Essay On Stakeholders In Higher Education

According to Freeman, “a stakeholder in an organisation is (by definition) any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organisation’s objectives.” (Freeman, 2010, p. 46). This is the most cited definition in literature. (Mitchell, Agle, & Wood, 1997, pp. 853-886).

Since a stake can be defined as “something of value, some form of capital – human, physical or financial – that is (placed) at risk, either voluntarily or involuntarily” (Clarkson, 1998, p. 2), organisational stakeholders can be understood as “individuals or groups who incur and/or impose risk in their relationships with the organisation.” (Vidaver-Cohen, 2007, pp. 278-304). The stakeholder groups that can both incur and impose risk, cannot only

2). By identifying the various stakeholders involved in higher education, higher education institutions are able to identify their needs and set up the necessary means to meet them, and as such establish competitive advantages. (Dobni & Luffman, 2003, pp. 577-585). It is no surprise then, that over the last few decades a lot of literature has been written about stakeholders in higher education.

Various researchers have attempted to establish a list of stakeholders in higher education, as can be seen in the table below:
The two most cited theories, however, are Joanne Burrows’ multiple lens approach and Ronald K. Mitchell, Bradley R. Agle, and Donna J. Wood’s stakeholder identification and salience theory. (Mainardes, Alves, & Raposo, 2010, pp. 76-88), (Jongbloed, Enders, & Salerno, 2008, pp. 303-324), (Avci, Ring, & Mitchelli, 2015, pp. 45-54).

Burrows’ multiple lens

(Mitchell, Agle, & Wood, 1997, pp. 853-886). What may be regarded to be a latent stakeholder in the eyes of one higher education institution, may be regarded to be a definitive stakeholder in the eyes of another.

Sub-conclusion: Who are the external stakeholders?

A stakeholder in higher education is “a person or entity with a legitimate interest in higher education and which, as such, acquires the right to intervene.” (Amaral & Magalhães, 2002, p. 2). Examples of external stakeholders in higher education are the government (the Ministry of Education), the student’s family, alumni, field placement sites, employers, society at large, the (local) business community, special interest groups, professional associations, external evaluators, secondary education providers, (potential) competitors (such as distance providers), substitutes (such as employer-sponsored training programmes), and external suppliers of funding, products and services.

A distinction can be made between primary (definitive), secondary (expectant) and tertiary (latent) stakeholders. Focus should mainly be on the primary, definitive stakeholders, which are in this case the companies where graduates of the business school might eventually find their first real