Employee voice and strategic competitive advantage in international modern public corporations – an economic perspective

SummaryAchieving competitive advantage through a broader consideration of stakeholders of the firm is examined. The inclusion of other significant organisational actors such as managers and employees as stakeholders capable of creating competitive strategic advantage for the firm is considered. Findings indicate that competitive advantage within an economic perspective may be garnered by establishing a broader conceptualisation of stakeholders of the firm. It is concluded employees may be characterised as hybrid stakeholders, as they are a mix of residual risk bearers and input suppliers of strategically highly relevant resources and that ways of articulating employee voice is a key element of gaining competitive advantage. The aim of this paper is to analyse internationally operating modern public corporations from an agency theory point of view with the focus on the role of a suite of stakeholders including shareholders, managers and employees. The economic reasoning demonstrates that the employees’ voice is an important component of business from a strategic perspective irrespective of the type of institutional environment present in any given country.