How to deal with the complexity of a stakeholder network? The employment and development of stakeholder marketing capabilities

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How to deal with the complexity of a stakeholder network?

The employment and development of stakeholder marketing capabilities

Student: Mark Hage

Student number: 4370627

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Hillebrand Second examiner: Dr. Smals

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Introduction

Every year the members of the World Economic Forum come together in Davos. Through panels, meetings, and discussions the world’s 1000 leading companies try to shape a better future, together with influential people like politicians, journalists or celebrities. The theme of this year’s forum was: Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World (Sneader, 2020). Stakeholders being the theme of the World Economic Forum is not a coincidence. The

concept of stakeholders is growing in importance for companies. Companies used to focus on just one or two stakeholder groups (mostly customers and shareholders), but these days they must consider their entire stakeholder network when making decisions.

Consider a company like Shell. A company like Shell not only needs to pay attention to their customers or suppliers, but also to NGOs and governments. In 2019 Greenpeace started a campaign called ‘Shell, clean up your mess!’ (AD, 2019). In this campaign

Greenpeace tries to put pressure on Shell to remove their unused oil platforms from the North Sea. This campaign got picked up by the media and through the media the campaign may reach customers of Shell. If the campaign of Greenpeace has a negative effect on people's opinion of Shell, it may also influence the sales of Shell and maybe even profit. Companies thus need to consider various stakeholders in their network when making decisions,

especially because stakeholders in the same network can influence each other. So in the current climate it is not sufficient anymore to focus on just one or two stakeholders. Companies must consider the entire stakeholder network when making decisions.

Even though the notion of stakeholders has gotten more important the last few years for companies in reaching success, the concept of stakeholders was already introduced in 1984 by Freeman. Freeman described stakeholders as “any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the firm’s objectives” (Freeman 1984, p. 46). However, the current literature is not sufficient in dealing with the problems a manager may face, when dealing with the complexity of a stakeholder network. Most of the current literature has used a hub-and-spokes perspective when researching stakeholder networks. In the hub-and-spokes perspective the organization maintains dyadic relationships with their stakeholders (Frooman, 1999). The demands and wishes of the stakeholders are seen as independent of each other in this perspective (Hillebrand, Driessen & Koll, 2015). This means that the organization perceives their stakeholders as mutually exclusive and distinct (Bhattacharya and Korschun, 2008). So when the organization deals with one stakeholder, it

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does not consider other stakeholders. However, the hub-and-spokes perspective does not reflect the complex reality some companies face these days. In reality stakeholder groups will compete for managerial attention and resources with each other, while other times the

stakeholder groups will actually complement each other (Neville and Menguc, 2008). In the Greenpeace example it can be seen that stakeholders are able to influence each other. The influence on each other means that there are not only relationships between a company and their stakeholders, but also between stakeholders in the network. This indicates that

companies will need to deal with multiple stakeholders at the same time and that the demands and wishes of stakeholders cannot be seen as independent. So the hub-and-spokes perspective is not always sufficient when dealing with stakeholders since it does not address the

relationships between stakeholders.

Since the current literature is not sufficient in dealing with the complexity of a stakeholder network, Bhattacharya and Korschun (2008) introduced the concept of

stakeholder marketing. Hult, Mena, Ferrell and Ferrell (2011) define stakeholder marketing as “activities within a system of social institutions and processes for facilitating and

maintaining value through exchange relationships with multiple stakeholders” (p. 57). Through this definition it becomes clear that value is created by multiple stakeholders in a network (Hult et al., 2011). Value does not necessarily mean monetary value. Value can also be non-monetary, for example satisfaction or wellbeing. Therefore stakeholder marketing can deal with the complexity of a stakeholder network in a better way than the traditional

perspective, because it recognizes that companies should not focus on one stakeholder group when performing stakeholder management, but on multiple stakeholder groups at the same time.

To perform stakeholder marketing in an efficient way, a company needs to develop organizational capabilities which will facilitate the process of performing stakeholder

marketing. There is some literature that discusses stakeholder marketing, but there is not a lot of literature that discusses the capabilities that are needed to perform stakeholder marketing. Hillebrand, Driessen and Koll (2015) have introduced three stakeholder marketing

capabilities. The first capability is systems thinking. Systems thinking refers to “the degree to which the firm is capable of understanding the whole stakeholder value system” (Hillebrand et al. 2015, p. 416). The second capability is paradoxical thinking. Paradoxical thinking refers to “the degree to which the firm is capable of accepting and learning from tension between stakeholder interests” (Hillebrand et al. 2015, p. 419). The third capability is democratic thinking. Democratic thinking refers to “the degree to which the firm is capable of sharing

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control over marketing decisions with a multitude of stakeholders” (Hillebrand et al. 2015, p. 420). These capabilities do not make use of the hub-and-spokes perspective. They can deal with the complexity of a stakeholder network where stakeholders are able to influence each other. This is the reason why these capabilities are chosen to study.

However, the proposed capabilities are not empirically researched. It is not clear what these capabilities entail in practice and how companies develop these capabilities. The goal of this study is to find out what the proposed stakeholder marketing capabilities entail in

practice and how they are developed. In this way this study can provide insights in the actual use and development of the stakeholder marketing capabilities.

This study will contribute to building the theory about stakeholder marketing further. By exploring how companies employ and develop the proposed capabilities, this study will help other researchers by providing building blocks to test the according capabilities in more detail. It can provide insights how to operationalize the stakeholder marketing capabilities, as called for by the study of Hillebrand et al. (2015).

The current literature is not always useful for practitioners, because most of the current literature uses the spokes perspective. As stated before, in the hub-and-spokes perspective the company maintains dyadic relationships. This does not reflect the complexity of some stakeholder networks. The capabilities as proposed by Hillebrand et al. (2015) do not make use of the hub-and-spokes perspective and take the complexity of a stakeholder network into account. So by researching these capabilities this study will also be useful for managers who are interested in developing or executing the capabilities needed for performing stakeholder marketing in an efficient way. By looking how other companies perform stakeholder marketing and entail the capabilities, companies can gain insights from the successes or mistakes made by other managers, so that they may implement and carry out the capabilities in a more efficient way.

The research question of this thesis is: How do companies employ and develop the stakeholder marketing capabilities as proposed by Hillebrand et al. (2015)?

