IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/buseth/v34y2025i2p347-361.html

Stakeholder engagement for sustainable value co‐creation: Evidence from made in Italy SMEs

Author

Listed:
  • Michela Matarazzo
  • Stephen Oduro
  • Alessandro Gennaro

Abstract

How Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) engage with stakeholders on their sustainable practices remains an under‐researched topic in extant business research. This occurs even though SMEs play a tremendous role across all economies, and they often engage stakeholders on sustainability issues to foster their competitive advantage. In this article, drawing on stakeholder and innovation ecosystem theories, we use empirical evidence from multiple case studies of made in Italy firms operating in the fashion, food, and furniture industries to explore the proposed research model in the SME context. Our case studies analysis reveals the specific stakeholder engagement levels activated by SMEs to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for circular value co‐creation. Furthermore, we find that the stakeholder engagement levels revolve chiefly around open dialog with local community and customers, involvement of employees, customers, and community, and cooperation with suppliers, Government, and Academy. Implications of the findings for researchers, managers, and policymakers are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Michela Matarazzo & Stephen Oduro & Alessandro Gennaro, 2025. "Stakeholder engagement for sustainable value co‐creation: Evidence from made in Italy SMEs," Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(2), pages 347-361, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:buseth:v:34:y:2025:i:2:p:347-361
    DOI: 10.1111/beer.12654
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12654
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/beer.12654?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Antonino Galati & Giorgio Schifani & Maria Crescimanno & Demetris Vrontis & Giuseppina Migliore, 2018. "Innovation strategies geared toward the circular economy: A case study of the organic olive-oil industry," RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA', FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(1), pages 137-158.
    2. Iliopoulos, Constantine & Valentinov, Vladislav, 2018. "Cooperative longevity: Why are so many cooperatives so successful?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(10), pages 1-8.
    3. Marc Dressler & Ivan Paunovic, 2021. "A Typology of Winery SME Brand Strategies with Implications for Sustainability Communication and Co-Creation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-17, January.
    4. Gabriela Almeida Marcon Nora & Anete Alberton & Diego Hernando Florez Ayala, 2023. "Stakeholder theory and actor‐network theory: The stakeholder engagement in energy transitions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 673-685, January.
    5. Alexander Rodriguez‐Melo & S. Afshin Mansouri, 2011. "Stakeholder Engagement: Defining Strategic Advantage for Sustainable Construction," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(8), pages 539-552, December.
    6. Santoro, Gabriele & Bresciani, Stefano & Papa, Armando, 2020. "Collaborative modes with Cultural and Creative Industries and innovation performance: The moderating role of heterogeneous sources of knowledge and absorptive capacity," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 92.
    7. Nicholas Ind & Oriol Iglesias & Stefan Markovic, 2017. "The co-creation continuum: from tactical market research tool to strategic collaborative innovation method," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(4), pages 310-321, August.
    8. Mara Del Baldo & Maria-Gabriella Baldarelli, 2017. "Renewing and improving the business model toward sustainability in theory and practice," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-13, December.
    9. Mark Anthony Camilleri, 2017. "Case Study 4: Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility: Creating Value in Business and Education," Springer Books, in: Corporate Sustainability, Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, chapter 0, pages 161-173, Springer.
    10. Pucci, Tommaso & Casprini, Elena & Galati, Antonino & Zanni, Lorenzo, 2020. "The virtuous cycle of stakeholder engagement in developing a sustainability culture: Salcheto winery," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 364-376.
    11. D’Adamo, Idiano & Gastaldi, Massimo & Ioppolo, Giuseppe & Morone, Piergiuseppe, 2022. "An analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in Italian cities: Performance measurements and policy implications," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    12. Grama-Vigouroux, Simona & Saidi, Sana & Berthinier-Poncet, Anne & Vanhaverbeke, Wim & Madanamoothoo, Allane, 2020. "From closed to open: A comparative stakeholder approach for developing open innovation activities in SMEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 230-244.
    13. Dijkmans, Corné & Kerkhof, Peter & Beukeboom, Camiel J., 2015. "A stage to engage: Social media use and corporate reputation," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 58-67.
    14. Giovanna Attanasio & Nadia Preghenella & Alberto Felice De Toni & Cinzia Battistella, 2022. "Stakeholder engagement in business models for sustainability: The stakeholder value flow model for sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 860-874, March.
    15. Tsai, Fu-Sheng & Cabrilo, Sladjana & Chou, Hsin-Hui & Hu, Feng & Tang, Au Due, 2022. "Open innovation and SME performance: The roles of reverse knowledge sharing and stakeholder relationships," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 433-443.
    16. Leonidou, Erasmia & Christofi, Michael & Vrontis, Demetris & Thrassou, Alkis, 2020. "An integrative framework of stakeholder engagement for innovation management and entrepreneurship development," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 245-258.
    17. Pantano, Eleonora & Priporas, Constantinos-Vasilios & Viassone, Milena & Migliano, Giuseppe, 2020. "Does the stakeholder engagement result in new drinks? Evidence from family owned SMEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 185-194.
    18. Driessen, Paul H. & Kok, Robert A.W. & Hillebrand, Bas, 2013. "Mechanisms for stakeholder integration: Bringing virtual stakeholder dialogue into organizations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(9), pages 1465-1472.
    19. Robert Strand & R. Freeman, 2015. "Scandinavian Cooperative Advantage: The Theory and Practice of Stakeholder Engagement in Scandinavia," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 65-85, March.
