Short answer
When developing new products, services, or business strategies, actively identify and consider the needs and potential impacts on all relevant stakeholders, not just the primary customer or investor.
- Field
- Innovation & Markets
- Source
- Human Resource Management (2015)
- Method
- Normative review and critique
- Evidence
- Strong effect
Adopting a multi-stakeholder perspective in business strategy, beyond just shareholders, is crucial for long-term success and innovation. This innovation & markets research insight is drawn from a 2015 study published in Human Resource Management. Using Normative review and critique, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: When developing new products, services, or business strategies, actively identify and consider the needs and potential impacts on all relevant stakeholders, not just the primary customer or investor.
Broaden Stakeholder Focus for Sustainable Business Growth
Adopting a multi-stakeholder perspective in business strategy, beyond just shareholders, is crucial for long-term success and innovation.
Human Resource Management · 2015
Key Findings
- 01Traditional HRM models overly prioritize shareholder returns.
- 02A wider view of stakeholders is increasingly important for practitioners.
- 03Academic research is beginning to adopt a multi-stakeholder perspective.
- 04A long-term, multi-layered approach considering all stakeholders is necessary for future development.
Application
Design takeaway
When developing new products, services, or business strategies, actively identify and consider the needs and potential impacts on all relevant stakeholders, not just the primary customer or investor.
How to apply
Before launching a new product or service, map out all potential stakeholders and assess how the design will affect each group. Integrate feedback from diverse stakeholder groups into the design process.
Project actions
- 01When defining your target audience, consider secondary users and affected parties.
- 02In your research, gather insights from a variety of sources that represent different stakeholder interests.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Provides a forward-looking perspective on business strategy.
- +Critiques traditional, narrow business models.
Limitations
It can be challenging to balance the potentially conflicting needs of numerous stakeholders within a single design project.
Reliability & validity
The study's findings are based on a theoretical critique and normative review, making direct empirical reliability and validity testing challenging. Its strength lies in its conceptual argument.
Think critically
How might a design project prioritize the needs of one stakeholder group over another, and what are the ethical considerations involved?
Design Principles
"Design for a broader ecosystem of impact."
This approach acknowledges that a company's impact extends to employees, customers, suppliers, and the community. By considering the needs of all these groups, businesses can foster greater loyalty, enhance brand reputation, and identify new opportunities for innovation that resonate with a wider audience.
What This Means for Your Design
Think about everyone affected by your design, not just the person who buys it. Considering their needs can lead to better, more successful designs.
How to use in your project
- 1.Reference this study when discussing the importance of considering diverse user needs and ethical implications in your design process.
- 2.Use the concept of multi-stakeholder perspectives to justify your design choices and research directions.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
The research by Beer, Boselie, and Brewster (2015) highlights the critical need to move beyond a singular focus on shareholder value towards a multi-stakeholder perspective. This approach, which considers the long-term needs of all relevant parties including employees, customers, and the wider community, is essential for fostering sustainable growth and innovation. Applying this to my design project, I will actively seek to understand and integrate the requirements of diverse stakeholders to ensure a more robust and ethically sound outcome.
Source
Human Resource Management
Back to the Future: Implications for the Field of HRM of the Multistakeholder Perspective Proposed 30 Years Ago
journal · 2015
View sourceQuestions About This Research
- What does the research say about broaden stakeholder focus for sustainable business growth?
- When developing new products, services, or business strategies, actively identify and consider the needs and potential impacts on all relevant stakeholders, not just the primary customer or investor. Evidence: Human Resource Management (2015).
- Why does "Broaden Stakeholder Focus for Sustainable Business Growth" matter for design?
- This approach acknowledges that a company's impact extends to employees, customers, suppliers, and the community. By considering the needs of all these groups, businesses can foster greater loyalty, enhance brand reputation, and identify new opportunities for innovation that resonate with a wider audience.
- How can designers apply this research?
- When developing new products, services, or business strategies, actively identify and consider the needs and potential impacts on all relevant stakeholders, not just the primary customer or investor.
- What were the main findings?
- Traditional HRM models overly prioritize shareholder returns.. A wider view of stakeholders is increasingly important for practitioners.. Academic research is beginning to adopt a multi-stakeholder perspective.. A long-term, multi-layered approach considering all stakeholders is necessary for future development.
- What research method was used?
- Normative review and critique.
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Strong effect, based on a 2015 journal from Human Resource Management.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- Before launching a new product or service, map out all potential stakeholders and assess how the design will affect each group. Integrate feedback from diverse stakeholder groups into the design process.
- What are the limitations?
- The study is a normative review and does not present empirical data on the direct impact of multi-stakeholder approaches on specific business outcomes.