This question will be answered by looking at corporate social responsibility initiatives. During these initiatives stakeholders are of specific importance and companies involved in such initiatives are thus more likely to have developed the stakeholder marketing capabilities. Besides, if the relevant stakeholders do not deem the initiative as socially responsible, the

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initiative will not serve its goal. So because of the importance of stakeholders in CSR initiatives, there is a bigger possibility to answer the research question.

The remainder of this study is structured as followed. In the next chapter theories about stakeholders, stakeholder marketing, the stakeholder marketing capabilities, organizational learning and corporate social responsibility will be thoroughly reviewed. The following chapter will contain the methodology and analysis used to study the stakeholder marketing capabilities. The fourth chapter of this study will contain the results and conclusions about a capability. In the following chapter overall conclusions will be drawn and the conclusions will be discussed.

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Literature review

Stakeholder theory

The first time stakeholders were mentioned in scientific literature was in 1963 in SRI

International (Freeman, Harrison, Wicks, Parmar, & De Colle, 2010). However, it is Freeman (1984) who formally introduced the term in the academic literature and defined stakeholders as “any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the firm’s objectives” (1984, p. 46). As opposed to the idea that stockholders are the only group a manager had to be responsive to, the term stakeholders was introduced. The term

stakeholders meant any group a manager had to be responsive to, so the organization could continue to exist. The list of original stakeholders included stockholders, customers, employees, suppliers, lenders and society. SRI International claimed that for executives to formulate corporate objectives that need support from stakeholders so the company may survive adequately, the managers need to understand the needs and concerns of stakeholder groups. Stakeholder theory was a counteract for the dominant paradigm of Weber’s

bureaucracy and economists’ equilibrium in business and management literature (Freeman et al., 2010).

Stakeholder theory cannot be seen as a single theory. It should be seen as a set of theories guiding the management of stakeholders (Donaldson and Preston, 1995; Mainardes, Alvas, & Raposo, 2011). There are three different approaches to stakeholder theory

(Donaldson and Preston, 1995; Friedman and Miles, 2006). The first approach is descriptive. Descriptive theories describe organizational behaviour. So descriptive stakeholder theories reflect and explain how an organization performs stakeholder management. The second approach to stakeholder theory is instrumental. Instrumental theories deal with the

performance of businesses. Instrumental theories show how through certain behaviour the organization may reach their goal. So instrumental stakeholder theories show how

organizational goals can be achieved through the enactment of stakeholder management practices. The third and final approach is normative. Normative theories deal with the ethics and moral principles of conducting business. So normative stakeholder theories describe how companies should operate based on underlying moral principles. The normative theories are the core of the thinking behind stakeholder theory. The first two approaches can be seen as the analytical aspect of stakeholder theory, where the last approach is the normative aspect.

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All these approaches relate to each other. The fundamental basis of stakeholder theory can be found in normative theories. Based on the underlying moral principles of stakeholder theory the organization will enact certain behaviour, which is described by descriptive theories. Instrumental theories link the practice of stakeholder management to organizational objectives. Even though the approaches may differ from each other, they still follow the same principles: “The interests of all stakeholders are of intrinsic value. That is, each group of stakeholders merits consideration for its own sake and not merely because of its ability to further the interests of some other group, such as the shareowners” (Donaldson and Preston 1995, p. 67).

Stakeholder marketing

Most of the current literature on stakeholder management has used the hub-and-spokes perspective (Bhattacharya and Korschun, 2008; Frooman, 1999). In the hub-and-spokes perspective relationships are dyadic and mutually independent (Frooman, 1999). The

company perceives their stakeholders as exclusive and distinct and their demands and wishes are seen as independent (Bhattacharya and Korschun, 2008; Hillebrand et al., 2015). The company does not take other stakeholder groups into account when dealing with a

stakeholder group. The company only deals with one stakeholder at a time. In the hub-and-spokes perspective the entire stakeholder network is a sum of the independent parts.

Treating stakeholder groups as single elements does not reflect the complex reality of a stakeholder network. The actions of a company do not only have direct consequences for stakeholders since stakeholders also have relationships with each other (Bhattacharya and Korsun, 2008). For example: people that live in the neighbourhood where a company is located, also share a relationship with the government. Another example is investors reacting to the sentiments of clients. This indicates that there is interconnectedness between the stakeholders. Because of the interconnectedness stakeholders can influence each other without the company interfering. By using the hub-and-spokes perspective the aspect of interconnectedness of the stakeholders is lost. This aspect is of great importance since it leads to a better understanding of how the stakeholder network is put together. This led to the introduction of stakeholder marketing by Bhattacharya and Korschun (2008). Dealing with multiple stakeholder groups at the same time is challenging. Focussing on multiple

stakeholder groups does not only lead to more of the same problems but creates new

problems because of the interplay between problems (Hillebrand et al., 2015). In stakeholder marketing the possibility that customer relationships are influenced by other relationships is

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accounted for (Gummesson, 2008). By recognizing that attention should be paid on the whole stakeholder network instead of the single elements, stakeholder marketing is better suited for dealing with problems companies face in stakeholder management.

Stakeholder marketing perspective differs from the traditional perspective in three ways (Hillebrand et al., 2015). The first difference is the value exchange. Looking at the whole stakeholder network will change the way companies view and treat the interests of stakeholders. In the traditional perspective the interests are seen as independent and the organization maintains dyadic relationships with the stakeholder groups. In the stakeholder marketing perspective the interests of stakeholder groups are interrelated, since stakeholders in a network can interact with each other and do not interact solely with the company. This can be seen in the recent name change of the Washington Football Team (formerly known as the Washington Redskins). As early as the 1970’s advocacy groups are claiming that the name is racist and hurtful towards native Americans (Weyrich, 2020). Not only advocacy groups had problems with the name of the team. Much later, in June 2020 the Washington D.C. mayor stated that they were having problems with the name too (Kilgore and Allen, 2020). The Washington Football Team wants to build a new stadium. The local government leases the land for this stadium from the federal government, who are having problems with the name too (Kilgore and Allen, 2020). During the George Floyd protests in 2020 the pressure on the team to change the name got bigger. In the beginning of July, a group of investors wrote letters to the team's sponsors (Weyrich, 2020). In the letter the investors stated that they wanted the sponsors to put pressure on the team to change the name. On July 2, 2020 FedEx decided to remove their name from the stadium and Nike removed all the Washington merchandise from their website. On July 3, 2020 the team decided to thoroughly review the team’s name and on July 13, 2020 the name was changed. Here we can see how stakeholder groups are interrelated. Advocacy groups wanted to change the name, as did local and federal government officials. This led to investors writing letters to sponsors, which led to sponsors putting pressure on the team to change the name. However, some people did not want the name to change, for example groups of fans. The wishes and needs of stakeholder groups are not independent of each other. Stakeholder groups can be influenced by other stakeholder groups. The demands and wishes of certain stakeholder groups can also oppose each other. Therefore, the entire stakeholder network should be considered when dealing with stakeholders, instead of focussing on dyadic relationships, because stakeholders are

