Stakeholder value creation and financial performance of selected JSE firms

Abstract

For organisations to be successful, they need key stakeholders like shareholders, customers, employees, banks and the community. These stakeholders are essential in any profit-based organisation. All stakeholders have needs, which have to be balanced. However, it is difficult to balance the needs of different stakeholders as they have different preferences. This study seeks to determine how different needs of stakeholders can be balanced and which of these stakeholders an organisation can prioritise to create value in the organisation. The study used a quantitative method to extract secondary data from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The judgemental sampling method was utilised to selected 68 organisations from the JSE, which were utilised to determine which stakeholder has an impact on the value of an organisation. The study did not choose any industry but generalised. The results of the study indicate that shareholders, customers and banks (debtholders) have no effect on the financial performance of the organisation. This means that stakeholders do improve value in an organisation. However, the results further revealed that the community and employees have a positive influence on financial performance. Future researchers can choose one industry to determine how these particular stakeholders influence the financial performance of organisations in a particular industry. In addition, more stakeholders can be identified that are key to organisations.