Evolution of stakeholder issues along the lifecycle in hi-tech markets

Abstract

Stakeholders can make or break a company. They serve as an important signaling device to the market, investors and the general public about the long term prospects of the firm. They can help chart the future, rescue the present or condemn the past. Stakeholders are part of the corporate family, but more as adoptive relatives than genetic relations. As an asset not indicated on the balance sheet, stakeholder relationships need to be properly managed to provide the best outcome for the firm wherever it is in its market lifecycle. The interactions with, and between, stakeholders changes markedly depending on where the firm is in its market evolution or penetration. Young firms benefit from their stakeholders in a much different fashion than mature ones, and firms with dominant market share rely on their stakeholders for reasons far removed from fledgling firms trying to gain market traction. Thus, we can say that market environment dictates the profile of this stakeholder ecosystem, and the ecosystem dictates the profile of the marketplace. The relationship is mutually beneficial, or mutually destructive, and proper management is the only way to shift the latter to the former. Globalisation has driven an increased complexity of stakeholder involvement and impacts, including an intensification of conflict, scrutiny, and regulation. In hi-tech firms, the nature of stakeholder relationships, their tenor and tone changes with the evolution of the firm.