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The second difference is tension. In the traditional marketing perspective value perceptions of stakeholders differ in importance and customers (or distributors) take primacy. These differences in value perceptions stem from the fact that customers or distributors are the stakeholder groups which generate revenue. However, these groups may not always be the only groups that are important. The stakeholder marketing perspective recognizes this and acknowledges that multiple stakeholder groups may be needed to be successful. For example, the Washington Football Team recognizes that it is not just the fans or the sponsors (revenue generating stakeholder groups) that are needed to be successful. If the team wants to build the new stadium, they should also address the needs of the government. By changing the team name, it will become easier to lease the land. So by not prioritizing the stakeholder groups that generate revenue the Washington Football Team, they are able to reach their goals.

The third difference is control. In the traditional perspective the company creates value for their customers. However, value is created throughout the stakeholder network (Hult et al., 2011). So the firm is not in complete control of creating value since value is created by cooperating with multiple stakeholders. Using the stakeholder marketing

perspective gives more guidance how to view the creation of value and what is important in the process of value creation. For example, the Washington Football team acknowledges that multiple stakeholders are needed to be successful. The team needs its fans, but also their sponsors. At the same time, they also need the government on their side. It is not just one stakeholder group that enables the organization to create value. By acknowledging that value is created with multiple stakeholders and not just by the team itself, the team changed their name because they need the support of all these stakeholder groups.

These three differences demonstrate how the stakeholder marketing perspective deals with the problems surrounding the use of the hub-and-spokes perspective. In this way the problems around the hub-and-spokes perspective can be resolved. The stakeholder marketing perspective can give managers a better chance to deal with the problems they face in a complex stakeholder network in a successful way. This perspective gives companies better insights how a stakeholder network works and guidance for addressing stakeholder needs.

Organizational capabilities

When performing stakeholder marketing, a company will make use of organizational capabilities. An organizational capability is 'a set of differentiated skills, complementary assets, and routines that provide the basis for a firm's competitive capacities and sustainable advantage in a particular business' (Teece, Pisano and Shuen 1990, p. 28). A core capability

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is the knowledge set that distinguishes a company and gains them a competitive advantage (Leonard-Barton, 1992). A capability is considered a core capability, when they differentiate the company strategically (Leonard-Barton, 1992). A core capability has four dimensions (Leonard-Barton, 1992). The first is employee skills and knowledge. This dimension encompasses techniques specific to the company and scientific understanding of the employees. The second dimension is knowledge embedded in systems. The knowledge in these systems come from years of accumulating, codifying, and structuring implicit knowledge of employees. The result of this process is a compilation of knowledge. This knowledge is manifested in physical productions and in information systems. The knowledge compilation is derived from individuals, which means that the whole is greater than the parts. By adding knowledge from multiple individuals together, the possibility arises for creating new insights. The third dimension is managerial systems. Managerial systems represent the formal and informal ways of creating knowledge and of controlling knowledge. Examples of creating knowledge are sabbaticals or apprenticeship programs and of controlling knowledge are incentive systems and reporting structures. The fourth dimension is integrated into the other dimensions; norms and values. It relates to how the company values the content and the structure of knowledge, how they collect their knowledge and how they control and create their knowledge. For example: if a company values their employees sharing their knowledge, it will create incentives that motivate the employees to share this knowledge; it can also make use of computer applications that make it easier to share the knowledge and at the same time the company can control the knowledge of employees through the application. This

demonstrates how values and norms are manifested through capabilities and how the other elements of capability can be related.

So capabilities relate to the skills and knowledge of employees, the way the

organization captures this knowledge in systems and how managers control this process. The norms and values of the company are manifested through the capabilities. If a company places value on transparency for example, it will also make use of structures that motivate the company to be transparent and in this way the values and norms are demonstrated through other elements.

A capability can be knowledge about a topic in an employee, a computer application used by the company to save knowledge or organizational structures that create or control knowledge like an apprenticeship program. Through these dimensions it becomes clear what the company values. However, most of the time the capability will not consist of a single element but makes use of multiple elements. A capability does not represent a single resource

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like technology or manpower; it can be seen as a distinctive or superior way of using and allocating the elements of capabilities (Schreyögg and Kliesch-Eberl, 2007).

Stakeholder marketing capabilities

Several studies discuss capabilities that are required for managing a relationship with a single stakeholder. For example, Plakoyiannaki and Tzokas (2002) discuss developing capabilities so the company can implement their customer relationship management in a successful way. Tang and Rai (2014) discuss how capabilities should be combined, so that the company can leverage their relationship with a supplier for competitive advantage.

There is also literature on managing the entire stakeholder network. For example, Varvasovszky and Brugha (2000) discuss how to perform a stakeholder analysis in the healthcare industry. Ackermann and Eden (2011) discuss how a company may increase the robustness of their strategies by paying the attention to the central concepts of stakeholder theory. Plaza-Úbeda, Burgos-Jimenez & Carmona-Moreno (2010) investigated CEO’s perceptions of stakeholder integration, a strategic capability. However, most of the current literature still uses the hub-and-spokes perspective and is focused on dyadic relationships or does not discuss the required core capabilities (Bhattacharya and Korschun, 2008; Hult et al., 2011).

Hillebrand et al. (2015) is the only study researching stakeholder marketing

capabilities that captures the multiplicity aspect of stakeholder networks. In this research the authors have proposed three stakeholder marketing capabilities. The authors do suggest some ways to execute the capabilities, but these are descriptive examples.

Systems thinking

The first capability is systems thinking. Systems thinking refers to “the degree to which the firm is capable of understanding the whole stakeholder value system” (Hillebrand et al. 2015, p. 416). This capability can help companies that deal with a complex value exchange.

