BUS 100 Key Terms (Ch. 1)

Boundary-spanning departments

Are departments, or offices, within an organization that reach across the dividing line that separates the company from groups and people in society

Business

Any organization that is engaged in making a product or providing a service for a product.

Focal organization

The organization from whose perspective the analysis is conducted.

General systems theory

Boundary-spanning departments

Are departments, or offices, within an organization that reach across the dividing line that separates the company from groups and people in society.

Business

Any organization that is engaged in making a product or providing a service for a product.

External stakeholder

Those who have may have important transactions with the firm and are not directly employed by it.

Focal organization

The organization from whose perspective the analysis is conducted.

General systems theory

All organisms are open to, and interact with, their external environments.

Interactive social system

The closely intertwined relationships between business and society.

Internal stakeholder

Individuals who are employed by the firm, such as employees and managers.

Market stakeholders

Those that engage in economic transactions with the company as it carries out its purpose of providing society with goods and services.

Nonmarket Stakeholder

A stakeholder that does not engage in direct economic exchange with a company, but is affected by or can affect its actions.

Shareholder theory of the firm

The firm is seen as the property of its owners.

Society

Human beings and the social structures they collectively create.

Stakeholder

Persons and groups that affect, or are affected by, an organization's decisions, policies, and operations.

Stakeholder Analysis

Identify relevant stakeholders and to understand both their interests and the power they may have to assert these interests.

Stakeholder coalitions

Alliances among company's stakeholders to pursue a common interest; generally are not static relationships.

Stakeholder interests

The nature of each stakeholder group, its concerns, and what it wants from its relationship with the firm.

Stakeholder map

A visual representation of the relationships among stakeholder interests, power, and coalitions with respect to a particular issue.

What is stakeholder power?

The ability of one or more stakeholders to make an event happen or to secure a desired outcome in their interactions with a company.

What are the five types of stakeholder power?

Voting power, economic power, political power, legal power, and informational power.

What is stakeholder salience?

A stakeholder's ability to stand out from the background, to be seen as important, or to draw attention to itself or its issue.

What factors make stakeholders more salient?

Power, legitimacy, and urgency.

Stakeholder theory of the firm

A theory that holds that the purpose of the firm is to create value for society.