MMBA532 Report 300394723 PraveenPhilip

Stakeholder Management in Victoria
International’s Global Operations:

A Systems Approach
Author: Praveen Philip

Research Supervisor: Dr Arun Elias
School of Management
MMBA 532 Business Research Project
By Praveen Philip (#300394723)
Research Supervisor: Dr Arun Elias
Faculty: Dr Bronwyn Howell
‘Stakeholder Management in Victoria International’s Global

Operations: A Systems Approach’
Submitted on 18th September, 2017.
A business research submitted as per the requirements for the Master of

Business Administration Program at Victoria Business School.
Victoria University of Wellington, 2017.

Abstract
Purpose of this Business Research

The overall objective of this business research is to suggest strategies that can create
value for multiple stakeholders simultaneously without reducing the value currently
received by any of them in Victoria International’s global operations in India.
Research Design and Methodology

A case study method was adopted for this business research with Victoria International
as the subject. Data was primarily collected through semi-structured interviews and the
focus group method. Systems thinking and modelling methodology was used to develop
a causal loop model that revealed the interdependencies between various dimensions of
Victoria International’s stakeholder management and international operations.
Main Findings
This research provides an analysis of significant stakeholder conflicts and the critical
success factors for successful Indian operations. The findings illustrate that by using
appropriate strategies, it is possible to provide value to multiple stakeholders
simultaneously. Finally, the research supports the need for a long term vision and
orientation for sustainable growth and success in international operations.
Originality and Value

This business research contributes to the field of stakeholder management in New
Zealand’s higher education sector. This business research supports the notion that
increasing the value received by multiple stakeholders simultaneously, and exploiting
the synergies developed between them seems to be a better approach to stakeholder
management by firms with international operations. It takes a systems approach to
understand the complexities involved in managing stakeholders in international
operations.
Page I | M M B A 5 3 2 B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h
Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge the role others played in the successful completion of the
MBA program and the business research. The MBA voyage made me stretch
academically and personally and I couldn’t have done so without the help and guidance
of a handful of people who were genuinely interested in my success.
A sincere gratitude to my Guru and Research Supervisor Dr Arun Elias for his
endless support, guidance, and patience. He has had a very positive influence on my
academic and personal life. I also thank Dr Saji Gopinath from Indian Institute of
Management, Kozhikode for his guidance. I am once again convinced that it is the
involvement of the right people that makes any mission successful.
An MBA program is one of the most demanding academic programs and makes
its presence felt on one’s personal and social life. In my case, no one else has known this
more than my loving wife, Surya Mathew. I acknowledge all her sacrifices and losses
during the last 20 months. I thank my father, Prof Philip K Antony, and my father-in-law,
K T Mathew for their support and for always encouraging me to push my limits.
I also thank the MBA cohort and especially my teammate and comrade Richard
Boag for his constant venture to ensure that I have the authentic ‘Kiwi Experience’ in
New Zealand. I thank all the interviewees and focus group participants for gladly
collaborating with me on this research with the same level of passion I had. Finally, I
thank Victoria Business School, MBA faculty and administrative staff for their support in
my MBA journey.
Page II | M M B A 5 3 2 B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................... 1

1.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 1
1.2 Research Objective and Research Questions ............................................ 3
1.3 Summary of this Business Research Report ............................................. 4
Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................... 5
2.1 Chapter Overview ...................................................................................... 5
2.2 International Operations Management .................................................... 5
2.2.1 Overview of International Operations Management ................................................................... 5
2.2.2 IOM Literature and Current Trends ...................................................................................................... 6
2.2.3 International Operations Strategies .................................................................................................... 7
2.2.4 Future Direction of IOM Research .......................................................................................................... 8
2.3 Stakeholder Management in International Operations ........................... 8
2.3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 8
2.3.2 Strategies for Managing International Stakeholders.................................................................. 9
2.3.3 Benefits from Stakeholder Synergies for an International Firm ........................................ 11
2.3.4 Stakeholder Management Globally VS Global Stakeholder Management...................... 12
2.3.5 Cultural Issues in International Stakeholder Management .................................................. 14
2.3.6 Stakeholder Conflicts and Resolution in International Operations .................................. 16
2.3.7 Stakeholder Salience and the International Firm....................................................................... 19
2.4 Critique of Existing Literature and Research Gaps ................................. 23
2.4.1 Some Potential Research Gaps .............................................................................................................. 23
Chapter 3: Research Design ........................................................... 24

3.1 Chapter Overview .................................................................................... 24
3.2 Proposed Research Title ......................................................................... 24
3.3 Research Objective and Research Questions .......................................... 24
3.4 Research Methodology ............................................................................ 25
3.4.1 About the Researcher ................................................................................................................................. 25
3.4.2 Research Paradigm..................................................................................................................................... 25
3.4.3 Paradigm Used in This Research ......................................................................................................... 27
3.4.4 Research Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 28
3.4.5 Data Collection Methods ........................................................................................................................... 30
3.4.6 Data Analysis.................................................................................................................................................. 32
Page III | M M B A 5 3 2 B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h
3.5 Research Planning and Timelines ........................................................... 32
3.6 Chapter Summary .................................................................................... 34
Chapter 4: Results and Discussions ................................................ 35
4.2 Interview Process and Overall Results ................................................... 35
4.3 Victoria International and Its Stakeholders ........................................... 36
4.3.1 Stakeholder Map of Victoria International .................................................................................... 37
4.3.2 Stakeholder Chart of Victoria International.................................................................................. 38
4.3.3 Stakes of Specific Stakeholders ............................................................................................................. 39
4.4 Significant Stakeholder Conflicts ............................................................ 40
4.5 Critical Success Factors (CSF) .................................................................. 42
4.6 BOT Graph ............................................................................................... 48
4.7 Group Model Building ............................................................................. 50
4.8 Causal Loop Model ................................................................................... 60
4.9 Analysis of the Causal Loop Model .......................................................... 62
4.10 Chapter Summary.................................................................................. 64
Chapter 5: Conclusions .................................................................. 65
5.2 Strategies to Improve Indian Operations ............................................... 65
5.2.1 Strategy 1: Target Beyond Student Recruitment ........................................................................ 67
5.2.2 Strategy 2: Augment Brand Building Efforts ................................................................................. 68
5.2.3 Strategy 3: Revamp Current Student Recruitment Processes .............................................. 68
5.2.4 Strategy 4: Transform the Orientation of VI Services ............................................................... 69
5.2.5 Strategy 5: Improve the Current Service Delivery Mechanisms .......................................... 70
5.3 Contributions to Literature ..................................................................... 71
5.4 Managerial Implications: Contribution to Practicing Managers ............ 71
5.5 Methodological Lessons .......................................................................... 72
5.6 Limitations of this Business Research .................................................... 72
5.7 Scope for Further Research ..................................................................... 73
References .................................................................................... 74
Appendices.................................................................................... 80
Page IV | M M B A 5 3 2 B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h
List of Figures
FIGURE 1: GENERIC INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY MATRIX (LEMAK & ARUNTHANES, 1997, P.30)..................... 7
FIGURE 2: PYRAMID OF GLOBAL PERFORMANCE AND CSR (CARROLL, 2004, P.116) ..................................... 10
FIGURE 3: FRAMEWORK ON THE INFLUENCE OF NATIONAL CULTURE (VESER, 2004, P.428) ........................... 15
FIGURE 4: STAKEHOLDER SALIENCE FRAMEWORK (MITCHEL ET AL.,1997, P.866)........................................ 20
FIGURE 5: BUSINESS RESEARCH PLAN A.......................................................................................................... 33
FIGURE 6: BUSINESS RESEARCH PLAN B .......................................................................................................... 34
FIGURE 7: STAKEHOLDER MAP OF VICTORIA INTERNATIONAL......................................................................... 37
FIGURE 8: BOT CHART ................................................................................................................................... 49
FIGURE 9: STAKEHOLDER MAP OF GROUP MODEL BUILDING PARTICIPANTS ................................................... 50
FIGURE 10: HEXAGONS GENERATED DURING GROUP MODEL BUILDING .......................................................... 52
FIGURE 11: INDIAN OPERATIONS STRATEGY CLUSTER .................................................................................... 54
FIGURE 12: INDIAN STUDENT RECRUITMENT CLUSTER ................................................................................... 54
FIGURE 13: ROLE OF AGENTS CLUSTER ........................................................................................................... 55
FIGURE 14: STUDENT INTEGRATION CLUSTER ................................................................................................ 55
FIGURE 15: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES CLUSTER ............................................................................................... 56
FIGURE 16: SCHOLARSHIPS CLUSTER .............................................................................................................. 56
FIGURE 17: EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES CLUSTER ..................................................................................... 56
FIGURE 18: PERFORMANCE OF VICTORIA INTERNATIONAL CLUSTER ............................................................... 57
FIGURE 19: VICTORIA INTERNATIONAL’S SERVICE DELIVERY CLUSTER ........................................................... 57
FIGURE 20: CAUSAL LOOP MODEL .................................................................................................................. 61
FIGURE 21: STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE INDIAN OPERATIONS ............................................................................ 66
List of Tables
TABLE 1: STAKEHOLDER STRATEGIES TO INCREASE SALIENCE ....................................................................... 17

TABLE 2: STRATEGIES TO DEAL WITH STAKEHOLDER PRESSURE .................................................................. 18
TABLE 3: FIVE PHASE PROCESS OF SYSTEMS THINKING AND MODELLING ...................................................... 29
TABLE 4: BUSINESS RESEARCH PLAN A KEY DATES ....................................................................................... 33
TABLE 5: BUSINESS RESEARCH PLAN B KEY DATES ....................................................................................... 34
TABLE 6: STAKEHOLDER CHART OF VICTORIA INTERNATIONAL ..................................................................... 38
TABLE 7: STAKES OF STAKEHOLDERS ............................................................................................................ 39
TABLE 8: CLUSTER VARIABLES...................................................................................................................... 59
Page V | M M B A 5 3 2 B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Introduction
Operations management that has a global scope is identified as International Operations
Management (Prasad and Babbar, 2000, p. 211). Stakeholder management is crucial for
organisations with international operations, who by virtue of their foreignness, are more
likely to have conflicting relationships with various local stakeholders. Negative
stakeholder actions can not only increase operational costs but also have negative
effects on the firm’s reputation and in the success of future projects (Aaltonen et al.,
2008, p.515). “A stakeholder perspective on global strategy emphasizes the role of a
plurality of actors, dispersed across the geographies in which the company operates, all
potentially contributing to the performance of the firm in ways that might be difficult to
observe but are strongly interdependent” (Devinney et al., 2013, p. 327).
In this context, Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) and specifically the
operations of the Victoria International team is an interesting and valuable subject for
this business research. Victoria University is one of New Zealand’s oldest and most
prestigious tertiary institutions with a proud tradition of academic excellence (Victoria,
2017).
Victoria University is characterised by the depth, consistency and effectiveness of
their culture of domestic and international engagement. The university’s commitment to
reciprocal, high-quality relationships springs from identifying and understanding the
need for New Zealand to achieve sustainable development (Victoria, 2017).
Page 1 | M M B A 5 3 2 B u s i n e s s R e s e a r c h
The ‘Victoria International’ team is responsible for international student recruitment,
business development, and providing services (including visa services) to international
students. There is a substantial overlap between services offered by Victoria
International, and the services offered by central services teams to both international
and domestic students. With respect to student recruitment, the main distribution
channels are agents located across the globe.
Over the years, VUW has developed pivotal competitive advantages over other
higher education institutions in the Oceania region. Examples are quality of research
output, international accreditations, etc. When such micro and macro factors act in favor
of VUW, it is anticipated that more good quality international students especially from
countries such as India would enrol at VUW. However, both the quantity and the quality
of International students from India have been declining. Such a scenario in turn gives
rise to other complex strategic and operational issues for Victoria International.
The purpose of this business research was to use the systems thinking and
modelling methodology to identify the causes behind declining student numbers and the
quality of incoming students. This business research strives to solve this complex
situation by proposing intervention strategies that have the potential to alter the current
nature of the system. To address this research problem, the following research objective
and research questions were designed.
1.2 Research Objective and Research Questions
Research Objective
The overall objective of this research is to suggest strategies that can create value for
multiple stakeholders simultaneously without reducing the value currently received by
any of them in Victoria International’s global operations in India.
Research Questions
1. Who are the stakeholders of Victoria International’s operations in India and what are
their perceived stakes?
2. What are the critical success factors that affect strategies to create value for multiple
stakeholders simultaneously without reducing the value currently received by any of
them in Victoria International’s operations in India?
3. How can the Systems Thinking and Modelling Methodology help in developing
strategies that can create value for multiple stakeholders simultaneously for Victoria
International’s operations in India.
1.3 Summary of this Business Research Report
This business research report presents the case study of Stakeholder Management in
Victoria International’s Global Operations. Chapter 1 of this report introduces the
business research, the problem situation, and the research objective and research
questions. Chapter 2 contains a literature review of international operations
management (IOM) and also stakeholder management in international operations.
Chapter 3 contains the research design and discusses the research paradigm,
methodology and methods used in this business research. Chapter 4 presents the results
of this business research and contains the results of semi-structured interviews and the
group modelling exercise. Chapter 5 concludes the report by discussing intervention
strategies and also explains how this business research contributes to existing literature
and to practicing managers, the limitations of this research, methodological lessons and
the scope for further research.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Chapter Overview
This chapter presents a literature review of international operations management and
also stakeholder management in international operations. The first section covers topics
such as international operations strategies and the current and future directions of
research related to IOM.
The next section of this report explores literature on how firms manage
international stakeholders and the impact of cultural issues in this process. This section
then proceeds to examine stakeholder conflicts in international operations and the
various strategies firms adopt to respond to stakeholder pressures. This section closes
by reviewing literature on stakeholder salience and dynamics.
This chapter concludes by critiquing the explored literature, identifying specific
gaps and proposing potential areas for research.
2.2 International Operations Management
2.2.1 Overview of International Operations Management
Accelerated international trade, operations or even mere investments in foreign
markets after the Second World War gave rise to the modern Multinational Enterprises
(MNEs). The rise of MNEs naturally generated the need for manging operations globally
and the field of International Operations Management (IOM) (Prasad and Babbar, 2000).
(Prasad and Babbar, 2000, p. 214) categorized the various topics that fall under the IOM
radar and identified the following 19 categories:
 Operations Strategy, Location, Capacity, Layout
 Forecasting, Purchasing, Inventory, Aggregate Planning
 Technology, Productivity, Work measurement, Project Management, JIT,
Scheduling
 Flexibility, Quality, Reliability and Maintenance, Service
2.2.2 IOM Literature and Current Trends
Literature within the operations management domain and that has a global scope is
identified as International Operations Management literature (Prasad and Babbar, 2000,
p. 211). Hence IOM literature is different from domestic operations management
literature that has been internationalised (Boddewyn, 1999). This notion is very
significant as management experts like Hofstede observes that management theories
that originated in a particular location are often not suited for explaining complicated
situations in other geographic locations (Martínez & Toyne, 2000).
However, in spite of the growing focus on international operations, the study of
IOM hasn’t been a separate, independent domain. Most of the research that fall under
the OM domain and that has an international scope is published under the international
business or international management labels (Contractor, 2000). Alternatively,
contemporary Operations Management scholars argue that considering the evolution of
market and operations, future Operations Management curriculum should include global
operations modules (Gunasekaran, & Ngai, 2012).
A latest trend in the field of IOM research is the increased importance of global
services management (Aharoni & Brock, 2010). This shift was natural as major
economies across the world switched from a manufacturing sector to the service sector.
(Karmarkar & Apte, 2007) predicted that the future of OM will be determined by trends
in the information technology (IT). For example, the nature of traditional logistics
management has changed and e-logistics have emerged leveraging the potential of IT
(Gunasekaran, & Ngai, 2012).
2.2.3 International Operations Strategies
(Baird et al., 1994) identifies that a generic international operations strategy,
particularly for SMEs is based on two dimensions –
1) The contribution of international sales towards total sales
2) The dependency of the firm on foreign markets for its survival
(Lemak & Arunthanes, 1997, p.30) provides a generic international strategy matrix where
firms belong to one of the four categories:
FIGURE 1: GENERIC INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY MATRIX (LEMAK & ARUNTHANES, 1997, P.30)
The level of international operations of the firm depends on where its position is in the
generic international strategy matrix (Lemak & Arunthanes, 1997). Irrespective of the
level of international operations, IOM gives firms novel market knowledge, access to
new technologies, and new management and business practices, ultimately leading to
better performance in both international and domestic markets (Paiva & Vieira, 2009).
Further, having operations in international locations helps firms to diversify their
strategic risks and enables competition avoidance (Elango, 2010).