Complex value exchange refers to the degree to which exchange relationships between the company and a stakeholder influence or need the support of other stakeholders in the network (Hillebrand et al., 2015). In the case of a complex value exchange, stakeholders are connected to each other so the hub-and-spokes perspective where the company maintains dyadic

relationships is not sufficient. The worth of the entire stakeholder system is more than the sum of the independent parts (Hillebrand et al., 2015). So the company should take a holistic

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view of the stakeholder network. In this way the company can also deal with problems arising because of the relationships between stakeholders.

In systems thinking companies start with identifying every stakeholder in the network. The second step is to understand the structure of the value system. Here companies try to create insights how stakeholders are connected to each other. By creating insights in the relationships between stakeholders, next to their own relationships with stakeholders, companies will be able to better understand the entire stakeholder value system. Paradoxical thinking

The second capability is paradoxical thinking. Paradoxical thinking refers to “the degree to which the firm is capable of accepting and learning from tension between stakeholder

interests” (Hillebrand et al. 2015, p. 419). This capability can help companies that face a high explicitness of tension. Stakeholder networks can differ in the degree of their explicitness of tension. When the explicitness of tension in a stakeholder network is high, stakeholders express opposing interests, since not every stakeholder values things the same way

(Hillebrand et al., 2015). Due to the rise of technology, stakeholders can inform and express themselves in ways that were impossible in the past. In traditional marketing one stakeholder group takes primacy. However, by placing primacy on one group, the voices of the other stakeholder groups are ignored. Stakeholder marketing acknowledges that value is created by multiple stakeholders and that a company needs these stakeholders to survive. Paradoxical thinking will help companies with focussing on multiple stakeholders and address their needs in such a way that every stakeholder is satisfied.

Paradoxical thinking is based on paradox theory. Paradox theory provides an alternative approach to tensions. Through paradox theory companies can explore how they should attend opposing interests simultaneously (Smith and Lewis, 2011). When applying this theory to stakeholder networks, companies accept that there are conflicting interests between stakeholders. The company will look for a way to deal with opposing interests at the same time.

This way of thinking may lead to problems within a company. People will try to seek information that fits within their world view to avoid cognitive dissonance. So the challenge for a company will be to find a way to motivate people to overcome this need and deal with the tensions instead of ignoring them. Even if a company applies paradoxical thinking, it may not reach a perfect result where every stakeholder gets what they want. Learning in the context of this capability refers to engaging in a dialogue with stakeholders. In this dialogue

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stakeholders’ interests are explained and all stakeholders reflect on the tensions, so a solution can be reached where everybody receives a benefit. This relates to the goal of stakeholder theory, where the goal is to achieve a balance, fairness and harmony within the stakeholder network (Freeman et al., 2020). To reach this goal companies must listen to their stakeholders carefully and explain that the solution might not be perfect for everybody, but one where everybody wins. Through this conversation stakeholders also will keep the shared purpose in mind, which means that these stakeholders will not divert to pursuing their own form of profit maximization. By accepting that stakeholders’ interests can oppose each other, companies will lead to insights in the opposing interests, the company being open to new ideas and the questioning of fundamental assumptions. This will be followed by decisions being

understood and accepted by stakeholders (Hillebrand et al., 2015). Democratic thinking

The third capability is democratic thinking. Democratic thinking refers to “the degree to which the firm is capable of sharing control over marketing decisions with a multitude of stakeholders” (Hillebrand et al. 2015, p. 420). This capability helps companies with a high dispersion of control. Dispersion of control refers to the degree to which other stakeholders than the company itself are able to influence the marketing decision making of the company (Hillebrand et al., 2015). When stakeholders are empowered, the decision making also happens outside the firm. These stakeholders can be empowered by the company or by external developments like technological innovations. When value is created throughout the stakeholder network and not just by the company, the company is not able to centralize the marketing decisions and will share the control over the decisions. Democratic theory may provide better understanding how to share control with stakeholders.

One component of democratic thinking is what to subject to the process of democratic thinking. The company might not want to share control about all decisions with other

stakeholders. In this capability companies also need to judge which stakeholders make a legitimate claim and are going to be a part of the decision making process. This can be seen as the problem of inclusion. Companies must decide which stakeholder is relevant to be engaged in the marketing decision process. To be able to engage these stakeholders,

companies must create opportunities for these stakeholders so they can participate. Another part of this capability is determining the weight of a stakeholder’s vote relative to the

legitimacy of their claim. Companies will also need to share information if they are going to share control. Here the question is who will be engaged in this sharing of information and

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what information is shared with these stakeholders. Sharing information may lead to better decisions, but this does not mean that all information needs to be shared. Stakeholders that are part of the process should also receive education about possible consequences of their decisions. If these stakeholders do not receive the proper education, they may make choices that bring harm to the system. The company is responsible for this education.

Organizational learning and the development of capabilities

Fiol and Lyles defined organizational learning as: “The development of insights, knowledge, and associations between past actions, the effectiveness of those actions, and future actions” (1985, p. 811). During organizational learning companies create insights about their routines and beliefs due to direct organizational experience (Levitt and March, 1988; McEvily and Marcus, 2005). Organizational learning is crucial for companies when developing

capabilities. Organizational learning creates the insights based on which companies change the use of their capabilities.

However, it is difficult to specify the trajectory through which a capability emerges. Capability development is triggered by an initial event, which leads to a chain of reactions (Schreyögg and Kliesch-Eberl, 2007). This initial event will be a challenge the company experiences when employing the capability. When this challenge is encountered, the

organization may need to change the way the resources in this capability are allocated so that the capability can reach its goal. So the challenges a company faces, will be the foundation for the development of capabilities.

Here it becomes clear that organizations learn through direct experiences. These direct experiences are the foundation for the development of a capability. When faced with a

challenge, companies may need to try and find a solution by allocating the resources either in a different way than before or develop and make use of new resources. By looking at the challenges a company faces, a path of development can be created (Marsh and Stock, 2003). Therefore, this study focuses on the challenges a company faces when employing stakeholder marketing capabilities. In this way insights about the development of the capabilities can be created.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Since the 1950’s there have been many perspectives of CSR. These perspectives show that there are different factors for companies to commit to CSR (Maignan and Ferrell, 2004).

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They also demonstrate towards which people or groups the company should be responsible to.

The first perspective is social obligation. This perspective was created by Bowen (1953). Bowen defined CSR as “to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society” (p. 6). There are different types of obligations. These obligations are:

• Economic. Companies should be productive and economically viable.

