Stakeholder relations and maintaining the licence to operate: a comparative case study of the Swiss telecommunications industry

Purpose - In the research project "Good practices of stakeholder view" three firms in the Swiss telecommunications industry were analysed in order to compare their stakeholder involvement. This paper seeks to illustrate how these three firms, namely Swisscom, Sunrise, and Orange, dealt wit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Corporate governance (Bradford) 2007-08, Vol.7 (4), p.446-454
Main Authors: Kern, Isabelle, Sachs, Sybille, Rühli, Edwin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Case studies
Comparative analysis
Stakeholder analysis
Stakeholders
Telecommunications
Telecommunications industry
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Summary:Purpose - In the research project "Good practices of stakeholder view" three firms in the Swiss telecommunications industry were analysed in order to compare their stakeholder involvement. This paper seeks to illustrate how these three firms, namely Swisscom, Sunrise, and Orange, dealt with a particular problem all of them faced: the deployment of antennas for mobile telephony that in some cases was strongly opposed by the population. Thereby, the "Telco" firms were challenged as societal institutions and had to defend their licence to operate. The three firms chose different strategies to deal with the problem.Design methodology approach - The paper is based on comparative case studies that combine qualitative and quantitative aspects.Findings - The benefits of good stakeholder relations are illustrated as well as the problems that might arise when stakeholders are ignored.Research limitations implications - The findings are based on a sample of three telecommunication firms.Practical implications - The paper suggests good practices for firms that aim to improve their stakeholder interactions.Originality value - This paper sheds light on the value of different strategies in the stakeholder relations to maintain a firm's licence to operate and to pursue its business in the intended way.
ISSN:1472-0701
1758-6054
DOI:10.1108/14720700710820524