2.2.4 Future Direction of IOM Research
(Aharoni & Brock, 2010) predicts that offshoring and outsourcing of core operations,
particularly Research and Development functions would provide an important area for
future research.
Also, more IOM research will originate from newly industrialised nations and
emerging economies. Future research will also be motivated to find synergies from
operating globally with a global workforce (Prasad and Babbar, 2000).
Both these areas of focus emphasise the importance of breaking existing cultural
and national influence on OM practises and scholarly research. When it comes to the
nature of future research, (Barratt et al., 2011) foresee more qualitative, deductive case
studies and literature compared to traditional survey-based research.
2.3 Stakeholder Management in International Operations
2.3.1 Introduction
In academic literature, there are numerous definitions for the word ‘stakeholder’ but
most of them lack precision. One of the most prominent one is as follows:
“The stakeholders in a firm are individuals and constituencies that contribute,
either voluntarily or involuntarily, to its wealth-creating capacity and activities, and who
are therefore its potential beneficiaries and/or risk bearers” (Post et al., 2002, p.8).
(Post et al., 2002, p.9) defines stakeholder management as the following:
“Development and implementation of organizational policies and practices that take into
account the goals and concerns of all relevant stakeholders”.
This section of the report presents a literature review of stakeholder
management that is applicable in international operations. This section starts with
generic strategies for managing international stakeholders, and highlights the impact of
cultural issues in global stakeholder management. Further, stakeholder conflicts and the
resolution strategies used by firms are discussed. The section concludes by reviewing
the literature on stakeholder salience and how it applies to an international firm.
2.3.2 Strategies for Managing International Stakeholders
Stakeholder management is crucial for firms with international operations, who by
virtue of their foreignness, are more likely to operate in a foreign country with
conflicting relationships with various local stakeholders. Further, for firms with
international operations, negative stakeholder actions can not only increase operational
costs but also have negative effects on the firm’s reputation and success of future
projects (Aaltonen et al., 2008, p.515).
In international operations, high-institutional and cultural differences exist in
relationships between an entrant firm and the local stakeholders in the host location
(Turner, 1999). Differences can take many forms between the firm and local internal
stakeholders - cultural aspects, work habits, specification practices, customs and
processes of local actors (Ireland, 2006).
“A stakeholder perspective on global strategy emphasizes the role of a plurality of
actors, dispersed across the geographies in which the company operates, all potentially
contributing to the performance of the firm in ways that might be difficult to observe but
are strongly interdependent” (Devinney et al., 2013, p. 327).
“By operating across national and cultural boundaries, global managers must
address not just markets and more complex customers and supply conditions, but
multiple political jurisdictions and a plethora of cultural milieus. Rarely do these
political and cultural environments align effectively with the experience of the MNE,
particularly in the early stages of internationalization” (Devinney et al., 2013), p. 325).
Scholars have long argued that “global managers use relationships with external
stakeholders to pursue self-interest seeking perquisites, career enhancement, or moral
peace of mind” (Henisz et al., 2014, p.1730). (Post et al., 2002) argues that understanding
global stakeholder relationships and effectively managing them is the key towards
solving core strategic problems.
This notion gives international firms an opportunity to consider stakeholders as
important assets for the firm (Frooman, 1999). The pyramid of global performance and
corporate social responsibility (CSR) is one of the best frameworks that gives a context
on a firm’s responsibilities to its global stakeholders.
FIGURE 2: PYRAMID OF GLOBAL PERFORMANCE AND CSR (CARROLL, 2004, P.116)
“The pyramid depict four components - economic performance, legal responsibility,
ethical responsibility, and philanthropic responsibility (Carroll, 2004, p.116-117).
2.3.3 Benefits from Stakeholder Synergies for an International Firm
The pyramid of global performance and CSR framework highlights the importance of
maximising the benefits for multiple stakeholder groups simultaneously. A relatively
new concept in stakeholder management is creating value for multiple stakeholders
simultaneously and how the synergies developed in turn creates value for the firm
(Tantalo & Priem, 2014).
This concept is based on the logic that through innovative strategies, it is indeed
possible to create value for multiple stakeholders without reducing the value received
by other stakeholders. This notion can be extended to stakeholder management in
international operations to simultaneously fulfil the responsibilities towards multiple
global stakeholders.
(Reimann et al., 2012) identifies two scenarios of how stakeholder synergies help firms
with international operations:
1) Local employees value social engagement by their employers. Hence, firms that
engage in active development of local communities and internal working
arrangements are rewarded with superior performance by their employees when
compared to competitors.
2) A cooperative and constructive relationship with local authorities can be fostered
through active engagement in developing the local community and such firms
appear to face fewer bureaucratic hurdles in getting permissions and licenses, to
receive better infrastructural support, and to feel more welcomed by the local
administration.
(Tantalo & Priem, 2014) pinpoints the following mechanisms for stakeholder synergies:
1) Increase the utility received by a key stakeholder group without negatively affecting
the value proposition received by any other key stakeholder group.
2) Find complementarities in what two or more key stakeholder groups need and form
strategies around them
3) Reinforcing sources of stakeholder synergy can occur as a continuation to
implementing innovative strategies that increase the utilities received by one or
more key stakeholder groups.
2.3.4 Stakeholder Management Globally VS Global Stakeholder Management
Just like how firms are global and have international operations, many of its large
stakeholders also have operations on an international level. Examples would be
Greenpeace or Amnesty International. This implies that Stakeholder management of
firms with international operations can take two paths. The prominent path is the
management of stakeholders in various international locations.
The alternate path involves managing stakeholders who are “global”. “Unlike
local stakeholder groups, who gain legitimacy from the local community and operate
according to local norms and customs, global stakeholders are primarily organizational
groups with global footprints similar to those of the MNEs they seek to influence”
(Devinney et al., 2013, p. 330).
Globally managing local stakeholders is not identical to managing global stakeholders
due to the following reasons (Devinney et al., 2013, p. 330):
1) “Global stakeholders seek frequent organization-to-organization interactions unlike
local stakeholders in global locations.
2) “The firm that manages global stakeholders must develop capabilities for addressing
inconsistencies in the norms, practices, and laws of the multiple nations in which the
firm operates (Devinney et al., 2013, p. 330).
3) The firm must be prepared to manage conflicts between local stakeholders and
global stakeholders (Crilly, 2011).
4) A global stakeholder may create countervailing capabilities to an MNE, including the
capacity to implement sophisticated negotiation strategies (Westphal & Zajac, 1994;
Fiss & Zajac, 2006).
5) “A firm seeking to manage global stakeholders must anticipate complexity in the
goals of stakeholders (Devinney et al., 2013, p. 330).
2.3.5 Cultural Issues in International Stakeholder Management
International operations entail working in unfamiliar cultural and legal environments,
and cultural sensitivity is a key trait to be successful (Angeleanu et al., 2016). Engaging
stakeholders and building a network of stakeholders can help a transnational firm to
overcome the cultural and leadership style barriers. Understanding people is important
in the often unstructured environments specific to contemporary global organizations
(Angeleanu et al., 2016, p.15).
Hence, local stakeholder relationships can be considered as a means of managing
unexpected events and the lack of local stakeholder relationships as a source of
unexpected events in international operations (Aaltonen et al., 2010, p.568).
In addition, local stakeholder’s relationships are a source of competition advantage for
international operations in the following ways (Aaltonen et al., 2010, p.570):
1) “Local stakeholders possess important knowledge about host country’s norms,
values and practices
2) Local stakeholders have crucial relationships with other salient stakeholders and
these relationships can be utilised for successful international operations”.
Although firms must have stakeholder management guidelines and policies for their
international operations, individual units be required to have the flexibility to adapt
these standards to their local environment, and to make their actions more meaningful
and effective in the international location (Veser, 2004).
Based on this multinational perspective, “a framework is developed to explain
and predict the influence of culture on the acceptance and implementation of
stakeholder management principles and practices at the international unit level “(Veser,
2004, p.427-428).
FIGURE 3: FRAMEWORK ON THE INFLUENCE OF NATIONAL CULTURE (VESER, 2004, P.428)
“The strategy adopted by the international unit depends on the perceived attractiveness
of stakeholder management principles and practices transferred from the headquarters,
as well as the strength of the respective cultural values in support of these principles
and practices” (Veser, 2004, p.427-428).
