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In the organizational technology acceptance (TA) decision-making process, stakeholders have many divergence opinions. Sometimes, an opposing stakeholder of a decision can stop the whole process of decision-making. In such a case, consensus may take a long time followed by a high risk. The purpose of this study is twofold. First, to find the best model with the least prediction error for the simulation of the consensus process in TA decisions. Second, to investigate the time required for the consensus process to yield the TA decision in different scenarios and to propose solutions to reduce the required time in a case study.

This study uses real-world data containing 1,186 actual observations. Stakeholders are decision-maker agents, and the observations are derived from survey data and used for simulation. Data were obtained from 126 experts in the Iranian rail freight industry. Opinion dynamics theory was used for agent-based simulation of stakeholders’ behavior. The agents interacted over time and their effects on other agents’ opinions were investigated.

The results illustrate an appropriate opinion changing model, a data-gathering method and a simulation scenario for TA consensus. The suitable model was selected after examining the advantages and disadvantages of and comparing the prediction results for different models with the real database of opinions. To reduce the consensus process time, the results suggest gathering the team members and networking with some leaders as advocators. A large number of advocators with high acceptability and continuous exchanging messages with other agents can improve the acceptance rate and have the most significant impact on other stakeholders’ opinions.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, previous studies simulate individual TA processes. However, there is a difference between the individual TA and the organizational TA. The organizational TA requires the simultaneous decision-making of different stakeholders. In this research, the organizational TA was investigated.

Despite extensive research on Lean Six Sigma (LSS), it predominantly remains focussed on organisational aspects. Individual perceptions were often sidelined. Comparative studies about different perspectives of LSS from the point of view of top management, consultants and employees are unavailable. This paper captures the opinions of these stakeholders about different dimensions of LSS and presents the comparison.

Using empirical research, opinion is captured of three LSS stakeholder categories: top management/business owners, facilitators/consultants and practising managers/employees. Their opinions about 15 different perspectives of LSS, including its future in the Industry 4.0/Quality 4.0 era, are evaluated in this study under 95 variables (decision aspects). Comparison among the opinions of these stakeholders is performed using chi-square hypothesis testing and ANOVA (analysis of variance) methods.

In a total of 95 comparisons, a statistically significant difference among different stakeholders' views is observed in 62 cases. In 33 cases, the opinions of the three stakeholder groups can be considered in agreement with one another.

The findings will help different LSS stakeholder groups better understand the expectations of other groups. During LSS implementation, it will help in aligning priorities and achieving success. Theoretically, it will help in narrowing the research gap about the rarity of comparing views of multiple stakeholder groups.

The comparison among views of three critical LSS stakeholder groups – top management/business owners, facilitators/consultants and managers/employees, is currently unavailable, and therefore, this research provides a fresh perspective to an otherwise extensively researched theme. It is immensely helpful in preventing LSS failures arising from misaligned stakeholder views and expectations.

This paper aims to show how instruments of empirical opinion research can help to provide a basis for interactive communication between a company and its stakeholders via the media, so that important issues can be identified and discussed internally and externally. By doing this, the company can actively participate in the process of forming public opinion and building trust.

Concentrating on the company of Pfizer, in order to acquire a comprehensive view, an empirical analysis of the opinions of those stakeholders mentioned in Pfizer's vision was conducted. In a first step, a content analysis of the Pfizer web site, two representative computer‐aided telephone interviews (CATI) surveys with the Swiss public, a content analysis over a period of two years of the five most important daily newspapers, and interviews with the top management team of Pfizer Switzerland were carried out. In a second step, the findings of the analysis were reflected on in a workshop with Pfizer's top management team.

The role of the media was recognised for its function for informing, and as a platform for initiating dialogues in appropriate areas of interaction. But it was also obvious that the reports published by the media, and the actual perception of the population, were distinctly different. In this realm, opinion research in its function of objectifying information makes a significant contribution to the ability to reflect on the actual situation.

The knowledge of the opinions of the relevant stakeholders based on a high standard of empirical data and the self‐reflection by senior management of its own beliefs provide an additional foundation for stakeholder‐oriented communication.

