FAMILY MATTERS? THE EFFECTS OF SIZE AND PROXIMITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE

In Barnett, Henriques, and Husted(2020), we arguedthat, in the aggregate, the digital age has not given stake holders greater influence over firm behaviors. In their Exchange article,Jime-nez, Xu, and Bennett (2021) agreed with our broad model of stake holder influence in the digital age but suggested that the model does not account for independent, owner-managed small businesses interacting with local stakeholders in crisis situations. In our response here, we explore the implications of the two factors that underpin their argument-firm size and firm-stakeholder proximity-for stakeholder influence in the digital age. We conclude that some scenarios associated with these two factors are worth further investigation, but they do not fundamentally alter the dynamics of stakeholder influence in the digital age that we identified in Barnett et al. (2020), even for small, independent firms in crisis situations.

Automated summary

This paper explores the impact of stakeholders on company behavior in the digital age, focusing on the role of firm size and proximity of firms to stakeholders. The conclusion suggests that some scenarios associated with these factors are worth further investigation, but they do not fundamentally alter the dynamics of stakeholder influence in the digital age, even for small, independent firms in crisis situations.