Takin’ Care of Small Business: The Rise of Stakeholder Influence
指出Barnett等人模型忽略的三个边界条件，认为独立、所有者管理的小企业中，信息过载问题较轻，利益相关者通过社交媒体能更有效施加影响，尤其在不确定经济环境下。
In this Exchange, we consider three crucial boundary conditions that Barnett, Henriques, and Husted (2020) overlooked in their model of diminished stakeholder influence. Although we agree that social media platforms have weakened stakeholder influence in certain conditions, such is not the case for all firms, all stakeholders, or all situations. Drawing from socio-cognitive and self-determination theories, we contend that (a) independent, owner-managed small firms present a context wherein information overload is rendered less of an issue because the information about the firm is more salient to locals; (b) stakeholders can be motivated to influence firms via social media platforms, which facilitate the collective engagement of local community members; and (c) uncertain economic circumstances (e.g., COVID-19) activate stakeholder information searches, which often occur through social media. Together, these three conditions enhance stakeholder power and influence. We also contemplate how, even under these conditions, stakeholder influence may change over time vis-à-vis the issue–attention cycle and societalization. We conclude our Exchange with a call for more research on stakeholder influence over independent, owner-manager small businesses.