Do certain leadership practices raise stakeholder satisfaction? An investigation of managers in Thai SMEs

This paper reports on an investigation into the leadership and management practices affecting stakeholder satisfaction by examining relationships between Avery and Bergsteiner’s (2010) 23 leadership and management practices (SL) and overall stakeholder satisfaction (OSS). This study extends current knowledge of the leadership and management practices that positively predict enhanced stakeholder satisfaction, an area in which empirical evidence has to date been largely lacking. Using a cross-sectional survey research design, data were gathered from 439 small-medium enterprise (SME) managers in Thailand. Results show all SL practices except financial-market-orientation were significantly related to OSS, and the more an organisation adopts significant SL practices, the higher the OSS is likely to be. The particular SL practices that positively predict enhanced OSS were amicable labour relations, staff retention, strong and shared vision, strategic and systemic innovation, and high staff engagement and quality.