2.3.6 Stakeholder Conflicts and Resolution in International Operations
Conflicts in day-to-day international operations are usually caused by the different
expectations of stakeholders and shareholders (Spellman, 2011, p. 92). For an
international firm, these conflicts and difference of expectation can get very complex due
to the socio-cultural background of participating stakeholders.
Stakeholder Strategies to Increase Perceived Salience
In an international operations scenario, stakeholders wish to influence the way a firm
perceive their importance by increasing their salience through the following strategies
(Aaltonen et al., 2008, p.515):
Strategy Description
Direct withholding Stakeholders restrict access to critical resources controlled
strategy by them to increase their perceived power
Indirect withholding Stakeholders control access to resources that are not
strategy directly controlled by them to increase their perceived
power
Resource building Stakeholders procure or hire crucial resources to increase
strategy their perceived power
Coalition building Stakeholders create strategic alliances with other
strategy stakeholders to increase their perceived power or
legitimacy
Conflict escalation Stakeholders attempt to escalate the conflict beyond the
strategy scope and current actors
Credibility building Stakeholders increase their perceived legitimacy by
strategy acquiring individuals or networks with credibility
Communication Stakeholders use various communication techniques to
strategy increase their perceived legitimacy and urgency
Direct action strategy Stakeholders organize protests and other defensive
measures to increase the perceived urgency
TABLE 1: STAKEHOLDER STRATEGIES TO INCREASE SALIENCE
Response Strategies to Stakeholder Demands and Pressures
(Aaltonen & Sivonen, 2009, p.139) propose that the following factors shape a firm’s
response strategies in global operations.
 “The firm’s position in the stakeholder network
 Stakeholder power
 Legitimacy of stakeholder claims
 The means stakeholders use to advance their claims
 Experience of the firm in similar issues
 Positions of other actors in the network”
Based on the above factors, a firm can adopt five different strategies to deal with
international stakeholder pressures as follows (Aaltonen & Sivonen, 2009, p.139).
Strategy Description
Adaptation Obeying the demands and rules that are presented by
strategy stakeholders
Compromising Negotiating with the stakeholders, listening to their claims
strategy and offering possibilities and arenas for dialogues
Avoidance Loosening attachments to stakeholders and their claims in
strategy order to mitigate the responsibility to other parties
Dismissal strategy Ignoring the demands of stakeholders
Influence strategy Shaping proactively the values and demands of stakeholders
TABLE 2: STRATEGIES TO DEAL WITH STAKEHOLDER PRESSURE
However, it is important to apply careful thought when choosing a strategy to deal with
stakeholder pressure or conflict. (Tarnow et al., 1996) stressed the importance of getting
to the core of a conflict, from issues and positions to interests. Further, firms must not
overlook the fact that both the firm and the stakeholder need to co-exist even after
negotiation (Susskind and Cruikshank, 1987). (Devinney et al., 2013, p. 326) points out
that stakeholder relationships are not just for the current benefit, but for future benefit
as well”.
It is absolutely necessary that stakeholder management is a core competence and
it is integrated with all the policies and practices of an international firm (Post et al.,
2002). The strategies that the firm adopts to deal with various global stakeholder groups
and the structures that are developed to implement the strategies both rest on a broad
cultural base of stakeholders from various cultural backgrounds (Post et al., 2002).
2.3.7 Stakeholder Salience and the International Firm
(Westrenius & Barnes, 2015, p.482) argues that “classification of who the stakeholders of
a business is a subjective affair and often appears as irrational”. The individual’s
personal characteristics and situational factors affect the judgement of who the
stakeholders of a firm are.
The most important stakeholders of a firm are customers, suppliers, employees,
owner managers, family, community, government and other (Westrenius & Barnes,
2015). Firms conventionally devote more attention to analysing the "core" stakeholders
and to managing relations with them on a routine basis (Post et al., 2002)).
(Mitchel et al., 1997) observes that managers will devote more attention to and also
respond to the claims of those stakeholders that they perceive to have more salience,
which is defined using three attributes: power, legitimacy and urgency.
FIGURE 4: STAKEHOLDER SALIENCE FRAMEWORK (MITCHEL et al., 1997, P.866)
The three attributes for stakeholder salience are as follows:
 Power - Power is presented in three forms: coercive, utilitarian, and normative.
 Legitimacy – Legitimacy is defined in terms of how socially desirable, proper, or
appropriate the stakeholder appears to be within some socially constructed
system” (Mitchell et al., 1997).
 Urgency – (Mitchell et al., 1997, p.867) presented this notion as “calling for
immediate attention or pressing, and this was often seen in terms of the
stakeholder’s time sensitivity to the firm or the stakeholder’s degree of criticality
to the firm”.
Stakeholder Salience and its Implications on the international Firm
The idea of stakeholder salience is an important mechanism to detect not only emerging
stakeholders, but also to uncover those traditional stakeholders with continuing
importance to the business (Weber, & Marley, 2012). Often when businesses expand and
diversify, they tend to overlook those important stakeholders who are the important
pillars for sustainability of the business.
A fundamental question regarding stakeholder salience is about the relative
importance of the three attributes of stakeholder salience. Contemporary research
shows that out of the three, perhaps stakeholders with legitimate power must be dealt
with caution. It can be reasoned that greater the legitimacy of a stakeholder request,
greater the likelihood that the firm responds to the stakeholder request (Eesley & Lenox,
2006).
Stakeholder Dynamics
An important aspect of stakeholder salience is its dynamic nature. Researchers have
long studied various aspects of changing salience of stakeholders and the dynamics
involved in stakeholder relationships and positions. (Elias et al., 2004) assert that
positions and interests of stakeholders are changeable and provides two fundamental
reasons for changing positions of stakeholders:
 Personal reasons such as increased awareness or knowledge about the firm and its
operations, personal values, previous experiences in similar aspects, etc.
 External environment in which these stakeholders exist and operate such as
demands of other stakeholders, current and changing positions of other
stakeholders, government policies, legal requirements, etc.
Finally, it must also be noted that stakeholder salience is of importance to the firm only
if stakeholders are willing to exercise or apply their powers. Often stakeholders do not
have the resources or even the interest to exercise their salience and firms must be
aware of this fact. (Eesley & Lenox, 2006) observes that greater the resource-base of the
stakeholder relative to the resource-base of the targeted firm, greater the likelihood that
the firm responds to the stakeholder request.
On the contrary, contemporary research on stakeholder management strategies
recommend that to achieve stakeholder synergies, companies must be enterprising to
think and act beyond the ‘dominant’ stakeholder trade-off point of view and concentrate
on value creation for multiple stakeholder groups simultaneously (Tantalo & Priem,
2014).
2.4 Critique of Existing Literature and Research Gaps
This literature review is aimed at exploring international operations management and
specifically stakeholder management in international operations. How global
stakeholders are managed by firms are well researched and continues to be of much
interest to scholars across the world. The application of stakeholder theories to
problems of global strategy carries implications for research on corporate governance,
strategy process, organizational structure, and competitive advantage (Harrison et al.,
2010).
Critically speaking, studies on stakeholder management of SMEs with
international operations is limited. Stakeholder theory, like many management theories,
was not developed as an international theory (Devinney et al., 2013, p. 329).
2.4.1 Some Potential Research Gaps
The literature stream on stakeholder synergies and their impact on international
operations is limited. Managing domestic and international stakeholders individually
has always been very complex and costly for firms and hence a reverse approach has
more potential. Strategies designed to create or increase the value to multiple
stakeholders simultaneously seems to be a better approach to stakeholder management.
Application of such a notion in the higher education sector and how such a strategy
helps in efficient and effective international operations has not been explored. There is
potential to use the ‘systems thinking’ approach to address this complex problem
situation.
Chapter 3: Research Design
This chapter contains the research design with a discussion of the research paradigm,
research methodology and data collection methods used in this business research. This
chapter also contains information about the researcher, the overall plan for conducting
the research and the timelines for various stages of business research.
3.2 Proposed Research Title
Stakeholder Management in Victoria International’s Global Operations: A Systems
Approach.
3.3 Research Objective and Research Questions
Research Objective
any of them in Victoria International’s international operations in India.
Research Questions
1) Who are the stakeholders of Victoria International’s operations in India and what are
their perceived stakes?
2) What are the critical success factors that affect strategies to create value for multiple
them in Victoria International’s international operations in India?
3) How can the Systems Thinking and Modelling Methodology help in developing
strategies that can create value for multiple stakeholders simultaneously for Victoria
International’s operations in India.

