In Search of a Stakeholder Management Theory for Third Sector Organizations

Abstract

This paper aims to contribute to the extant stakeholder theory by providing some first steps and guidance about the importance of the external environment in the decision-making of third sector organizations. Resource dependence, institutional theory and stakeholder theory provides the analytical basis for the investigation. A constructivist ontological approach guides the investigation, which has been carried out using the action research approach. Data has been collected by interviews, focus groups and participant observation. The whole set of texts (documents, transcriptions and reports) are analyzed by content analysis. According to the results, there are some very strong stakeholders able to exert influence upon third sector organizations, to which it has to dedicated attention in order to meet their expectations. The strongest stakeholders are those in charge of managing the organization and those who provide financial resources to it. As a single case study in which the theory testing process is uppermost, the evidence gathered provides interesting insights for posterior research given that both theoretical and methodological frameworks have been tested. The investigation enlarges extant knowledge about stakeholder theory in proposing a model for mapping stakeholder influences on third sector organizations, originally devised for other situations.