The purpose of this paper is to identify primary and secondary stakeholders for the development of community‐type destinations and to analyse how the difference in power characterizes them with regards to how they value specific rules and how they estimate trust and control in the destinations. From this analysis it is possible to draw useful indicators for the definition of the destination governance.

The paper takes the form of a literature review and field research. The literature review considers network approach and stakeholder approach in order to analyse the actors involved in the tourist offer (size of the network and characteristics of the nodes) and their influence reputation for identifying primary and secondary stakeholders within the destination. The field research is carried out in two community‐type destinations in the Alps. In both destinations, tourism is the main economic activity, as it involves a multiplicity of public and private stakeholders; the two destinations do differ for some important factors, like the kind of DMOs and the path of tourism development.

The research identifies and investigates primary and secondary stakeholders within community‐type destinations and their opinions about the involvement of public and private actors for the development of the destinations and their judgements regarding trust and control.

Results are limited to two community‐type destinations.

The research adopts an innovative methodology to identify primary and secondary stakeholder of community‐type destinations and highlights some indicators for the definition of the destination governance (e.g. level of community participations, role of private and public actors, influence of trust and control).

This study aims to evaluate the meaningful public participation in activities relating to the master plan development and, at the same time, propose some recommendations for improvement.

The study was carried out with in-depth interviews of 35 key-informants selected from various stakeholder groups involving in public participation activities. The evaluation frameworks for meaningful participation were developed from various scholars.

The evaluation showed that the public hearings partially met the criteria of information provision and representativeness. However, there are rooms for improvement on participation in decision-making process, social learning and influence over policy decision-making. Therefore, this study proposes two recommendations. First, more flexible form of public participation is needed to enable discussions among various groups of stakeholders. Second, the organizer should communicate with stakeholders about how their opinions influence the final master plan in order to create sense of belonging among community members.

This research developed the evaluation framework for public participation in old town conservation master plan in developing country.

The purpose of this paper is to explain how sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement processes serve as vehicles of dialogic accounting (DA), a form of critical accounting that creates opportunities for stakeholders to express their opinions, and the influence of dialogic interactions on the content of sustainability reports.

Content analysis is used to investigate reports published by 299 companies that have adopted Global Reporting Initiative guidelines. This paper studies how organizations engage stakeholders, the categories of stakeholders that are being addressed, the methods used to support stakeholder engagement, and other features of the stakeholder engagement process. Companies that disclose stakeholder perceptions, the difficulties met in engaging stakeholders, and actions aimed at creating opportunities for different groups of stakeholders to interact were subjects of discussion in a series of semi-structured interviews that focus on DA.

Companies often commit themselves to two-way dialogue with their stakeholders, but fully developed frameworks for DA are rare. However, signs of DA emerged in the analysis, thus confirming that sustainability reporting can become a platform for DA systems if stakeholder engagement is effective.

The findings contribute to the accounting literature by discussing if and how sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement can serve as vehicles of DA. This is accomplished via a research design that is based on in-depth interviews and content analysis of various sustainability reports.

This paper aims to assess the perceptions of stakeholders as regards the practices of Indian companies vis-à-vis climate change seeking underpinnings from stakeholder theory and collecting data using a structured questionnaire.

This paper used a descriptive analytical research design based on the data collected from a diverse sample of stakeholders of Indian companies through a cross-sectional, self-administered online survey questionnaire.

The study attaching significance to the stakeholders’ perception as a useful tool underscores that Indian companies have started to engage in preventive measures to minimize the externalities of climate crisis taking cognizance of the stakeholders’ interests amidst their increased awareness, also underlining that their perceptions substantially determine climate strategy proactivity (CSP) in their quest of competitive advantage beyond regulatory compliances. The study finds that incessant growth in the stakeholder awareness has not left companies to remain reluctant from analyzing effects and adopting suitable strategies in India also which, as a fast growing developing country, has witnessed immense growth in the post-liberalization era.

This study would help decision-makers in businesses, policymakers, practitioners and standard-setters by providing further insights on the relevance of stakeholders’ perspectives in CSP in the developing countries. Stakeholders’ perceptions though representing varied categories hint that the actions beyond regulatory compliances need to be in focus in future studies.

