Stakeholders: Opportunity or Threat? Voices from China

Abstract

China and the United States represent the two largest greenhouse gas emitters in the world. Studies on how US companies react to the natural environment are plentiful and show that stakeholders are one of the key drivers for green decisions. However, we have limited understanding of the stakeholder pressure faced by firms in China. Drawing on stakeholder theory, this study builds from in-depth interviews with 32 businesses in China. We show that government, customers, employees, suppliers, investors, and community are stakeholders most mentioned. Interestingly, findings also seem to suggest that the perceived pressures of non-profit organizations (NGOs) differ by the form of ownership. Multinational firms often view NGOs as allies, while Chinese firms downplay them as powerless and unimportant. Although stakeholders are seen as both threat and opportunity, two-thirds of those surveyed in this study focused on opportunity as opposed to threat.

Citation

Lau, C.L.L. (2017), "Stakeholders: Opportunity or Threat? Voices from China", Modern Organisational Governance (Developments in Corporate Governance and Responsibility, Vol. 12), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 109-127. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2043-052320170000012005