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Investigating the Dynamics of Stakeholder Salience: What Happens When the Institutional Change Process Unfolds?

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Abstract

Using data collected through semi-structured open-ended interviews and archival material, we examined the transience of stakeholders’ salience in the organisational field going through institutional change process. We found strong support for the dominant institutional logic-stakeholder salience relationship. More importantly, the results of our study reveal that changes in stakeholders’ salience are directly related to changes in stakeholders’ attributes. Moreover, we uncover mutual associations among various types of salience attributes and show that the degree of mutual association of various types of attributes depends upon the stage the organisation has reached during the process of institutional change.

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Notes

  1. Int. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.

  2. Int. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 13, 14, 16, 17.

  3. Int. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 26, 27, 30, 31, 33.

  4. Int. 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 33.

  5. Int. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 23, 25, 26, 29, 32.

  6. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33.

Abbreviations

AKRSP:

Agha Khan Rural Support Program

DAMEN:

Development Action for Mobilisation and Emancipation

FMFB:

First Microfinance Bank

MF:

Microfinance

MFB:

Microfinance Bank

MFI:

Microfinance Institution

MNC:

Multinational Corporation

NGO:

Non-Governmental Organisation

RCDS:

Rural Community Development Society

SAP-PK:

South Asia Partnership Pakistan

SBP:

State Bank of Pakistan

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Correspondence to Sandra Charreire Petit.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Interview Guides

Interview Guide—Microfinance Institutions

  1. 1.

    As of today which are the stakeholders that you consider are important to your firm?

    Please list down in order of importance?

  2. 2.

    How do you see contribution of these stakeholders towards your organisation?

    Is this contribution increasing with the passage of time? Or is it increasing with the growth of MF?

  3. 3.

    Before the launch of MF operations, which stakeholders were important for your firm? Please list down in order of importance?

  4. 4.

    What were the contributions of these stakeholders before launch of Microfinance?

  5. 5.

    What kind of issues arose with these stakeholders in Pre-MF era?

    With which stakeholders you faced issues? How frequently these issues were raised? Which issues were tackled first?

    Did these issues arise due to the lack of trust or reliability?

    Who you had smoothest relation out of these stakeholders?

  6. 6.

    What kind of issues arose in Post-MF era?

    With which stakeholders you had issues?

    How frequently these issues were raised? Which issues were tackled first?

    Who you had smoothest relations in post-MF era?

    With the growth of MF, which issues are rising?

  7. 7.

    How you see image of your organisation after the launch of MF?

    Which stakeholders have an effect on your organisation’s image? Why?

    Association with which stakeholders have improved the image of your firm?

    Is the image of your organisation improving now?

  8. 8.

    How you see image of your organisation when there was no MF?

    Which stakeholders had an effect on your organisation’s image? Who controlled media?

    Association with which of these stakeholders had improved the image of your firm?

  9. 9.

    Now when you have launched MF, which stakeholders are a part of a strong network, coalition, consortium etc.? Please list them in order of importance?

    Are these stakeholders getting stronger in networks with the passage of time?

    Before starting of MF which of your stakeholders had stronger networks?

  10. 10.

    How your stakeholders contribute more to societal welfare? Who contributes more?

    Is this contribution rising with the passage of time?

    How your firm’s and stakeholders’ contribution to societal welfare were different in pre-MF era from those of today?

  11. 11.

    In pre-MF era which stakeholders were better equipped to make self-corrections?

    Who had better early warning systems?

    In Post-MF era which stakeholders are better equipped to make self-corrections?

    Are these stakeholders improving on their early warning systems?

  12. 12.

    Which of these stakeholders enjoy better image? Is it due to the prestigious Board members or employees?

    Where such prestigious people do you find more?

  13. 13.

    Before launching of MF, who had given more valuable inputs to your organisation?

    Presently, which organisation would you consult in designing social strategies and execution of plans?

    Which stakeholders give valuable inputs in your welfare initiatives?

  14. 14.

    Which stakeholders are so important that you can’t survive without them?

    Which stakeholders were inevitably important in Pre-MF era?

  15. 15.

    Interactions with which stakeholders have increased after the launch of MF?

    Which stakeholders are more acceptable to you after MF?

    Who shares more norms with your stakeholders?

    In pre-MF era, which stakeholders were closest and had high interaction with your firm?

Interview Guide—Stakeholders

  1. 1.

    What factors led to the decision to work with a focal firm (NGO/MFI/MFB)?

    Why did your organisation affiliate itself with the focal firm?

    How was this partnership related to your needs? How it had served the needs of focal firm?

  2. 2.

    How you see the level of contribution of your organisation towards the focal firm?

  3. 3.

    How relationships with the focal firm were managed?

    Who managed the relationship?

  4. 4.

    What issues/problems developed over the course of the partnership?

    How did you behave (tactics used) for this issue?

    What was the issue’s impact on the organisation?

    How did you ensure that your needs were met?

    How were the issues/problems resolved?

    Were there times when you thought that your needs were pushed aside in favour of another individual/organisation?

  5. 5.

    Has image of your organisation improved after working with the focal firm?

    How are the working relations between the two organisations?

    Did the media have an impact on your relationship?

    Who else had more impact on the mutual relationship between the two organisations?

  6. 6.

    Is your organisation part of alliances, coalitions, networks or consortium?

    Have the size and number of these coalitions and networks increased?

    How these consortiums, coalitions helped the focal firm?

  7. 7.

    What were your expectations from this partnership in terms of societal welfare?

    Did these expectations change? Were they met?

    What deficiencies remained?

  8. 8.

    Were there some un-wanted/sudden problems that you faced in partnership with the focal firm?

    How did your early warning system detect them?

    When such problems were more?

    How you dealt with them?

  9. 9.

    What was your initial perception of focal firm? How did the focal firm see you? Has this image changed?

    Is it due to the prestigious Board members or employees joining your organisation?

  10. 10.

    Has your organisation given valuable inputs in designing and implementing the social strategy of the focal firm?

    Have such inputs given by your organisation increased?

  11. 11.

    How much acceptability your organisation enjoys at focal firm?

    Has this acceptability increased?

    Is focal firm acceptable at your organisation? Is this acceptability increasing?

  12. 12.

    How is your level of interaction with focal firm?

    Has this interaction improved over the period?

    What values you share with the focal firm?

Interview Guide—Independent Analysts

  1. 1.

    How you see the conversion of NGOs to MFIs and then to MFBs? What motivates it?

    How different are the stakeholders of MFIs and MFBs from when they were NGOs?

  2. 2.

    Who NGOs depend most on for their functioning?

    Who MFIs and MFBs try to affiliate with?

    How does this dependency on various stakeholders change with change in institutional form?

  3. 3.

    What major challenges/problems did NGOs face before conversion to MFI?

    Were these challenges because of trust and reliability?

    What are the major challenges for MFBs?

    Which are more frequent and critical challenges in three phases?

    Which issues are rising?

    How do you see any change in the role of Govt. before and after change in institutional form?

  4. 4.

    Which organisations have a bigger impact on the image of NGOs? And now on MFIs?

    Association with which stakeholders brings better reputation to MFBs?

    Which stakeholders have a better association with the media?

    Which are more influential than media?

  5. 5.

    In your opinion which stakeholders of NGOs are part of consortiums, coalitions and networks? And what about MFIs and MFBs?

    Which stakeholders tend to build networks and coalitions?

    Who grants more contacts to these two institutional forms?

  6. 6.

    How do you see the outcomes of operations of various stakeholders? NGOs and MFIs?

    Do they add to the societal welfare?

    How about MFBs?

    How can these stakeholders improve their working to add to societal welfare?

  7. 7.

    Which stakeholders dealing with NGOs are better equipped, have sophisticated systems and early warning systems?

    Which stakeholders of MFIs and MFBs are better equipped?

  8. 8.

    Where we would find prestigious people in banks, Govt., donors, networks etc.? And why?

    Who gives inputs to NGOs while they design their policies?

  9. 9.

    Who MFIs and MFBs would consult while they design their policies?

    Whose contribution in this connection is rising?

  10. 10.

    Who is inevitable for survival of NGOs and MFIs?

    Who is inevitable for survival of MFBs?

  11. 11.

    While working in donor driven paradigm where from the norms and values pour into NGOs?

    Who NGOs share their values, norms and belief systems with?

    Now when working in Commercial paradigm where from the norms, values and belief systems get into MFIs?

Appendix 2

See Table 7.

Table 7 Interview distribution

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Khurram, S., Charreire Petit, S. Investigating the Dynamics of Stakeholder Salience: What Happens When the Institutional Change Process Unfolds?. J Bus Ethics 143, 485–515 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2768-0

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