    20. Mark Anthony Camilleri, 2017. "Corporate sustainability and responsibility: creating value for business, society and the environment," Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 59-74, September.
    21. Matarazzo, Michela & Penco, Lara & Profumo, Giorgia & Quaglia, Roberto, 2021. "Digital transformation and customer value creation in Made in Italy SMEs: A dynamic capabilities perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 642-656.
    22. Ki, Chung-Wha (Chloe) & Cuevas, Leslie M. & Chong, Sze Man & Lim, Heejin, 2020. "Influencer marketing: Social media influencers as human brands attaching to followers and yielding positive marketing results by fulfilling needs," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    23. Viglia, Giampaolo & Pera, Rebecca & Bigné, Enrique, 2018. "The determinants of stakeholder engagement in digital platforms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 404-410.
    24. Constantine Iliopoulos & Vladislav Valentinov, 2018. "Cooperative Longevity: Why Are So Many Cooperatives So Successful?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-8, September.
    25. Daniela M. Salvioni & Alex Almici, 2020. "Transitioning Toward a Circular Economy: The Impact of Stakeholder Engagement on Sustainability Culture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-30, October.
    26. Linda O’Riordan & Jenny Fairbrass, 2014. "Managing CSR Stakeholder Engagement: A New Conceptual Framework," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(1), pages 121-145, November.
    27. Robert Strand & R. Freeman, 2015. "Erratum to: Scandinavian Cooperative Advantage: The Theory and Practice of Stakeholder Engagement in Scandinavia," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 87-87, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Daniele Giordino & Ciro Troise & Wim Vanhaverbeke & Francesca Culasso, 2025. "Stakeholder engagement processes for the made in Italy small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises: Value co‐creation in the stakeholder network," Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(4), pages 1033-1050, October.
    2. Marco Valerio Rossi & Pasquale Sasso & Andrea Perna & Ludovico Solima, 2025. "Engaging marginal stakeholders on social networking sites. A cross‐country exploratory analysis among Generation Z consumers," Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(1), pages 155-173, January.
    3. Ranjan Chaudhuri & Sheshadri Chatterjee & Demetris Vrontis & Gianpaolo Basile, 2025. "Examining the role of knowledge sharing among stakeholders and firm innovation performance: Moderating role of technology usage," Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(1), pages 43-57, January.
    4. Giovanna Attanasio & Cinzia Battistella, 2025. "Charting the temporal evolution of stakeholder involvement in business model for sustainability: A comprehensive bibliometric review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(2), pages 1735-1766, March.
    5. Olivia Aronson & Irene Henriques, 2023. "Shared Value Creation in Equivocal CSR Environments: A Configuration Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 187(4), pages 713-732, November.
    6. Alipranti, Maria & Manasakis, Constantine & Petrakis, Emmanuel, 2024. "Corporate social responsibility and bargaining in unionized markets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 949-965.
    7. Sonja Novkovic, 2022. "Cooperative identity as a yardstick for transformative change," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(2), pages 313-336, June.
    8. Zhanping Hu & Qian Forrest Zhang, 2024. "Alternative agrifood systems and the economic sustainability of farmers' cooperatives: The Chinese experience," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(6), pages 7447-7460, December.
    9. Hildegunn Mellesmo Aslaksen & Clare Hildebrandt & Hans Chr. Garmann Johnsen, 2021. "The long-term transformation of the concept of CSR: towards a more comprehensive emphasis on sustainability," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-14, December.
    10. Mariusz Zielinski & Izabela Jonek-Kowalska, 2020. "Profitability of Corporate Social Responsibility Activities from the Perspective of Corporate Social Managers," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2), pages 264-280.
    11. Nian Zhang & Logaiswari Indiran & Zuraidah Sulaiman & Maria Anityasari, 2025. "Factors Influencing CSR in the Practice of “Zero-Waste City†and Its Impact on Eco-Innovation and Environmental Performance," SAGE Open, , vol. 15(3), pages 21582440251, August.
    12. Shabir Hussain Malik & Weizhong Fu & Samma Faiz Rasool & Gowhar Ahmad Wani & Shah Zaman & Najaf Ali Wani, 2023. "Investigating the Impact of Communication Factors and Stakeholders Engagement on Renewable Energy Projects in Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-14, July.
    13. Timothy Hargrave & Jeffery Smith, 2026. "A Good Story but not the Whole Story: Stakeholder Theory as an Ethics of Capitalism," Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(1), pages 17-30, January.
    14. Samal Kaliyeva & Francisco Jose Areal & Yiorgos Gadanakis, 2021. "Would Kazakh Citizens Support a Milk Co-Operative System?," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-19, July.
    15. Letizia Lo Presti & Mario Testa & Vittoria Marino & Pierpaolo Singer, 2019. "Engagement in Healthcare Systems: Adopting Digital Tools for a Sustainable Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, January.
    16. Secundo, Giustina & Del Vecchio, Pasquale & Simeone, Luca & Schiuma, Giovanni, 2020. "Creativity and stakeholders' engagement in open innovation: Design for knowledge translation in technology-intensive enterprises," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 272-282.
    17. Viglia, Giampaolo & Pera, Rebecca & Bigné, Enrique, 2018. "The determinants of stakeholder engagement in digital platforms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 404-410.
    18. Araniyar C. Isukul & John J. Chizea, 2017. "Corporate Governance Disclosure in Developing Countries: A Comparative Analysis in Nigerian and South African Banks," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(3), pages 21582440177, July.
    19. Erick Auma Omondi, 2024. "Enviropreneurial Marketing Strategies on Sustainability of Cement Industry in Kenya," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(3s), pages 1945-1968, March.
    20. Luigi Nasta & Veronica Cundari, 2024. "Aligning multinational corporate strategies with Sustainable Development Goals: A case study of an Italian energy firm's initiatives in developing markets," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 3902-3915, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:buseth:v:34:y:2025:i:2:p:347-361. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/26946424 .

    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.