Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to analysis how stakeholders' network can affect business models, and more precisely, how relationship marketing through trust and commitment intervenes in this relationship. In fact, a firm is perceived to be embedded in a network of relationships within which value is jointly created and shared in stakeholders' interactions. The relationship between a company and its stakeholders in a network provides different values and resources that can influence a business model. The strength of the ties in a network can be achieved through relationship marketing which aims the creation, development, and maintaining of a sustainable exchange relation. Indeed, relationship marketing acts through the establishment of a climate of trust and commitment between the company and the various stakeholders. This study wraps up with a proposal of a conceptual model, linking the different components of our research. The chapter has theoretical contributions, particularly in terms of the creation and development of relational value in a network .
TopFrom Stakeholders To Stakeholders- Network
Stakeholder: Definitions and Typology
Stakeholder theory was first used by Ansoff (1968), in his definition of organizational goals. However, after the publication of Freedman's (1984) founding book “Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach”, the theory underwent major development and deepening within managerial literature.
Generally, the broadest and most well-known definition is that announced by Freeman (1984, p. 46) according to which “a stakeholder in the organization is any group of individuals or any individual who can affect or be affected through the achievement of organizational objectives ”. This indication is part of a strategic and managerial perspective which indicates that the organization must pay attention to the demands of the stakeholders on which its survival depends (Donaldson and Preston, 1995; Donaldson, 2002).
The stakeholder literature attempts to make a classification based on a number of characteristics and attributes. It is possible to distinguish between internal stakeholders and external stakeholders (Carroll & Näsi, 1997) according to their location and their sphere of action in relation to the company. Internal stakeholders are individuals or groups of individuals within the company -(owners, managers, employees). External stakeholders are people or groups of people outside the company (competitors, consumers, governments, pressure groups, media, community, and the natural environment).
Mitchell et al. (1997) distinguished between stakeholders with reference to three attributes: legitimacy, power, and urgency.
- •
Power: This is the power exercised over the company or more precisely, the power to influence organizational decisions. Power is a necessary attribute since the strategy adopted by the company towards its environment depends on the power that groups have, thanks to the resources they control and the degree of interdependence they have with the firm.
- •
Legitimacy: It is defined as “a general perception or assumption that the activities of an entity are desirable or appropriate to a certain socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs and definitions” (Mullenbach-Servayre, 2007, p. 113).
- •
Urgency: It is based on two elements: on the one hand, time sensitivity, i.e. the border from which the stakeholder considers that the manager's reaction time to the request is unacceptable and, on the other hand, the importance of the request or the importance of the relationship to the requester.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Commitment: A bond, a psychological state that characterizes the relationship between the employee and the organization, and which has implications for the decision to remain within the organization.
Brokers: Is referred to steering group, and it ensures that no single partner dominates activities or exerts power over the others.
Stakeholder: It is any group of individuals or any individual who can affect or be affected through the achievement of organizational objectives
Business model: Includes the combined elements of” who “,” what “,” when “,” why “,” where “, “How” and “how much” involved in the transmission of products and services to customers and end consumers.
Trust in Network: The extent to which members of one organization hold a collective trust orientation toward another organization.
Relationship Marketing: The creation, development and maintaining of a sustainable exchange relation.
Credibility: The expertise required to carry out task in an effective and reliable way.