The effect of stakeholder culture on managers’ perceptions of stakeholder attributes in Australian not‐for‐profit organizations

Lu Jiao, Graeme Harrison, Jinhua Chen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We examine the relation between stakeholder culture and managers’ perceptions of stakeholder attributes of power, legitimacy, and urgency in Australian not‐for‐profit (NFP) organizations. Examination of this relation is important because managers’ perceptions of stakeholder attributes determine how stakeholder relationships are managed, which affects (positively or negatively) the ability of NFP organizations to fulfil their social mission. Data were collected through a survey of top managers of 478 NFP organizations. Our results show that the stakeholder cultures of altruist and instrumentalist, manifesting different moral values, differentially affect NFP managers’ perceptions of the three stakeholder attributes for clients and government. Specifically, an altruist stakeholder culture affects managers’ perception of client legitimacy, while an instrumentalist culture affects managers’ perception of government power. We also investigate the mediating effects of power and legitimacy on the relation between stakeholder cultures and urgency. We find that managers’ perceptions of power and legitimacy act as crucial cues for managers to perceive stakeholder urgency. Our study contributes to the stakeholder management literature and has important implications for managers of NFP organizations in managing stakeholder relationships in the contemporary environment.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)60-75
Number of pages16
JournalAustralian Journal of Public Administration
Volume79
Issue number1
Early online date9 Jul 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2020

Keywords

  • manager perceptions
  • not-for-profit organizations
  • stakeholder attributes
  • stakeholder culture

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The effect of stakeholder culture on managers’ perceptions of stakeholder attributes in Australian not‐for‐profit organizations'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this