When do societal stakeholders matter for agency-CEOs? The role of stakeholder arrangements and social media attention

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Brummel, Lars
• 署名单位: Leiden University; Leiden University - Excl LUMC; Utrecht University
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3298
• DOI: 10.1111/padm.12899
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 1549-1568
• 关键词: public accountability; bureaucracies; governance; legitimacy; reputation; CITIZENS

摘要

Public agencies have to deal with accountability demands from various societal stakeholders. Stakeholders may address their accountability demands via formal stakeholder arrangements but can also use social media for account-holding purposes. This contribution analyzes to what extent these different venues of social accountability affect the perceived relevance of societal stakeholders to agency-CEOs-their so-called stakeholder orientation. By combining quantitative and qualitative data, this study shows that agency-CEOs' stakeholder orientation is strongly associated with actual social media attention. In contrast, the relationship between formal stakeholder arrangements and stakeholder orientation is weak. Qualitative insights from focus group discussions suggest that the associations between social media attention and stakeholder orientation can be explained by mediatization processes within agencies and the reputational risks of social media storms. Overall, the findings support that social media attention is the most important catalyst for stakeholder orientation, rather than stakeholder arrangements.