3.4 Research Methodology
3.4.1 About the Researcher
I am an international student from India pursuing the MBA program at Victoria
University of Wellington. I have a bachelor’s degree in Information Science and
Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University in South India. On the
professional side, I have around 10 years of work experience of which 7 years has been
in various roles in the Indian IT industry and 3 years in family business.
I hail from a middle class Catholic family in Kerala, a southern state in India. My
father is an academician in commerce and is currently the principal of a college run by
the catholic diocese in Kerala. I am happily married since 2013 and my wife is a
homemaker. I strongly believe that my educational, professional and personal
background have had an impact on my ideology and the specific reasoning used in
research. In addition, my past experiences and the learnings from the MBA program is
bound to have a positive influence on this research.
3.4.2 Research Paradigm
“A paradigm reflects a basic set of philosophical beliefs about the nature of the world. A
paradigm provides guidelines and principles concerning the way research is conducted.
The methods and techniques used in the research should be in sympathy with these
guidelines and principles” (Ticehurst & Veal, 1999, p.25).
The preference for a particular type of paradigm depends on the individual
researcher’s personality, background, past experiences and also if a particular type of
paradigm is better suited for addressing the research objectives. The following are some
of the main paradigms used in business research:
Positivist research
The positivist approach is perhaps the traditional form of research and hold a
deterministic philosophy in which causes determine effects or outcomes. In this
approach, problems that are studies reflect the need to identify and assess the causes
that influences outcomes. The knowledge developed is based on careful observation and
measurement of the objective reality that exists out there in the world (Creswell, 2014).
Critics point out that positivist research tend to be superficial in that it attempts
to reduce all aspects of human endeavour and that the positivist researcher have
subjective responses and involvement in their research (Cavana et al., 2001).
Interpretivist research
“Interpretivist research is based on the belief that the world is largely what people
perceive it to be and reality is therefore socially constructed. The Interpretivist
researcher identifies what is meaningful to each individual being investigated in the
research and becomes fully involved with these individual subjects. Such an involvement
helps the researcher to uncover socially constructed meaning as it is understood by
individuals” (Cavana et al., 2001, p.8-9).
Most common criticisms of interpretivist research include the extreme
subjectivity associated and its focus on local, micro-level or short-term events without
seeking to initiate any change (Cavana et al., 2001).
Critical research
Critical research is aimed at empowering people to create a better world for themselves
by uncovering surface illusions and myths and revealing hidden meanings. Critical
research assumes that once people see these surface illusions for what they are, the less
powerful will be motivated to make changes to their lives. To achieve this goal, the
critical researcher is heavily involved with research subjects so that surface illusions can
be identified but urges subjects to change their world (Cavana et al., 2001).
Critical research itself is criticised for its focus on destroying the current reality
without providing processes for building a new reality and for assuming that laws of
social order are out there waiting to be discovered (Cavana et al., 2001).
Constructivism
“Constructivism assumes the relativism of multiple social realities, recognises the
mutual creation of knowledge by the researcher and the researched, and aims toward
interpretive understanding of subjects’ meanings” (Denzin & Lincoln, 200, p.509).
Theory of Constructivism states that people construct their own understanding and
knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those
experiences.
Constructivism suggests that reality is socially constructed (Elder-Vass, 2012).
According to (Leeds-Hurwitz, 2009), social constructionism or the social construction of
reality (also social concept) is a theory that examines the development of jointly
constructed understandings of the world. It assumes that understanding, significance,
and meaning are developed not separately within the individual, but in coordination
with other human beings.
3.4.3 Paradigm Used in This Research
This business research will start with a positivist approach to obtain data from various
stakeholders and analyse this data as objectively as possible. Such an approach will help
the researcher to extract valuable, objective information from various stakeholders
during the data collection stage.
However, the researcher feels that in the latter stages, a constructivist approach will
better help to identify and explore the interdependencies of various stakeholder
perspectives and social realities.
3.4.4 Research Methodology
Research design can be defined as a “framework or blue print for conducting business
research in an efficient manner. It details the procedures necessary for collection,
measurement and analysis of information which helps the researcher to structure/or
solve business research problems” (Sreejesh et al., 2013, p.27). Further, there are three
types of research designs: Exploratory, Descriptive and/or Causal design (Sreejesh et al.,
2013).
This business research will be an exploratory study that will be based on
clarification and correlational approaches to identify the important variables and how
they are associated. The extent of researcher interference will hence be moderate in this
case and will be qualitative oriented.
This business research will use a methodology based on system thinking and
system dynamics. Systems thinking is a scientific field of knowledge for understanding
change and complexity through the study of dynamic cause and effect over time. The
systems thinking methodology incorporates a set of modelling and learning
technologies. “
The modelling tools can be used to understand the structure of systems, the
interconnection between the components and how changes in any area will affect the
whole system and its constituent parts over time” (Maani & Cavana, 2007, p. 7-8).
In this research study, systems thinking and modelling (Maani & Cavana, 2007, p.16-17)
will be used.
The five phase process of systems thinking and modelling is illustrated in the following
table and the scope of this research will be restricted to the first two phases only.
TABLE 3: FIVE PHASE PROCESS OF SYSTEMS THINKING AND MODELLING
Source: (Maani & Cavana, 2007, P.16-17)
Systems thinking and modelling is an excellent methodology for strategy formulation
and testing both in the public and private sectors. “Systems thinking highlights areas of
strategy which are often ignored or missed by other methodologies such as internal
contradictions, hidden strategic opportunities, or untapped strategic leverages” (Maani
& Cavana, 2007, p.21-22).
For these extract reasons, the systems thinking and modelling is the best methodology
to be used in this research that investigates about stakeholder synergies and
simultaneous value creation in international operations.
3.4.5 Data Collection Methods
Although qualitative research is open to criticism for being subjective and biased, the
advantage of a qualitative research is its ability to extract data has depth and is also
detailed. Qualitative data collection methods help the researcher to record and analyse
people in their own terms (Patton, 1983).
Hence, the data collection methods selected have a high impact on the research.
In this business research, the following data collection methods will be used:
Method 1: Secondary data collection
“Secondary data refers to information gathered by someone other than the researcher
conducting the current study. Secondary data collection results in time savings and cost
savings associated in acquiring information that will be helpful to the research” (Cavana
et al., 2001, p.163).
This business research plans to use the data collected by VUW previously for
strategy development or for other purposes. Some examples of such data are results of
surveys, other feedback, ratings by internal or external agencies, etc.
Method 2: Semi-structured interviews
The three basic types of interviews in a qualitative research are unstructured
interviews, standardised open-ended interviews and finally semi-structured interviews.
In semi-structured interviews, interviewer can ensure that the interview process is
limited to the topics that are essential to the research. Hence, the interviewer has
sufficient flexibility to adapt to different responses from the interviewed (Sreejesh et al.,
2013).
This business research will adopt the semi-structured interview method to
interview various internal and external stakeholders of Victoria International. Some
examples are international faculty, partners, international students, and other external
agencies.
Method 3: The Focus Group Method
“The focus group method is a research technique that collects information through
group interaction on a topic determined by the researcher” (Cavana et al., 2001, p.153).
The primary benefit of this method is the availability of direct and immediate evidence
about similarities or differences in the opinions and experience of various participants
of the focus group (Morgan, 1997). Although there are similarities between interviewing
and the focus group method, in the latter the facilitator has a greater role to play in
managing the entire process (Cavana et al., 2001, p.153).
In this business research, a Nominal Group Technique (NGT) approach will be
used. The following are the various steps involved in the NGT approach (Vennix, 1996):
i. The group silently writes a number of variables that they think is related to the
problem.
ii. Individuals read one variable from their list and these variables are noted on a flip-
chart.
iii. Finally, these variables are used to construct a causal lop diagram.
3.4.6 Data Analysis
There is significant difference between data analysis in qualitative and quantitative
research methods. In quantitative research, data is collected and the collected data is
analysed together at a later period. However, in a qualitative research, there is no
specific split between data collection and data analysis. As the researcher is gathering
data, the researcher may be also analysing data (Cavana et al., 2001).
Qualitative data analysis typically involves bringing some kind order, structure,
and meaning to the extensive data collected during the research. The process follow four
sequential steps: organising the collected data, creating various categories, identifying
specific themes and subthemes, and coding the data (Bloomberg and Volpe, 2008). Once
data is organised this way, it enables the researcher to narrate, elaborate, and work with
data around each of the major themes and subthemes (Patton, 1983).
3.5 Research Planning and Timelines
“A research plan allows the researcher to clarify a number of issues in his or her mind,
justify the investment in the research, and persuade other people to support the
research, and finally provide a budget and timeframe for completion” (Cavana et al.,
2001, p.123-124).
Two different plans has been proposed for this business research. Each plan has the
various stages involved, the duration of each stage and the anticipated start and end
dates of these stages.
Plan A - is designed anticipating that there will not be delays in stages that are
dependent on the co-operation external stakeholders involved in this business research.
TABLE 4: BUSINESS RESEARCH PLAN A KEY DATES
FIGURE 5: BUSINESS RESEARCH PLAN A
Plan B - is a more relaxed plan anticipating that stages such as interviews and group
model building might take more time as they are completely dependent on external
stakeholders and their willingness and availability.
TABLE 5: BUSINESS RESEARCH PLAN B KEY DATES
FIGURE 6: BUSINESS RESEARCH PLAN B
In both the plans, every stage is dependent on the predecessor stage and hence delays in
any stage will cause the entire project to slip the deadlines.
3.6 Chapter Summary
Chapter 3 presented the research paradigm, the general approach, the methodological
framework and the data collection methods used in this research. This was followed by
the approach taken for data analysis and the research plan. The results of the analysis is
discussed in the next chapter.
Chapter 4: Results and Discussions
This chapter presents the main results of this business research project. The chapter
begins by describing the results of semi-structured interviews. This is followed by
results of the group model building exercise. The chapter concludes by illustrating the
Causal Loop Model developed and identifying the intervention areas.
4.2 Interview Process and Overall Results
This section describes a summary of the semi-structured interviews. Ten semi-
structured interviews were conducted and interesting insights were been obtained
through this process. The people interviewed belonged to the following stakeholder
groups:
1. Indian students
2. Alumni who were international students
3. Faculty of Victoria University of Wellington
4. Staff of Victoria International
5. Student Recruitment Professional
Most interviews lasted between 60-90 minutes. Nine interviews were conducted in
person and one interview over the telephone. The conversations were recorded using a
smart phone application. Audio clips and interview summaries were shared to
participants who requested them.
4.3 Victoria International and Its Stakeholders
Victoria International is one of the most important administrative departments in
Victoria University of Wellington. It is the department that a prospective international
student contacts first during his or her academic journey with Victoria University of
Wellington. Often, Victoria International is also the department that an international
student gets in touch with after studies. In such a scenario, Victoria International plays
an important role in an international student’s life at the university and later.
The stakeholder analysis undertaken in this section is based on the first three
steps of the following rational level stakeholder analysis methodology (Freeman, 1984):
Step 1: Develop a stakeholder map
Step 2: Prepare a chart of specific stakeholders
Step 3: Identify the stakes of stakeholders
Step 4: Prepare a power versus stake grid for the stakeholders
4.3.1 Stakeholder Map of Victoria International
The first step of rational level stakeholder analysis is preparing a stakeholder map. The
most important stakeholders of Victoria International in its Indian operations are
depicted in the following diagram:
FIGURE 7: STAKEHOLDER MAP OF VICTORIA INTERNATIONAL
4.3.2 Stakeholder Chart of Victoria International
The following chart lists some specific stakeholders based on the stakeholder map:
Stakeholder Chart
Faculty Indian Alumni

