Stakeholder engagement

Abstract

Stakeholder engagement is crucial for innovation management as innovations, particularly sustainable innovations, take place in interaction with various stakeholders. It enables the development of complementary capacities and new combinations of resources and thus creates multiple benefits for the focal organization, for the stakeholders involved in the innovation process, and for society at large. This entry is based on a literature review targeting leading academic journals in the business and society, management and strategy, and environmental management and environmental policy fields. The review serves as a basis for the conceptual overview of stakeholder engagement and its relevance for innovation management, particularly from the perspective of sustainable innovations. Further, this entry provides an analytical framework for engaging stakeholders in the innovation process, together with practical applications from two European industrial firms.