• Legal and ethical. Companies should follow the law and the norms established by

society.

• Philanthropic. Companies should proactively give back to society.

However, in the 1990’s several scholars started to advocate for another form of CSR (Maignan and Ferrell, 2004). These scholars stated that the underlying idea that companies are responsible for the entire society is too broad. Companies are only responsible for those who can be affected by the actions of the company. This perspective is called the stakeholder obligation. Only considering the stakeholders of the company will also lead to a more

effective management of CSR. The entire society is too broad while managing CSR efforts. When less groups need to be considered, the company will have a better overview of how their efforts will affect stakeholders.

In these two perspectives it is implied that a company participates in CSR because of self-interest. The goal of these CSR efforts is to gain legitimacy among their stakeholders (Maignan and Ferrell, 2004). However, this perspective disregards that some companies do not care about self-interests and just want to give back to society (Swanson, 1995). The companies with this perspective induce in CSR based on their moral principles. This does not mean that these companies will not gain any advantages from participating in CSR, but it is not the goal to gain advantages solely for the company.

For this study the reason why companies participate in CSR is not relevant. What is important, is that through CSR efforts companies try to reach their stakeholders. These stakeholders should deem the actions of the company desirable. If these stakeholders do not deem the actions desirable, the action will not be seen as socially responsible and thus not reach its goal. So stakeholders are crucial when managing CSR. This is the reason why CSR is used to investigate the employment and development of stakeholder marketing capabilities.

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Since the stakeholder marketing capabilities have not been empirically researched, the goal of this study is to make clear what the capabilities entail in practice and what guides their

development. Which elements of core capabilities are employed when companies make use of the capability and how do they relate to each other? Which challenges lead to the

development of the stakeholder marketing capabilities? For example: are there certain managerial systems companies use to identify stakeholders? Or do the norms and values of the companies motivate their employees to deal with tensions?

In this way this study can provide a better understanding into the use of stakeholder marketing. This is useful for managers because they can learn from the wins and failures of other managers. It will give these managers better guidance on how to deal with the

complexity of a stakeholder network. By making clear what the capabilities entail in practice and which challenges lead to their development, this study is also useful for marketing academics. This study can help marketing academics to build the theory of stakeholder marketing and the stakeholder marketing capabilities further.

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Methodology

Method

The research question of this study is: How do companies employ and develop the

stakeholder marketing capabilities as proposed by Hillebrand et al. (2015)? The goal of this study is to provide insights in the employment and the development of stakeholder marketing capabilities.

The stakeholder marketing capabilities used in this study are the ones as proposed by Hillebrand et al. (2015). These stakeholder marketing capabilities are used because this article is the only article that discusses stakeholder marketing capabilities that take the

interconnectedness of stakeholders in a network into account. However, these capabilities are only theoretically described and not empirically researched. This indicates that the current study has an explorative nature. Since this study is explorative, qualitative research methods will be used. Qualitative research methods are suitable for explorative studies since the goal in these methods is to develop theories, discover general principles or describe and

understand complex situations (Rubin and Rubin, 2005). Since the stakeholder marketing capabilities only have been theoretically described, the qualitative research method will try to make clear what the stakeholder marketing capabilities entail in practice and how they are developed.

Following Gebhardt, Carpenter and Sherry Jr. (2006), this study will make use of a longitudinal-processual method. In this approach in-depth qualitative data collection techniques are combined with comparative analysis, so a general process model can be developed. Each company will be compared with itself at different phases of a chronological process. In this study the subject is the development of a capability. Did a challenge lead to the development or different use of a stakeholder marketing capability? Answering this question creates the opportunity to generate insights about the development of the capabilities in the companies. Afterwards this method will compare the insights about the longitudinal progressions of the companies with each other. In this way general conclusions about the development process can be drawn, which may lead to a general development process. By reviewing the challenges a company has faced it will also become clear if they employed a stakeholder marketing capability and if so, in which way.

The qualitative method used in this study is oral histories. In the interviews questions are asked about the history of challenges the company has faced throughout time when

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employing stakeholder marketing capabilities, while conducting their CSR efforts. Focussing on the challenges faced during the CSR initiative may lead to insights about the development of the capabilities. The development of capabilities is triggered by an initial event, which leads to a chain of reactions that establish a capability trajectory (Schreyögg and Kliesch-Eberl, 2007). So by focussing on the challenges the company faces during the CSR initiative, it can become clear what has led to the development of a stakeholder marketing capability. If the company is able to provide any suitable documents, then these documents will be used to analyse the development of stakeholder marketing capabilities too.

Asking how companies develop their stakeholder marketing capabilities may lead to general answers with too little detail. This is one of the reasons that a CSR initiative is used to create focus for the respondent. By asking how the companies performed the capabilities during a certain period to improve their performance in relation to the topic, it will be easier for the respondent to remember how they employed the capabilities and how they developed over time.

Interview protocol

The interview protocol is based on the stakeholder marketing capabilities as proposed by Hillebrand et al. (2015) and can be found in Appendix B.

The goal of the interview is to generate insights about the development of stakeholder marketing capabilities. During the interview it should also become clear what the stakeholder marketing capabilities entail in practice right now, since the capabilities only are theoretically described.

The interview consisted of three parts. The interviews started with general questions about the initiatives. These general questions relate to the goal of the initiative, how many and which stakeholder were involved in the initiative and when the initiative was started.

Next questions about the development of the capabilities were asked. These questions asked which challenges the company has faced throughout time when employing stakeholder marketing capabilities in the CSR initiative. If the company faced a challenge. These

challenges may have led to new insights about their use of the capabilities. These insights may give the companies ideas how to perform the capabilities in a better way. This would mean that the challenges a company faces, may actually be the foundation for improving stakeholder marketing capabilities. So by asking which challenges the companies have faced and how they reacted to it, insights about the development of the capabilities can be

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The last part of the interview consisted of questions about the employment of the capabilities. This part was done as last because there is high probability that the answers about the challenges and the impact of the challenges demonstrate how the capabilities are employed. In these answers the following questions must be answered: Do the companies use the skills or knowledge from employees? Are there certain information systems or tools that are used in the process? And how do managers create structures so they can control the creation of knowledge? Are there values and norms of the company that are manifested in the capabilities which contribute to stakeholder marketing? Through the answers on these

questions it should become clear what companies do when they employ stakeholder marketing capabilities.

Population and sample

The unit of analysis in this study is the company. The study focuses on companies that are positioned in a complex stakeholder network. A complex stakeholder network is

characterized by interconnectedness of stakeholders. In a complex stakeholder network stakeholders are able to influence each other. This means that the companies have to deal with external pressures that they do not control and only can react to. For these companies the need to employ stakeholder marketing is bigger than in a simple network where a company can ignore tensions, has complete control over their marketing decisions and stakeholders do not influence each other. In a complex stakeholder network value is co-created throughout the network, so the success of a company depends on other stakeholders. This calls for a good management of the companies’ stakeholders, because otherwise the companies may struggle in being successful. So to be able to draw conclusions about the employment and

development of stakeholder marketing capabilities, there have been searches for companies that deal with a complex value exchange, a high degree of explicit tension and a high dispersion of control. In this way there is a higher probability that conclusions can be drawn and that the conclusions have more power.

To find companies that deal with a complex stakeholder network I focus on industries that are characterized by transitions concerning CSR or the environment and by radical innovations. The preference was that every company was situated in the same industry. So first there has been searched for participants in the food industry. There is a lot of pressure on this industry to innovate and become more sustainable. However, there were problems

regarding finding companies that wanted to participate in this study due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Companies were struggling with finding ways to continue with working, so

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participating in an interview was not a top priority. The search in the food industry led to three interviews. Since this did not lead to a sufficient number of interviews, the search was expanded to other industries that are characterized by the same things. First the search

expanded to the energy and clothing industry. Since the search in these industries still did not lead to a sufficient number of interviews, the search was expanded yet again. The companies from this search that were willing to participate, were situated in the insurance and the internet industry.

Companies were approached in multiple ways. The first one is through e-mail or leaving a message on the company website. Most companies did not respond or denied the request for an interview immediately. The second way is by telephone, but this was not very successful. Due to the Covid-19 outbreak most people worked at home and were not

available most of the time. Eventually thirteen interviews with ten companies were planned by e-mail and one interview with one company was planned over the phone. Five of these interviews were done with an energy company, three with a food company and one with a clothing company, one with an insurance company and one with an internet company.

The interviews were conducted in different ways. As a novice researcher, the

preference was to conduct the interviews face-to-face. However, this was not possible due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The second preference was to conduct the interviews via

web-applications like Skype or Zoom, but most respondents stated that they wanted to conduct the interview by telephone. Since it already was difficult to find participants, the decision was made to cater to the preference of the respondent. The interviews with eight companies were conducted by telephone, with three companies with web/video-applications and with one company face-to-face.

Characteristics

Characteristics of the companies

What stood out is that all the companies had a strong philosophy about CSR. None of the companies thought that CSR is not important at all. All the energy companies were involved with generating sustainable energy. These companies had a business model that was centred around CSR. They not only had the goal of profit; they also had the higher purpose of contributing to sustainability. The insurance company also had a business model centred around CSR. Some of these companies did not think that their business model was part of CSR. These companies perceived CSR as the things you do without any self-interest and do not generate profit from. All the other companies were involved in CSR, but their business

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model would not be focussed on CSR. For example, the food and clothing companies would sell sustainable products, but also sold non-sustainable products.

The companies cannot only be characterized by their business model or company philosophy. Except for the companies in cases 6, 9 and 11, all companies can be

characterized as relatively small companies in terms of employees.

In the cases with energy companies the size of the companies is related to the fact that these companies are relatively young. However, not every small company was small because of their age. The company in case 2 has been in the Netherlands for over twenty years but is small because it is only a regional office. Other times the companies were small and old, for example the company in case 10.

Characteristics of the respondents

The respondents needed to have overview over a CSR initiative. The companies nominated the person with the right position for the interview. Respondents interviewed included: head of PR and communication/corporate communication, head of CSR, project coordinator, director, project manager, owner/founder and manager Corporate & Marketing

Communications. Seven respondents are male, and four respondents are female.

For every case one respondent was interviewed. In four cases it became apparent that an extra interview needed to be conducted due to some missing data. In one case an extra interview was planned but the respondent did not pick up the phone anymore. Most

interviews lasted around 30 minutes. The longest interview took one hour and twenty minutes in total. In this case two interviews were held. The shortest interview lasted around fifteen minutes.

Characteristics of the initiatives

One way of characterizing the initiative is looking at the goals of the initiative. Six initiatives were part of the core business of the company and created monetary profit for the company. In the other five initiatives companies did not directly profit from the initiative. Only two of these five initiatives did not relate to the core business of the company. Seven out of the eleven discussed initiatives dealt with the energy transition to more sustainable energy. Five of these initiatives dealt with generating energy, while two dealt with a company switching to a sustainable energy. These companies were not situated in the energy industry. Besides these two initiatives, all the initiatives discussed had a link to the core business of the company. For example: a company that produces healthy drinks for intestines, sponsored a cycling event

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that raised money and awareness for intestines. In one case no initiative was discussed. The company in this case had no specific CSR projects, but their business model revolved around CSR. They were an umbrella organization for other companies and only focussed on

coordinating this process.

These initiatives can also be characterized by how many goals the initiative serves. Most initiatives have one common goal. From this common goal everybody profits. For example, in case 2 the goal of the initiative is to raise money and awareness. By sponsoring the initiative, the company also creates benefits for themselves. So in this case there is a common goal, which helps the company with reaching other goals. In some cases there were multiple goals. In case 3 the goal was to build an eco solar panel park. Not only was the goal to generate sustainable energy, but the company also wanted to increase the biodiversity in the area and educate people about generating sustainable energy, all while trying to make profit.

How many stakeholders are involved also differs per initiative. In some cases only one stakeholder was involved, where in other cases there were even more than six

stakeholders involved.

An overview of the characteristics can be found in Appendix C.

Analysis

To ensure the validity of this study the respondents received a summary with the conclusions that were drawn about their company/initiative. The respondent from case 1 also gave some extra information after sending the conclusions. This information was added to the results. Checking the results also led to one extra interview with the company in case 2 since the respondent stated that she gave a wrong answer. In this interview the mistake was cleared. After conducting all the interviews, the analysis started.

