IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/juipol/v72y2021ics0957178721001041.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Stakeholder engagement by an Italian water utility company: Insight from participant observation of dialogism

Author

Listed:
  • Annesi, Nora
  • Battaglia, Massimo
  • Frey, Marco

Abstract

This paper focuses on the level of dialogism between organizations and participants. The unit of analysis is a water utility's direct engagement with its household customers. Through participant observation and Bebbington et al.’s (2007) model, we analyzed engagement factors to detect elements occasioning a dialogic experience and its determinants. This contribution to the public utilities and social accounting literature outlines interrelated factors impacting barriers to and opportunities for creating dialogism. It enhances public utility business reputation and drives sustainability innovations. Managerially, we identified enablers and limits of an effective stakeholder engagement process.

Suggested Citation

  • Annesi, Nora & Battaglia, Massimo & Frey, Marco, 2021. "Stakeholder engagement by an Italian water utility company: Insight from participant observation of dialogism," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:72:y:2021:i:c:s0957178721001041
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2021.101270
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957178721001041
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jup.2021.101270?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Font, Xavier & Guix, Mireia & Bonilla-Priego, Ma Jesús, 2016. "Corporate social responsibility in cruising: Using materiality analysis to create shared value," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 175-186.
    2. Contrafatto, M. & Thomson, I. & Monk, E.A., 2015. "Peru, mountains and los niños: Dialogic action, accounting and sustainable transformation," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 117-136.
    3. Michelle Greenwood, 2007. "Stakeholder Engagement: Beyond the Myth of Corporate Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 74(4), pages 315-327, September.
    4. Emilio Passetti & Lara Bianchi & Massimo Battaglia & Marco Frey, 2019. "When Democratic Principles are not Enough: Tensions and Temporalities of Dialogic Stakeholder Engagement," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 173-190, March.
    5. Friederike Schultz & Itziar Castelló & Mette Morsing, 2013. "The Construction of Corporate Social Responsibility in Network Societies: A Communication View," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(4), pages 681-692, July.
    6. Bandaragoda, Don Jayatissa, 2005. "Stakeholder participation in developing institutions for integrated water resources management: lessons from Asia," IWMI Working Papers H037152, International Water Management Institute.
    7. Fróes Lima, Carlos Alberto & Portillo Navas, José Ricardo, 2012. "Smart metering and systems to support a conscious use of water and electricity," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 528-540.
    8. Katherine E. Rowan, 1994. "Why Rules for Risk Communication Are Not Enough: A Problem‐Solving Approach to Risk Communication," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(3), pages 365-374, June.
    9. Archel, Pablo & Husillos, Javier & Spence, Crawford, 2011. "The institutionalisation of unaccountability: Loading the dice of Corporate Social Responsibility discourse," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 327-343.
    10. Igor Álvarez Etxeberria & Eduardo Ortas & Stefan Schaltegger & Stefan Schaltegger & Igor Álvarez Etxeberria & Eduardo Ortas, 2017. "Innovating Corporate Accounting and Reporting for Sustainability – Attributes and Challenges," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(2), pages 113-122, March.
    11. Judy Brown & Jesse Dillard, 2015. "Dialogic Accountings for Stakeholders: On Opening Up and Closing Down Participatory Governance," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(7), pages 961-985, November.
    12. Ronald K. Mitchell & Harry J. Van Buren III & Michelle Greenwood & R. Edward Freeman, 2015. "Stakeholder Inclusion and Accounting for Stakeholders," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(7), pages 851-877, November.
    13. Anne Shepherd & Christi Bowler, 1997. "Beyond the Requirements: Improving Public Participation in EIA," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(6), pages 725-738.
    14. O'Dwyer, Brendan, 2005. "The construction of a social account: a case study in an overseas aid agency," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 279-296, April.
    15. Spence, Laura J. & Rinaldi, Leonardo, 2014. "Governmentality in accounting and accountability: A case study of embedding sustainability in a supply chain," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 433-452.
    16. Unerman, Jeffrey & Bennett, Mark, 2004. "Increased stakeholder dialogue and the internet: towards greater corporate accountability or reinforcing capitalist hegemony?," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 685-707, October.
    17. Niamh Brennan & Doris Merkl-Davies & Annika Beelitz, 2013. "Dialogism in Corporate Social Responsibility Communications: Conceptualising Verbal Interaction Between Organisations and Their Audiences," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(4), pages 665-679, July.
    18. Englund, Hans & Gerdin, Jonas, 2008. "Structuration theory and mediating concepts: Pitfalls and implications for management accounting research," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 19(8), pages 1122-1134.
    19. Jan Bebbington & Judy Brown & Bob Frame & Ian Thomson, 2007. "Theorizing engagement: the potential of a critical dialogic approach," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(3), pages 356-381, June.
    20. Abigail Oxley Green & Lynsey Hunton‐Clarke, 2003. "A typology of stakeholder participation for company environmental decision‐making," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(5), pages 292-299, September.
    21. Killian, Sheila & O'Regan, Philip, 2016. "Social accounting and the co-creation of corporate legitimacy," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1-12.
    22. Brown, Judy, 2009. "Democracy, sustainability and dialogic accounting technologies: Taking pluralism seriously," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 313-342.
    23. Christiane Marie Høvring & Sophie Esmann Andersen & Anne Ellerup Nielsen, 2018. "Discursive Tensions in CSR Multi-stakeholder Dialogue: A Foucauldian Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 627-645, October.
    24. Homsy, George C. & Warner, Mildred E., 2020. "Does public ownership of utilities matter for local government water policies?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    25. Matthew S. VanDyke & Andy J. King, 2018. "Using the CAUSE Model to Understand Public Communication about Water Risks: Perspectives from Texas Groundwater District Officials on Drought and Availability," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(7), pages 1378-1389, July.