Teaching faculty Alumni in Wellington
Research faculty Alumni in New Zealand
Visiting faculty Alumni in India
VUW Administrative Staff Alumni in other countries
Course coordinators Current and Prospective Students
Program managers Prospective students from India
Academic services staff Prospective Indian students from other
Career services staff countries
Current Indian students at VUW
Victoria International Staff
Current and prospective exchange
Country managers
students from India
Marketing team members
Service team members Domestic Students
Visa officers Current and prospective domestic
Insurance advisors students from New Zealand
New Zealand Government Domestic students of Indian origin
MBIE Student Recruitment Agents
Student Visa officers in New Zealand IDP
and India Global Opportunities
New Zealand embassies Hope Education Consultants
TABLE 6: STAKEHOLDER CHART OF VICTORIA INTERNATIONAL
4.3.3 Stakes of Specific Stakeholders
The next step of rational level stakeholder analysis is identifying and analysing the
stakes of specific stakeholders. The following table shows the stakes of specific
stakeholders:
Stakeholder Stake(s)
Prospective Students From Interested in enrolling at VUW. They also engage

India with Victoria International and student
recruitment agents.
Marketing Team Members Responsible for student recruitment, marketing
VUW in India, and managing Indian student
recruitment agents.
Teaching Faculty Responsible for conducting classes, monitoring
student progress and a key stakeholder in a
student’s academic performance.
Academic Services Staff Responsible for conducting workshops and
providing study related advice and assistance to
students.
Student Visa Officers in India Responsible for checking student visa applications
and granting student visas to eligible students
from India.
IDP Main channel for student recruitment and is