Transcription

All the interviews were transcribed. The form of transcription is denaturalized transcription. This method suits this study since the focus in the interviews is on the informative content (Oliver, Serovich, & Mason, 2005). In denaturalized transcription the accuracy concerns the substance of the information that is given by the respondent, rather than their accents, stutters or pauses. This study focuses on what the stakeholder marketing capabilities entail in practice

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and how they are developed. So what the respondents state is more important than the way the respondent phrases it.

Coding

When the transcriptions were finished the coding process could start. This study used

inductive coding. Codes are derived from the data and were not developed a priori because of the explorative nature of the study. The coding was done with the program Atlas.ti. The results of this process can be found in the next chapter.

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Results

In this chapter the findings will be discussed. Per aspect of a capability, the elements that were employed are discussed. Followed by a closing statement per capability.

Systems thinking

Norms and values Skills and knowledge of employees Technical systems Managerial systems Identification of stakeholders - Responsibility to society (2, 5, 7) - Transparency (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11) - Recognizing new/potential stakeholder (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11) - Knowledge about stakeholders (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11) - Stakeholder wiki (7) Linking stakeholders to each other - The importance of linking stakeholders (1, 3, 7, 11) - Synergy in stakeholder relationships (2, 5) - Skill of linking stakeholders (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11) - Knowledge of stakeholders’ skills (1, 3, 7) - Stakeholder wiki (7) - Stakeholder meeting (2)

Table 1. Elements found when employing systems thinking. Numbers between brackets refer to the cases.

Identifying stakeholders

I found two stakeholder management norms and values that stimulate the identification of stakeholders:

• Responsibility to society

Responsibility to society refers to a company’s philosophy that it should try to improve society. This philosophy stimulates (or even forces) the company to reach out and search for stakeholders it can support, for example by sponsoring. For example, in case 2 the company’s philosophy is to improve the health of society. It does so by sponsoring health-related events. To be able to sponsor these events the company must identify them first. The parties that

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organize these events are stakeholders. So feeling responsibility to society encourages the company to search for stakeholders that organize sponsor events.

• Transparency

Transparency refers to the company-wide held belief that decisions made by the company should be known and understood by all employees. When employees understand the

company’s decisions, they will better understand which stakeholders must be identified. This leads to the employees putting more effort into the identification of stakeholders. For

example, in case 7 the company prefers to work with local stakeholders. If the employees come across a local stakeholder which has not been identified yet, the employees are better able to recognize the stakeholder as being useful for the company when facing future

challenges. So being transparent about the company’s stakeholder preference of working with local stakeholders, leads to the identification of stakeholders.

I found two skills and types of knowledge of employees that are used for the identification of stakeholders:

• Recognizing a new/potential stakeholder

This skill refers to the ability of an employee to recognize a new or potential stakeholder. This skill helps employees with the identification of stakeholders. For example, in case 2 employees bring forward sponsor events. These employees never bring forward projects that do not match the company’s philosophy. So the ability of employees to recognize these sponsor events helps with the identification of stakeholders.

‘We are always explaining to our employees why we do certain things. People understand that very well and never suggest a project that makes you wonder: why did you come up with this?’

• Knowledge about stakeholders

This knowledge refers to the knowledge of employees about stakeholders. Through

experience employees have gathered the information which parties are relevant stakeholders for the company. For example, in case 1 the company places solar panels on large roofs. Through experience employees have gained a lot of knowledge about external installers, which can be used whenever the company starts a new solar panel project.

‘We work in Overijssel with the same installer. … We inform the network operator. All those things are as easy for us as our ABC’s.’

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I found one technical system that is used for the identification of stakeholders:

• Stakeholder wiki

A stakeholder wiki is a collaboratively edited system that contains knowledge about

stakeholders and their scope. Every employee is able to edit the system. Employees can use this system to find information about stakeholders and identify them. For example,

WikiZutphen in case 7 contains knowledge about stakeholders in the company’s region. Every employee can add stakeholders or information about stakeholders to this system. Employees can use the system whenever they are searching for a stakeholder.

‘It is called WikiZutphen. … We are trying to map all of Zutphen, for every subject. Health, art, the environment… So you just click on energy… And then you see which organizations deal with this subject.’

Linking stakeholders to each other

I found two stakeholder management norms and values that stimulate the linking of stakeholders:

• The importance of linking stakeholders

The importance of linking stakeholders refers to the company’s belief that linking stakeholders to each other is important for reaching the company’s goals. This belief stimulates employees to think about the relationships between stakeholders in the value system. For example, in case 3 the company looks for a shared culture among the

stakeholders that collaborate with the company. These stakeholders must share the culture that they are willing to come together to find solutions for problems they might face. By looking for a shared culture, the employees are forced to think about the relationships between all parties that realize the building of the park. The company believes that looking for the culture and thus linking stakeholders is crucial for being successful.

‘And we are always looking for, in this case with a farmer, but with everybody we work for a common culture. … You know one thing for sure. A lot of things are going to go wrong. So if you are not willing to come together to talk about it and find a solution, it is never going to work.’

• Synergy in stakeholder relationships

Synergy in stakeholder relationships refers to the company’s belief that by collaborating with multiple stakeholders at the same time, they are able to make more impact on society than collaborating with these stakeholders by themselves. This leads to employees thinking about relationships between stakeholders so that possibilities for collaboration with multiple stakeholders can be explored. For example, in case 5 the company wants to stimulate people to undertake sustainable initiatives by supporting them with these resources. People can hand

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in requests for these resources. By bundling the requests of multiple stakeholders, the

company believes they will make more impact. So whenever the company receives a request, employees will think about the links with other requests.

I found two skills and types of knowledge of employees that are used for the linking of stakeholders:

• Skill of linking stakeholders

The skill of linking stakeholders refers to the ability of employees to link stakeholders to each other. This skill helps employees with the linking of stakeholders. For example, in case 2 the respondent recognized the link between two stakeholders at an anniversary of the company. So the ability of the respondent was used to link these stakeholders to each other.

‘Maybe they would have done it without me, but I try to have a proactive attitude in [linking stakeholders to each other].’

• Knowledge of stakeholder’s skills

Knowledge of stakeholder’s skills refers to the knowledge of employees about the skills of a stakeholder. Sometimes a company is not the only group that is in touch with a customer. If the company wants to deliver as much value as possible to the customer, they must carefully think about all relationships in the system. Stakeholders’ skills are important for delivering value to the customer. Therefore, the knowledge of stakeholders’ skills is used when thinking about delivering value to the customer, which consists of linking stakeholders. For example, in case 1 the company makes use of an external installer to install the solar panels. So the company is not the only group that is in touch with and delivers value to the customer. Before hiring the installer, the company will think about the relationship between the stakeholder and the client. They want to deliver as much value as possible to the customer and the skills of a stakeholder is crucial for delivering value. So during the linking of these stakeholders groups, the knowledge of stakeholders’ skills is used.

