Abstract:

Atkinson, Waterhouse, & Wells (1997) cite research on the impact of the relationship between an organization and its stakeholders on management practices. Friedman & Miles (2002) studied organization/stakeholder relations that occur; the extent to which such relations change over time; as well as how and why such changes organization/stakeholder relations change over time. With the advent of stakeholder, social, and societal orientations as the underlying basis for sustainable profit (Kerin,
Berkowitz, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2002, pp. 108-110) and the increasing use of the Internet in all aspects of commerce, it was surprising to find no research on the impact of the Internet on such relationships, let alone, on product management decisions (Cummings, 2003). Thus, the purpose of this paper is to suggest roles that
stakeholders play in service management decisions and to seek reader input regarding how to measure whether creation and use of the Internet has altered or will alter stakeholder influence. In exploring the potential roles played by the Internet in changing the influence of stakeholders on service management decisions, changes are hypothesized due to the shifting balance of power among the stakeholders of firms primarily engaged in ebusiness as well as firms using more traditional channels.
Of particular interest are the following general questions: