A cross-country comparison and validation of firms’ stakeholder considerations in sustainable business practices

• Pages: 408-424
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/CG-07-2017-0131
• Date: 07 February 2018
• Published date: 07 February 2018
• Author: Niklas P.E. Karlsson,Hélène Laurell,John Lindgren,Tobias Pehrsson,Svante Andersson,Göran Svensson
• Subject Matter: Corporate governance,Strategy

A cross-country comparison and validation

of f‌irms’ stakeholder considerations in

sustainable business practices

Niklas P.E. Karlsson, Hélène Laurell, John Lindgren, Tobias Pehrsson, Svante Andersson

and Göran Svensson

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to compare and validate firms’ internal and external stakeholder

considerations in sustainable business practices across business settings. It aims to assess the validity

and reliability of a stakeholder framework appearing in previous studies.

Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a questionnaire survey and a cross-industry sample

consisting of the largest firms in corporate Sweden. Multivariate analysis tests the stakeholder framework.

Each of the 294 key informants was initially identified and contacted by telephone, generating a response

rate of 36.5 per cent.

Findings – The tested stakeholder framework appears valid and reliable across countries to assess the

internal stakeholders of focal firms, as well as their up- and downstream, market and societal stakeholders.

This study provides additional empirical support to categorize firms’ stakeholder considerations in

sustainable business practices.

Research limitations/implications – This study validates previous findings in terms of Swedish firms’

considerations of internal and external stakeholders in sustainable business practices in relation to one

similar country (Norway) and one different country (Spain). The study also shows how the three countries

perceive the focal company and societal stakeholders differently.

Practical implications – The tested framework sheds light on focal firms’ stakeholder considerations in

sustainable business practices and elucidates the extent to which firms’ account for their internal and

external stakeholders in sustainable business practices.

Originality/value – This study contributes to the development of valid and reliable stakeholder theory

across contexts and through time. In particular, it contributes to the development of a valid and reliable

framework to categorize firms’ stakeholder considerations in sustainable business practices.

Keywords Stakeholders, Corporate social responsibility, Supply chain management

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

The identification and categorization of relevant internal and external stakeholders in

business constitutes an important corporate task in stakeholder theory. Many different

categorizations in extant literature deal with stakeholder theory. However, most are not

based on the outcome of specific parametric and multivariate testing of stakeholder

frameworks but rather on general empirical insights and logical reasoning (Donaldson and

Preston, 1995; Etzion, 2007; Evers et al., 2012; Ferrell et al., 2010; Fineman and Clarke,

1996; Freeman 1984; Gupta, 1995; Henriques and Sadorsky, 1999; Polonsky et al., 1999;

Porter, 1985; Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Vilchez et al., 2017).

Nevertheless, a few recent attempts of parametric and multivariate testing of a stakeholder

framework have occurred. Svensson et al. (2016) developed and successfully tested a

Niklas P.E. Karlsson is PhD

Candidate at the School of

Business, Engineering and

Science, Halmstad

University, Halmstad,

Sweden. He

´le

`ne Laurell is

Assistant Professor at the

School of Business,

Engineering and Science,

Halmstad University,

Halmstad, Sweden.

John Lindgren is PhD

Candidate at the School of

Business, Engineering and

Science, Halmstad

University, Halmstad,

Sweden. Tobias Pehrsson

is PhD Candidate at the

School of Business,

Engineering and Science,

Halmstad University,

Halmstad, Sweden.

Svante Andersson is

Professor at the School of

Business, Engineering and

Science, Halmstad

University, Halmstad,

Sweden. Go

¨ran Svensson

is Professor at Kristiania

University College, Oslo,

Norway.

Received 10 July 2017

Revised 30 October 2017

Accepted 13 December 2017

PAGE 408 jCORPORATE GOVERNANCE jVOL. 18 NO. 3 2018, pp. 408-424, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1472-0701 DOI 10.1108/CG-07-2017-0131

framework of firms’ stakeholder considerations in sustainable business practices in Norway.

However, they noted that their findings need to be validated across contexts and through

time. In response, Ferro et al. (2017) undertook this challenge and successfully validated

the same stakeholder framework in Spain.

The current study is based in Sweden, which is a neighboring country of Norway and, thus,

has a similar national culture; conversely, Sweden is more geographically distant and culturally

different from Spain (Hofstede, 1983). As business settings are always different from one

country to another and between one cross-industry sample and another, it is relevant to

include another Western country to further validate the stakeholder framework. Thus, the

relevance of validating previous findings of stakeholder framework across contexts and

through time is crucial to develop valid and reliable stakeholder theory. Hair et al. (2010) stress

the importance of validating previous empirical findings to provide a foundation to substantiate

theory. Crew (2015) describes an international validation effort that included 100 researchers

who attempted to replicate 270 findings published in reputable psychology journals. Despite

this effort, almost two-thirds of the findings could not be replicated and, thus, not confirmed,

indicating different results.

Open Science Collaboration (2015, p. 7) raises the concern with low reproducibility of

findings and states that “a single study almost never provides definitive resolution for or

against an effect and its explanation”. Lai (2007) and Wasti et al. (2006) stress the need to

examine and test business theory in different settings – that is, to thoroughly validate

original studies and their reported findings. Svensson (2013, 2015) raises serious doubts

about the rare frequency of validation studies, arguing that the process of developing

sound and rigorous theory is counter-productive in business research. Hair et al. (2011,

p. 33) note that “researchers develop theory based on the accumulated body of previous

research”. Validating previous findings is, therefore, critical not only to build valid and

reliable theory that is applicable across contexts and through time but also to extend the

generality of empirical findings.

The research objective of the current study is, therefore, to compare and validate firms’

internal and external stakeholder considerations in sustainable business practices across

other business settings, particularly Sweden, in relation to one similar country (Norway) and

one different country (Spain) when considering Hofstede’s (1983) dimensions of national

culture. That is, the study aims to assess the validity and reliability of the stakeholder

framework developed by Svensson et al. (2016) and validated by Ferro et al. (2017).

This study makes a theoretical contribution to existing theory by validating previous findings in

terms of one similar and one different country, thus offering an indication of generalizability. It

also provides a methodological contribution based on the same applied methodological

approach as in previous studies, uses measurement instruments and performs statistical

analyses to make comparisons and provide evidence of validation across three countries.

Furthermore, this study offers an empirical contribution to cross-validate previous findings

across three countries and through three points in time. Finally, it compiles empirical details

reported in each study to facilitate comparison between studies as a foundation to develop

existing theory and to enable opportunities for further research in other countries and at other

points in time, as Svensson et al. (2016) and Ferro et al. (2017) propose.

The structure of this paper is as follows: we begin by presenting a contextual background

with the role of national cultures, followed by the frame of reference and the methodology.

Next, we report the empirical findings. Finally, we discuss our findings, conclusions and

managerial implications.

2. Contextual background

In general, research assumes that countries nearby on one continent, such as Europe, are

more alike to each other than countries that are more distant (O’Grady and Lane, 1996).

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