The paper elaborates the significance of CSP in developing countries to eliminate the impact of inadequacies that previous studies undertook primarily in developed countries have failed in contextualizing these issues of developing countries.

Scientific studies indicate that stakeholder’s engagement is a key factor for the creation of sustainable value in companies. This paper aims to evaluate the sustainability of a sports company and propose a tool to prioritize the relevant issues that this company should consider in its operations.

Stakeholder theory and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) are considered, and, from the Fuzzy Logic, the paper proposes a decision-making tool to establish the relevant issues. The “Experton Method” is used in this paper.

The algorithm used can help decision makers in processes that include the stakeholder’s opinions. In this case, a tool that treats qualitative data in a reliable manner is required. The methodology used allowed knowing the stakeholders expectations and to define priorities in sustainability issues. The results were captured in a materiality matrix. The manuscript concludes that including stakeholders in the decision-making process, the company generates trust and legitimacy of its stakeholders. This participatory approach and the use of algorithm help companies in materiality assessment, definition of priority issues and management of resources.

In terms of managerial implications, this paper presents a useful tool that can help entrepreneurs in the decision-making to manage their suppliers. Using an algorithm of fuzzy logic applied in the supply chain management, it is indicated how to set priorities to build a consistent corporate social responsibility (CSR) plan to achieve corporation success. This methodology allows reducing subjectivity; it generates greater precision and decreases the risk in decision-making. At the same time, it promotes dialogue and collaboration among stakeholders to create value for stakeholders and CSR, and collaborate to have a responsible company performance. Furthermore, this paper provides theoretical applications in terms of the literature review on corporate sustainability, indicating that companies must consider the stakeholder’s engagement in its strategies. Based on the bibliometric study, there are knowledge gaps on the subject. For these reasons, an important contribution is observed at the academic level that allows expanding the frontier of knowledge on the subject.

A tool for decision-making is presented with great utility for entrepreneurs in the processes of dialogue and stakeholder’s engagement, being a contribution for the creation of sustainable value. In addition, there is an important scientific contribution because the paper identifies in the literature the knowledge gaps on the subject.

The purpose of this paper is to set out the weighting of the indicator of conservation (Isc) to assess the state of conservation of urban heritage sites and three key performance indicators (KPIs): significance, integrity and authenticity.

The weighting process was developed using the Delphi technique with the participation of 34 international specialists from all regions of the world.

The Isc indicator is expressed as a function of three KPIs: significance, integrity and authenticity. All KPIs have the same relative importance in the Isc. The resulting values of the weights of the opinion of the stakeholders in the KPIs were in conformity with theory. Clearly the stakeholders can be divided into two groups of importance. The opinion of the local specialists, long‐standing residents and cultural reference groups were shown to be more important than the opinion of new residents and visitors.

The indicator may be used for monitoring the state of conservation of the World Heritage Urban Sites.

The indicator allows a non‐biased evaluation of the conservation process of the World Heritage Sites.

The indicator of conservation presented in the paper is the first of its type.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate perceptions of the relative importance of different stakeholders (owners, employees, customers, non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) and governmental authorities) as agents motivating managers to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR). The aim is to determine which stakeholders are viewed as key motivators and which the respondents think ought to be key stakeholders.

This is an empirical study. Three stakeholder groups – corporate leaders, MSc business students and NGOs – were consulted through a paper survey (n = 264).

The findings reveal that the three stakeholder groups roughly agree that owners are the main motivators for managers to pursue CSR, followed by customers, governments, employees and NGOs, in that order. The paper then turned from perceptions of how things are to opinions about how things ought to be, asking who should be the main motivator. In this case, customers moved up to first place, followed by employees, owners, government and NGOs. Age, but not gender, was a significant variable. The older the respondents, the smaller the discrepancy between perceptions of what is and opinions about what ought to be.

This study was conducted in Norway and generalization is therefore limited. By replicating the study in other countries cultural differences can be investigated.

The findings are applicable for evaluating different avenues for understanding and influencing managerial and stakeholder CSR behaviour.

Several studies have concluded that stakeholders are of key importance in the CSR setting. However, few studies so far have compared the perceived relative “power” held by stakeholders. This type of knowledge can provide a key to understanding the development of CSR.