Sustainability of the Firm: Stakeholder Management in Practice The Case of SK Telecom

Sustainability of the firm has been the most fundamental and critical concern for managers. The increasing uncertainty and complexity in the environment implies that this topic needs to be raised as an explicit strategic issue. The present paper is an exploratory study to develop a comprehensive view of sustainability. First, it posits that properly addressing stakeholders should enhance the sustainability of the firm. Then, it introduces a case study to illustrate how stakeholder management is put into practice. Specifically, the case of SK Telecom, a leading Korean telecom company, is provided. The case reveals that stakeholder management is fundamentally a process of change management, building an organization from internally-focused to externally-oriented one. Also, it implies that the key to successful implementation lies in articulating complex relationships among the stakeholders around the firm, making clear priorities depending on the situations, and institutionalizing those efforts over time.