Research questions and objectives
| Main problems | Author (year) | Research questions | Research objectives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complexity in analyzing stakeholders who overlap in several categories; how to prioritize conflicting interests among stakeholders and how to ensure commitment | Freeman and Mcvea (2001); Freeman et al. (2007a, 2007b); Donaldson and Preston (1995); Chandler and Werther (2014) | Q1 – “How do companies identify, prioritize and engage their stakeholders in the decision-making process?” | O1 – Understand how Portuguese companies map and manage their stakeholders, integrating them into strategy and governance |
| How to adapt management and assessment tools to fully integrate ESG and stakeholder capitalism objectives; methodological complexity | Eden (2004); Ensslin et al. (2010); Kaplan and Norton (1992) | Q2 – “What specific stakeholder capitalism methods and tools are being implemented in the company’s strategy?” | O2 – Identify and describe stakeholder capitalism strategies and tools implemented |
| Influence of the leader’s personal vision on strategy formulation; analyze how governance mechanisms influence actual sustainability practices; difficulty in simultaneously operationalizing the three dimensions of social responsibility | Mackey and Sisodia (2013); Berk, DeMarzo and Harford (2015); Schwab (2019) | Q3 – “What role do the values of leaders/managers play in corporate social responsibility and the promotion of Stakeholder Capitalism?” | O3 – Understanding how the values of leaders/managers influence strategic definition and the level of engagement with stakeholders |
| Need for standardization and effective adoption of metrics to assess real impact; how to operationalize normative principles in contexts of competitive pressure; risk of superficiality | OECD (2025); IFRS Foundation and ISSB (2024); European Commission (2023); World Economic Forum (2019, 2020, 2021a, 2021b) | Q4 – “What indicators and metrics do companies use to measure the real impact of their Stakeholder Capitalism practices on corporate sustainability?” | O4 – Identify the metrics and indicators used to analyze the real impact of Stakeholder Capitalism practices on the company’s sustainability |
| Need to reconcile financial value creation with social objectives; feasibility of multiple objectives without compromising competitiveness; development of universal metrics and independent verification systems | Paine (2023); Feghali et al. (2025); Henderson (2001); Smith (2003); Tallarita and Bebchuk (2020); O’Brien (2020) | Q5 – “What are the main challenges faced by companies in effectively adopting Stakeholder Capitalism?” | O5 – Identify barriers and critical factors that condition the practical implementation of Stakeholder Capitalism |
| Main problems | Author (year) | Research questions | Research objectives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complexity in analyzing stakeholders who overlap in several categories; how to prioritize conflicting interests among stakeholders and how to ensure commitment | Q1 – “How do companies identify, prioritize and engage their stakeholders in the decision-making process?” | O1 – Understand how Portuguese companies map and manage their stakeholders, integrating them into strategy and governance | |
| How to adapt management and assessment tools to fully integrate | Q2 – “What specific stakeholder capitalism methods and tools are being implemented in the company’s strategy?” | O2 – Identify and describe stakeholder capitalism strategies and tools implemented | |
| Influence of the leader’s personal vision on strategy formulation; analyze how governance mechanisms influence actual sustainability practices; difficulty in simultaneously operationalizing the three dimensions of social responsibility | Q3 – “What role do the values of leaders/managers play in corporate social responsibility and the promotion of Stakeholder Capitalism?” | O3 – Understanding how the values of leaders/managers influence strategic definition and the level of engagement with stakeholders | |
| Need for standardization and effective adoption of metrics to assess real impact; how to operationalize normative principles in contexts of competitive pressure; risk of superficiality | Q4 – “What indicators and metrics do companies use to measure the real impact of their Stakeholder Capitalism practices on corporate sustainability?” | O4 – Identify the metrics and indicators used to analyze the real impact of Stakeholder Capitalism practices on the company’s sustainability | |
| Need to reconcile financial value creation with social objectives; feasibility of multiple objectives without compromising competitiveness; development of universal metrics and independent verification systems | Q5 – “What are the main challenges faced by companies in effectively adopting Stakeholder Capitalism?” | O5 – Identify barriers and critical factors that condition the practical implementation of Stakeholder Capitalism |
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