A longitudinal study of significant change in stakeholder management. Business & society, 46(1), 63-87. ISSN 0034-7590 ARTIGOS | Do stakeholders matter in strategic decision making of a sports organization

Despite rich theoretical development, empirical research on stakeholder man-agement is scant, save its relationship with financial performance. Recent research shows significant intrafirm variability in stakeholder management across time. This study seeks to explain why firms would experience signifi-cant changes in stakeholder management. Adapting Wood’s framework to discuss three principles of stakeholder management, the authors identify antecedents of change at the institutional, organizational, and executive levels. Pressures for legitimacy at the institutional level suggest that firm age and size, along with industry shifts in stakeholder management, will increase the likeli-hood of changes in stakeholder management for the focal firm. The authors posit that organizational risk and performance will also affect the likelihood of change, as will managerial discretion, ownership, and succession. The authors test their predictions using a longitudinal sample of stakeholder management data and discuss the implications of the findings for research and practice