responsible for marketing VUW, recommending
the right programs, and providing guidance to
prospective students of VUW.
TABLE 7: STAKES OF STAKEHOLDERS
Step 4: Power Versus Stake Grid
Step 4 of rational level stakeholder analysis includes preparing a power versus stake
grid for the stakeholders. However, this step is beyond the scope of this business
research project.
4.3.4 Overall Stakeholder Experience with Victoria International
Overall, most student participants expressed very positive feelings about Victoria
International and their responses to queries. They felt that the services offered by
Victoria International were comprehensive and were efficient enough to ensure student
wellbeing. In general, orientation programs and visa renewal services were valued the
most by students and alumni. However, a variety of areas of improvement were
recommended to improve the effectives of the operations of Victoria International.
Most faculty participants felt that change must be initiated from the top and the
success of Victoria International’s Indian operations is associated with the University’s
overall international strategy. Victoria International staff take pride in their day to day
duties and acknowledged that if there was a way to overcome the current human
resource and infrastructure constraints, effectiveness of services and overall operations
could be improved.
4.4 Significant Stakeholder Conflicts
This research identified a number of conflicts between various stakeholders of Victoria
International. The most crucial ones are as follows:
International Students and Victoria University of Wellington
Conflict 1: Most good quality Indian students hail from economically middle class
families. As families financially support students for higher education, they face financial
crisis if students do not secure good jobs. When there is over reliance on agents and
marketing teams, truth about difficulties to secure a good permanent job after studies or
find part-time jobs during studies is not revealed to prospective students.
Conflict 2: It is not ethical for the university to offer programs that are not relevant in
the market and does not contribute to student learning.
International Student and Faculty
Conflict 3: Students are not connected with the faculty to the extent it has to be. Faculty
has no awareness or genuine concern for international students.
Conflict 4: Just like international students, some of the faculty are also international.
Both these parties interact in a totally foreign educational system and this often results
in conflicts and mismatch between expectations.
Victoria International and Student Recruitment Agents
Conflict 5: It is expected that the agents market the right courses to the right students.
But agents always need more information and often they lack the skills to proactively
search for information and make good judgements.
Conflict 6: Agents require quick response from Victoria International to retain a
prospective student enquiry. Agents operate in an extremely competitive market and
often lose students when they are unable to reveal application status in a few days.
Often, the processing of applications is not as quick as what agents demand.
Victoria International and Accommodation Services
Conflict 7: The University faces an ethical issue when every international student is not
guaranteed university accommodation. High paying international students do not enrol
or return if university accommodation is not available.
Victoria International and Faculty
Conflict 8: Student recruitment teams need precise information on entry requirements
to have an efficient recruitment process and to provide quick response to prospective
students. However, faculty prefers to keep entry requirements flexible to ensure that a
good student does not lose the opportunity to be part of VUW.
4.5 Critical Success Factors (CSF)
The interviewees identified several factors that affect the success of Victoria
International’s Indian operations. While most factors were recognised by multiple
stakeholders, some factors clearly reflected the nature of the stakeholder’s relationship
with Victoria International. Nonetheless, it is very clear how these factors are
interconnected. The most important CSFs are as follows. Each CSF is accompanied by
direct quotes of interviewees.
CSF 1: Faith in the strategic importance of Indian operations
VUW must have faith in the importance of the Indian market and acknowledge the
opportunities.
“We need to have the belief and realisation that a relationship with India and particularly
with Indian institutions is important to build credibility, both for them and for us.”
“Victoria does not see India as an important student market. The focus is on filling quotas
to ensure student diversity.”
CSF 2: Building long term relationships
Benefits from Indian operations are long term oriented and it takes time to build
strategic alliances.
“People involved in building relationships with India need to be committed emotionally and
physically, and prepared to travel as more physical contact and interaction is necessary.”
“Success will not come overnight and there is a period for things to take place.”
CSF 3: Operational strategy beyond student recruitment
Operational strategy must not be limited to student recruitment through agents. Student
recruitment is just one aspect of internationalisation.
“Three pillars for international operations are – student recruitment, promotion of
research, and executive education.”
“Reputation suffers when there is over reliance on student recruitment through agents”
“Victoria has the potential to be the No1 or No2 University in New Zealand.”
CSF 4: Revenue generation and sustainable student inflow rates
Generating sufficient revenues and ensuring consistent student inflow rates are critical
to sustainability.
“There should be a balance between providing good quality education and making money.”
“We need a good proportion of New Zealand’s international student market.”
CSF 5: Student recruitment agents with integrity and knowledge
Integrity and knowledge of agents on practical matters are important in providing
correct guidance to prospective students.
“They mislead students about the real conditions in New Zealand and promise unrealistic
things as they do not have first-hand knowledge.”
“Agents themselves do not have the technical skills and knowledge to provide practical
information about Victoria, visa process, and life in New Zealand.”
CSF 6: Direct contact with Victoria International and not through Agents
Mechanisms for direct engagement with prospective students provide value to both
students and Victoria International.
“Isn’t it better that Victoria International be available to be contacted directly?”
“India has some of the best students in the world and some of the worst students in the
world. Unfortunately, agents do not have the educational status or knowledge to give VUW
the best students.”
CSF 7: Faculty involvement in student recruitment
Dealing directly with the faculty increases a prospective student’s faith in the quality of
education offered, and the reputation of VUW.
“When a faculty talks to a prospective student, the impression is different compared to a
recruitment agent with no background or experience.”
CSF 8: Good quality students
The quality of incoming students matters to a wide variety of VUW stakeholders.
“Many students are not competitive and there should be more scrutiny in student
recruitment. Poor quality students results in negative classroom experience.”
“Good students -> more success stories -> good for community, university and the nation.”
CSF 9: Interaction with Indian alumni
Alumni can play an important role in student welfare and VUW reputation.
“Successful alumni can guide students and motivate them.”
“Marketing success stories will attract more good quality students.”
CSF 10: Good programs and reputation in the Indian market
The brand image and brand awareness of VUW plays an important role when
prospective students make a decision to enrol at VUW.
“I came to Victoria because of good feedback from my brother who is an alumni of VUW.”
“Asian students will choose the university if they know someone who has already studied
there.”
“Only programs that are up to date in the market will attract good students.”
CSF 11: Provide practical information and not just attractive information
Prospective students are informed only the positive aspects of student life in Wellington
so they get disappointed sooner or later.
“Practical information is kept in the dark and agents reveal only the good things.”
“Misinformed about the real situation in Wellington is the main cause behind issues
students face here.”
CSF 12: Cultural differences to be acknowledged in VI operations
Cultural differences and lack of knowledge about how things work both in New Zealand
and India results in poor operations.
“Asian and Indian students have cultural differences and these factors must be kept in
mind.”
“Have an Indian representative to build awareness, travel to important markets and bridge
the gap between the university and prospective students.”
CSF 13: Awareness of Victoria International’s services and channels
Students find it extremely difficult to find information about services and the various
channels where services are available.
“Services offered are disconnected. There is no one stop place to get information about
Victoria International’s services.”
“Victoria International website must be interactive and human centred rather than a lot of
links and webpages.”
“Finding information from the website is like a treasure hunt.”
CSF 14: Easy accessibility of Victoria International’s services
The distance between where students are located and where services are rendered
results in students not accessing services.
“The proximity between what we need and where it is available is a factor in deciding
whether to take help.”
“The idea is to give student services at their individual campuses.”
CSF 15: Timing of services rendered
Although students value the orientation program, they feel effectiveness can be
enhanced if it is delivered stage by stage.
“Orientation is simply information overload. Prefer an orientation in stages once we have a
context of what’s happening.”
“Follow up sessions or meetings with Victoria International services are required.”
CSF 16: Friendly, knowledgeable staff in sufficient numbers
Approachability of Victoria Services team and the availability of sufficient staff
determine whether services reach students.
“Victoria International should have sufficient staff at least during peak seasons.”
“Resource shortage is the main reason why we are not able to proactively contact students
individually.”
CSF 17: Value for Money Accommodation for International Students
Availability of university accommodation attract good prospective students and
contributes to academic success of enrolled students.
“Wish I had known about the housing crisis in Wellington.”
“We lose high quality and high fee paying students because there is no guaranteed
accommodation.”
These critical success factors reveal that complementarities exist between the demands
of various stakeholders and it is possible to create value for multiple stakeholders
simultaneously without reducing the value currently received by any of them. The
following are two examples:
Example 1: CSF 7: If faculty is involved in student recruitment, prospective students
have a better understanding of admission standards and academic requirements. On the
contrary, faculty can ensure that only students with potential are recruited. Further,
such a mechanism reduces the processing time for applications and creates value for
Victoria International and also for agents, if any are involved.
Example 2: CSF 11: If more practical information about student life in Wellington is
provided to prospective students, they can make wiser decisions and also plan ahead.
VUW can ensure that expectations are set right. Being well prepared help students to
perform well academically, and reduce their reliance on Victoria International and
central services. Better academic performance by students indirectly benefit VUW and
faculty in multiple ways.
4.6 BOT Graph
In the later stages of this business research, a problem structuring exercise was
conducted to obtain a systematic understanding of the issue at hand. A ‘BOT chart’ is a
tool used in systems thinking to show the patterns of the main variables in a system
over an extended period of time, for example a couple of months or over a period of
many years. Patterns revealed indicate the variations and trends in the variable of
interest (Elias, 2008; Maani and Cavana, 2007).
The important elements captured by a BOT chart are the overall trends,
directions and variations, not the numerical value of the variable. Therefore, BOT graphs
are usually drawn in a rough sense without exact numerical values attached (Maani and
Cavana, 2007).
In this business research, a BOT chart was developed to capture the trends of the
following four variables related to the issue:
1) International accreditations of VUW
2) Research output in VUW
3) Reputation of VUW
4) Quality of international Indian students
The BOT chart developed is as follows:
FIGURE 8: BOT CHART
The above BOT chart illustrates the counter-intuitive nature of the issue (Sterman,
2000). VUW’s competitive advantages such as international accreditations and
reputation have been increasing and the same pattern is also applicable to research
output. In such a scenario, it is expected that VUW experienced a steady increase in the
quality of incoming international Indian students. However, it has been observed that
the quality of incoming students have been declining irrespective of the favourable
micro and macro environmental factors. As a result, the overall operational
effectiveness of Victoria International’s Indian operations is on a declining path.
4.7 Group Model Building
A group model building session was conducted to obtain contrasting viewpoints and
perspectives followed by consensus on crucial factors (Vennix, 1996). The group model
building used in this research is based on systems methods explained in Maani and
Cavana (2007). A four-step model group model building technique was adopted.
The four steps are as follows (Elias, 2017):
Step 1: Generating Hexagons
Step 2: Forming Clusters
Step 3: Identifying Variables and
Step 4: Developing a Comprehensive Causal loop
The first two steps of the above method were performed during the group model
building session conducted on 25th August, 2017.
FIGURE 9: STAKEHOLDER MAP OF GROUP MODEL BUILDING PARTICIPANTS
Six participants from the above stakeholder groups were involved in the session held at
Victoria University of Wellington.
Step 1: Generating Hexagons
This step consists of portraying every problem, opportunity or factor identified by
participants as a hexagon. To initiate the session, the following organising question was
asked to the participants:
“What are the factors that affect the effectives of Victoria International’s Indian
Operations?”
The participants generated a total of 50 factors and the corresponding hexagons are
depicted as follows:
FIGURE 10: HEXAGONS GENERATED DURING GROUP MODEL BUILDING
Step 2: Forming Clusters
The second step involves clustering the generated hexagons based on themes. Each
cluster is given a descriptive name. Hexagons that are related to two or more different
clusters are repeated and added to the respective clusters. During the group model
building session, the following nine clusters were formed:
1) Indian operations strategy
2) Indian student recruitment
3) Role of agents
4) Student integration
5) Cultural differences
6) Scholarships
7) Employment opportunities
8) Performance of Victoria International
9) Victoria International’s service delivery
FIGURE 11: INDIAN
OPERATIONS
STRATEGY CLUSTER
FIGURE 12: INDIAN STUDENT RECRUITMENT CLUSTER
FIGURE 13: ROLE OF AGENTS
CLUSTER
FIGURE 14: STUDENT