‘The relationships between the different parties must match. We want a satisfied customer and that is only possible if we work with an installer who delivers good quality work and a salesperson who also advises the customer well.’

I found one technical system that is used for the linking of stakeholders:

• Stakeholder wiki

A stakeholder wiki is a collaboratively edited system that contains knowledge about stakeholders and their scope. Employees can find information about stakeholders in these

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wikis and use it to link stakeholders to each other. For example, in case 7 the company struggled with reaching the intended demographic. The company wanted to ask help from a stakeholder that deals with this demographic regularly. In this system the company could find a stakeholder group that has the skills to deal with this demographic. The company’s

employees already knew which stakeholder group should be engaged so this did not happen. However, this shows how the system could have been used for the linking of stakeholders.

I found one managerial system that stimulates the linking of stakeholders:

• Stakeholder meeting

Stakeholder meetings are events where the company invites all their stakeholders over. By having all the stakeholders in one room, employees are stimulated to think about the relationships between stakeholders. For example, the company in case 2 organizes

stakeholder meetings to celebrate anniversaries of the company. At one of these meetings the respondent linked two stakeholders to each other for the first time.

‘About a few years ago we arranged a meeting for our stakeholders. People from [both organizations] came to the event and there I just linked them to each other.’

Case Aspect of

capability Norms and values Skills and knowledge of employees Technical systems Managerial systems Overall score 1 Identifying

Linking LowHigh High High -- - - Low

2 Identifying

Linking HighHigh HighHigh - - - Medium High

3 Identifying

Linking Low High HighHigh -- -- Low

5 Identifying

Linking High High HighHigh -- -- Medium

7 Identifying

Linking HighHigh HighHigh MediumMedium -- High 11 Identifying

Linking Low High HighHigh -- -- Low

Table 2. The degree to which a company possesses an element. Alongside the overall score for the capability of a company.

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Closing statements

Stakeholder management norms and values can stimulate (or even force) the employees to identify stakeholders. These norms and values also support the employee during the identification of stakeholders. For example, whenever an employee comes across an

unknown stakeholder, norms and values may help the employee with identifying this party as a stakeholder. So the norms and values were not the reason to start identifying stakeholders, but did help with the process. For the linking of stakeholders the norms and values are crucial. Without the right norms and values stakeholders will not be linked to each other. So these norms and also stimulate (or even force) the employee to link stakeholders to each other. Every case scores high on this element because these norms and values are the reason that stakeholders will be linked to each other. Although the role of the norms and values may differ sometimes, they will always be the foundation on which the capability is built.

Employees execute the tasks. During this process they will make use of their skills and knowledge. This applies to both aspects of the capability. The more difficult a task becomes, the more important the skills and knowledge becomes.

Knowledge can be provided by a technical system. Employees can store the

knowledge they generated in this system so that it can be spread throughout the company and is not lost when employees leave. So this system can support the employee during the

execution of a task.

The managerial system regarding the linking of stakeholders also stimulates the employee. However, the linking of stakeholders can still be done without this system being present.

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Norms and values Skills and knowledge of employees Technical systems Managerial systems Identification of tensions - The importance of interests (3, 5, 7, 11) - Skill to identify tensions (3, 5, 7, 11) - Knowledge about company interests (3, 5, 7, 11) - Guidelines (5) - Information sessions (3, 7) - 1 on 1 interviews (7) Dealing with tensions

- The importance of the greater purpose (3, 7) - The importance of common interests (5, 7, 11)

- Skill to find solutions (3, 5, 7, 11) - Guidelines (5) - Information sessions (3, 7) - 1 on 1 interviews (7) Table 3. Elements found when employing paradoxical thinking. Numbers between brackets refer to the cases.

Identifying tensions

I found one stakeholder management norm/value that stimulates the identification of tensions:

• The importance of interests

The importance of interests refers to the company’s belief that it should identify the interests of stakeholders. By identifying the interests of stakeholders, companies are can identify the opposing interests. Resolving these tensions enables the company to keep all stakeholders satisfied. This in turn helps the company with reaching their goals since these stakeholders will not hinder the company in reaching their goals. For example, in case 3 the company tries to identify tensions with people that live close to the solar panel park. A common problem is that these stakeholders are not satisfied because their view is affected. By identifying the interests of this stakeholder group, the company will identify the opposing interests. This helps the company with keeping this stakeholder group satisfied and enables the company to reach their goals.

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I found two skills and types of knowledge of employees that are used for the identification of tensions:

• Skill to identify tensions

This skill refers to the ability of an employee to identify tensions. This skill helps the

employee to identify tensions when being confronted with information. For example, in case 3 employees talk to people that live close to the solar panel park. When these people give information, the employee must identify the tensions.

• Knowledge about company interests

This type of knowledge refers to an employees’ knowledge about company interests. By having knowledge about company interests, employees are able to identify the opposing interests. For example, in case 5 the company receives requests. By keeping the company’s interests in mind, the employee is able to spot the interests that create tensions.

I found one technical system that is used for the identification of tensions:

• Guidelines

Guidelines are knowledge about requirements made explicit in a system. Employees can use this system to see if something meets the requirements. This helps the employee with

identifying tensions. For example, in case 5 the company receives requests for their fund. To be able to see if the request does not oppose the company’s interests, employees can use the guidelines that are stored in the system.

I found two managerial systems that stimulate the identification of tensions:

• Information sessions

An information session is a meeting organized by the company for stakeholders. The

company expects that there are tensions with stakeholder groups and invites them to join the session. In this way stakeholders are stimulated to express their interests so that tensions can be identified. For example, in case 3 the company organizes information sessions for people that live close to the solar panel park. In this session the company explains their plans and people can express their opinions about these plans. In this way employees are forced to search for tensions and identify them.

‘No we really search for [tensions]. So at a certain moment in the first phase when you have a plan, we invite everybody within a 500 meters radius and sometimes even more, depending on the location of the park. They are invited to join a session.’

How to deal with the complexity of a stakeholder network? The employment and development of stakeholder marketing capabilities