Abstract

Purpose – This paper explores the influence of stakeholder theory in public sector communications practice, from a critical interpretivist perspective.

Design - Using a social phenomenological design, five practitioners were interviewed about how they experience and understand their work to identify, classify and prioritise stakeholders. Transcriptions were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, from which shared features were identified to consider the influence of the theory in practice.

Findings – Accounts construct a narrative centred around the assumption that stakeholder theory is applicable in the public sector in England because it is part of 'the logic of public relations'. This is despite it being ideologically situated in the private sector, reproducing the values of power relations, which threatens the ability of practitioners to fulfil their unique public duties.
Research limitations: While the specificity of this sample is acknowledged, individual accounts point towards a wider issue of the theory’s application to public sector practice.

Social implications - For the extent to which public relations can fulfil its public service role, notably towards the most vulnerable.

Originality/value – The ideological implications of applying stakeholder theory in the public sector has so far been unexplored and this paper intends to open debate and encourage further research.

Keywords Stakeholder theory, Public relations, Public sector, Institutional logic, Phenomenology, Marketisation

Paper type Research paper