    26. Itziar Castelló & Mette Morsing & Friederike Schultz, 2013. "Communicative Dynamics and the Polyphony of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Network Society," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(4), pages 683-694, December.
    27. Mutch, Nicola & Aitken, Robert, 2009. "Being fair and being seen to be fair: Corporate reputation and CSR partnerships," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 92-98.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Imperiale, Francesca & Pizzi, Simone & Lippolis, Stella, 2023. "Sustainability reporting and ESG performance in the utilities sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    2. Bonetti, Lisa & Lai, Alessandro & Stacchezzini, Riccardo, 2023. "Stakeholder engagement in the public utility sector: Evidence from Italian ESG reports," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. Gabriella D’Amore & Maria Testa & Luigi Lepore, 2023. "How Is the Utilities Sector Contributing to Building a Sustainable Future? A Systematic Literature Review of Sustainability Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-19, December.
    4. Vitolla, Filippo & Raimo, Nicola & Campobasso, Francesco & Giakoumelou, Anastasia, 2023. "Risk disclosure in sustainability reports: Empirical evidence from the energy sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    5. Ligorio, Lorenzo & Caputo, Fabio & Venturelli, Andrea, 2022. "Sustainability disclosure and reporting by municipally owned water utilities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    6. Belton, Cameron A. & Robertson, Deirdre A. & Lunn, Peter D., 2022. "An experimental approach to measuring consumer preferences for water charges," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    7. DiCarlo, Morgan & Berglund, Emily Zechman & Kaza, Nikhil & Grieshop, Andrew & Shealy, Luke & Behr, Adam, 2023. "Customer complaint management and smart technology adoption by community water systems," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    8. Venturelli, Andrea & Ligorio, Lorenzo & de Nuccio, Elbano, 2023. "Biodiversity accountability in water utilities: A case study," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    9. Mio, Chiara & Fasan, Marco & Scarpa, Francesco, 2023. "Materiality investor perspectives on utilities’ ESG performance. An empirical analysis of ESG factors and cost of equity," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Emilio Passetti & Lara Bianchi & Massimo Battaglia & Marco Frey, 2019. "When Democratic Principles are not Enough: Tensions and Temporalities of Dialogic Stakeholder Engagement," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 173-190, March.
    2. Bonetti, Lisa & Lai, Alessandro & Stacchezzini, Riccardo, 2023. "Stakeholder engagement in the public utility sector: Evidence from Italian ESG reports," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. George, Sendirella & Brown, Judy & Dillard, Jesse, 2023. "Social movement activists’ conceptions of political action and counter-accounting through a critical dialogic accounting and accountability lens," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    4. Tregidga, Helen & Milne, Markus J., 2022. "Not at our table: Stakeholder exclusion and ant/agonistic engagements," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    5. Vinnari, Eija & Dillard, Jesse, 2016. "(ANT)agonistics: Pluralistic politicization of, and by, accounting and its technologies," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 25-44.
    6. Dillard, Jesse & Vinnari, Eija, 2019. "Critical dialogical accountability: From accounting-based accountability to accountability-based accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 16-38.
    7. O'Dwyer, Brendan & Unerman, Jeffrey, 2016. "Fostering rigour in accounting for social sustainability," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 32-40.
    8. Alawattage, Chandana & Azure, John De-Clerk, 2021. "Behind the World Bank’s ringing declarations of “social accountability”: Ghana’s public financial management reform," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. Sorola, Matthew, 2022. "Q methodology to conduct a critical study in accounting: A Q study on accountants’ perspectives of social and environmental reporting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    10. Blackburn, Nivea & Brown, Judy & Dillard, Jesse & Hooper, Val, 2014. "A dialogical framing of AIS–SEA design," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 83-101.
    11. Tanima, Farzana Aman & Brown, Judy & Wright, Jan & Mackie, Vera, 2023. "Taking critical dialogic accountability into the field: Engaging contestation around microfinance and women’s empowerment," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    12. Amoako, Kwame Oduro & Lord, Beverley R. & Dixon, Keith, 2021. "Narrative accounting for mining in Ghana: An old defence against a new threat?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    13. Chakhovich, Terhi & Virtanen, Tuija, 2023. "Accountability for sustainability – An institutional entrepreneur as the representative of future stakeholders," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    14. Judy Brown & Jesse Dillard, 2015. "Dialogic Accountings for Stakeholders: On Opening Up and Closing Down Participatory Governance," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(7), pages 961-985, November.
    15. Brown, Judy, 2017. "Democratizing accounting: Reflections on the politics of “old” and “new” pluralisms," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 20-46.
    16. Andrew Crane & Sarah Glozer, 2016. "Researching Corporate Social Responsibility Communication: Themes, Opportunities and Challenges," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(7), pages 1223-1252, November.
    17. Anne Vestergaard & Julie Uldam, 2022. "Legitimacy and Cosmopolitanism: Online Public Debates on (Corporate) Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(2), pages 227-240, March.
    18. Irvine, Helen & Moerman, Lee, 2017. "Gambling with the public sphere: Accounting’s contribution to debate on social issues," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 35-52.
    19. Aresu, Simone & Monfardini, Patrizio, 2023. "Oppressed by consumerism: The emancipatory role of household accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    20. Lite J. Nartey & Witold J. Henisz & Sinziana Dorobantu, 2023. "Reciprocity in Firm–Stakeholder Dialog: Timeliness, Valence, Richness, and Topicality," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(2), pages 429-451, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:72:y:2021:i:c:s0957178721001041. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/utilities-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.