INTEGRATION CLUSTER
FIGURE 15: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES CLUSTER
FIGURE 16: SCHOLARSHIPS CLUSTER
FIGURE 17: EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES CLUSTER
FIGURE 18: PERFORMANCE OF VICTORIA INTERNATIONAL CLUSTER
FIGURE 19: VICTORIA

INTERNATIONAL’S SERVICE
DELIVERY CLUSTER
Step 3: Identifying Variables
Following the cluster formation, variables that are associated with these clusters were
identified. The following table lists these variables:
Variables Description
Faculty involvement Involvement of faculty in student recruitment
Research output Number of research publications co-authored by
students and faculty
Faculty research quality The quality of research published by faculty
Quality of service delivery The usefulness of service delivery processes and
channels
Gap between service availability The gap between availability of services and the
and service utilisation utilisation of available services by students
Student expectation Students’ expectations on academic and personal
life
Mismatch between faculty and Mismatch between what faculty expect from
student expectations students and vice versa on academic matters
Indian student performance Academic performance of students
Employment opportunities for The employment opportunities available to Indian
Indian students students after studies
Success stories Examples of professional success of Indian students
Alumni network quality The quality of VUW Indian alumni network
VUW reputation The reputation of VUW globally and specifically in
the Indian market
International accreditations International accreditations received by VUW from
various agencies
Market share The market share or proportion VUW has of the
total number of Indian students in New Zealand
PBRF rating Performance based research fund rating of VUW
Focus on student recruitment The focus or importance given to student
recruitment activities
Quality of International Indian Academic capabilities, personal characteristics or
students both of Indian students
Agent involvement The involvement of student recruitment agents in
the recruitment process
Dependency on agents The dependency on agent for student recruitment
Delivery of deceptive Giving wrong, untruthful or misleading information
information to prospective students
Focus on service effectiveness The strategic importance given to providing services
that are effective
Reactive nature of service The nature of providing services only to those
delivery students who demand them.
Mismatch between expectation Mismatch between what students expects from
and reality VUW and the life in Wellington, and the reality they
face
TABLE 8: CLUSTER VARIABLES
4.8 Causal Loop Model
Using the variables identified in step 3, a causal loop model was developed. A causal
loop diagram is a graphical representation of how these variables influence each other
in a real world scenario. A positive relationship between two variables indicate that if
the source variable (cause) increases, the target variable (effect) increases above what
it would otherwise have been, and if the cause decreases, the effect decreases below
what it would otherwise have been (Sterman, 2000).
A negative relationship between two variables indicate that if the source
variable (cause) increases, the target variable (effect) decreases below what it would
otherwise have been, and if the cause decreases, the effect decreases above what it
would otherwise have been (Sterman, 2000).
FIGURE 20: CAUSAL LOOP MODEL
4.9 Analysis of the Causal Loop Model
Causal loop models are typically analysed by identifying and examining the individual
loops. Out of the six loops developed, two are reinforcing loops while the other four are
balancing loops. The analysis of these six loops is as follows:
Loop 1: VUW Quality Loop (R1)
A good starting point for this analysis is the quality of international Indian students at
VUW. Academic performance of such good quality students is higher and results in more
research output which in turn increases the quality of faculty research. When the
quality of faculty research increases, VUW secures a better PBRF rating, subsequently
resulting in international accreditations. International accreditations further increases
the reputation of VUW and as a result more high quality Indian students are attracted to
VUW. This loop is technically a reinforcing loop and represents the positive conditions of
the system.
Loop 2: Employment Opportunities Loop (R2)
Another outcome of good quality Indian students is their success in securing attractive
employment and their professional success. Such a scenario creates more success
stories and produce alumni networks with reputation. Such networks directly
contributes to the reputation of VUW. This loop is also technically a reinforcing loop.
If the system had only these (R1 and R2) mutually reinforcing loops, the system
would have behaved in a positive manner, always meeting the fundamental strategic
objectives of VUW.
Loop 3: Faculty Involvement Loop (B1)
When the quality of international Indian students increases, more Indian students are
attracted to VUW, increasing the market share of VUW in the New Zealand higher
education sector. However, to maintain a high market share, more focus is given to
student recruitment activities, reducing the involvement of faculty in the whole process.
When faculty involvement is reduced, it results in a mismatch between faculty
expectations and incoming student expectations in academic related matters. Such a
scenario results in poor academic performance by Indian students. This loop is
technically a balancing loop, and indicates the strategic importance of faculty in student
recruitment and the subsequent academic and personal success of Indian students.
Loop 4: Agents Loop (B2)
Another impact of increased focus on student recruitment alone is the increased
involvement of agents in the whole process. Increased involvement of agents gradually
sets the stage for more dependency on them for student recruitment, particularly when
it comes to meeting the numbers.
However, student recruitment agents’ lack of integrity, lack of knowledge, lack of
systems to filter out poor quality students, and the fact that they operate in a highly
competitive market, results in compromising on the quality of Indian students enrolled
at VUW. This loop is technically a balancing loop, stipulating the indirect consequences
of sole reliance on agents for student recruitment.
Loop 5: Student Expectation Loop (B3)
This loop reveals another repercussion of sole reliance on agents for student
recruitment. Such a situation results in the delivery of deceptive, misleading information
to prospective Indian students. Such a scenario increases student expectations from
VUW and the academic and personal life in New Zealand. However, these expectations
are not met with reality sooner or later, and the consequences are poor academic
performance and disappointments. This loop is also a balancing loop, indicating one of
the root causes for poor performance by Indian students.
Loop 6: Student Services Loop (B4)
The final loop throws light on some of the factors behind poor welfare of students
during their tenure at VUW and how Victoria International services fail to achieve their
objectives. When agent involvement and focus on student recruitment increases, the
focus on effectiveness of services by Victoria International is reduced. One possible
reason is reduced need for mechanisms to directly interact and engage with prospective
students because it is expected that the distribution channels will take care of pre
enrolment engagement.
In the long run, such a scenario leads to Victoria International services taking a
reactive approach rather than a proactive approach for delivering services. This leads to
less priority for devising effective service processes and high impact service channels.
Such a scenario in turn increases the gap between availability of Victoria International
services and the utilisation of these services by international students, ultimately
resulting in poor academic performance by students.
4.10 Chapter Summary
This chapter presented the main results of this business research project. The chapter
started by identifying and analysing the main stakeholders of Victoria International.
This was followed by describing the most important stakeholder conflicts and the
critical success factors for Victoria International’s global operations. Chapter 4
concludes by presenting the results of the group model building exercise.
Chapter 5: Conclusions
This chapter presents the main conclusions of this business research. The chapter begins
by discussing the strategies for creating value for multiple stakeholders simultaneously
in Victoria International’s global operations. This section is followed by a discussion on
how this business research contributes to existing literature and to practicing managers.
The next section acknowledges the limitations of this research and the methodological
lessons. Chapter 5 ends by presenting the scope for further research.
5.2 Strategies to Improve Indian Operations
any of them in Victoria International’s global operations in India. To achieve this overall
objective, this business research identified the important stakeholders of Victoria
International in its Indian operations, the important stakeholder conflicts and the
critical success factors that contribute to the success in Indian operations.
FIGURE 21: STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE INDIAN OPERATIONS
5.2.1 Strategy 1: Target Beyond Student Recruitment
It was found that the strategic importance of the India market in VUW’s
internationalisation goals has been misunderstood and undervalued. In addition, Indian
operations strategy was not aligned with the overall internationalisation strategy of
VUW. Specifically, internationalisation goals must not be limited to student recruitment.
These goals must be based on the following four pillars:
Pillar 1: Student Recruitment
Pillar 2: Research Output
Pillar 3: Executive Education
Pillar 4: Overseas Job Placements
To achieve them, first a long term strategic plan for Indian operations must be
developed. Second, more financial investment must be allotted. Third, stakeholders who
can provide value in Indian operations should be identified. Examples are Indian high
commission, VUW faculty, alumni, etc.
For internationalisation to be sustainable, the most important areas that were
revealed in this business research are as follows:
 Tailor programs to be relevant in the market
 Raise admission standards
 More short term student exchange with Indian institutions
 Faculty incentives for internationalisation
 Separate entity for faculty level partnerships. For example, New Zealand India
Research Institute or similar bodies
 Scale up the operations of accommodation services
5.2.2 Strategy 2: Augment Brand Building Efforts
This business research found that VUW lacks visibility in the Indian student market.
Also, VUW is often positioned among PTEs by distribution channels (agents). Hence,
brand building efforts must have two dimensions – one to build awareness and the other
to differentiate VUW from PTEs and other universities. The solution is to have dedicated
personnel who have cultural awareness of the Indian student market and are also
willing to travel and focus on relationship building activities. Alternatively, a dedicated
country manager can be appointed for Indian operations.
5.2.3 Strategy 3: Revamp Current Student Recruitment Processes
This business research has identified that over-reliance on agents for student
recruitment is the root cause behind most of the operational issues. Hence, the current
student recruitment process demands a major revamp.
Alternate Mechanisms For student Recruitment
The following options are available:
 Variety in distribution channels – direct contact with prospective students, alumni
networks, etc.
 More institutional partnerships
 Faculty level alliances to build credibility for VUW, prospective student trust and
for quicker application turnarounds
 Involvement of other important stakeholders in the recruitment process – Victoria
services, VUW career services, program managers, etc.
Guidelines for Agent Involvement
Agents do provide value in Victoria International’s Indian operations by acting as
intermediaries between prospective students and VUW. However, a few dimensions
associated with the involvement of agents require change. Victoria International must
have partnerships only with agents who demonstrate integrity and skills. Further,
agents must be trained on VUW academic policies and other information that would
prove useful to prospective students.
Agent commissions can be restructured to include a variable component that is
based on the academic performance and feedback of respective students. Such a variable
component will incentivise agents to proactively recruit good quality students and also
deliver good quality service to prospective students.
5.2.4 Strategy 4: Transform the Orientation of VI Services
On the services side of Victoria International’s operations, although current services are
aimed to have a high impact on student wellbeing, operational improvements are
necessary to improve both efficiency and effectiveness. At a high level, Victoria services
team must transform itself from a “reactive role” to a “proactive role”.
A starting point is installing processes and mechanisms for direct engagement
with prospective students. A dedicated student conversion team is another solution.
How to effectively use current students and alumni for student recruitment and
delivering post enrolment services can be explored.
A dedicated Indian student liaison officer is also recommended to bridge cultural
gaps. Further, course administrators or faculty level officers can be exploited to track
academic results, attendance and wellbeing of international students.
5.2.5 Strategy 5: Improve the Current Service Delivery Mechanisms
A critical success factor behind effectiveness of Victoria International services is how
accessible these services are to international students. The following are some
recommendations to improve access to Victoria International’s services:
Step 1: Have operations in all campuses
Step 2: Revamp the current website and have one stop information availability
Step 3: Provide more practical information to prospective and enrolled students
Step 4: Take into consideration the cultural differences as they prevent students from
accessing the available services. International students need to be reassured
about the confidential nature and the basic attributes of services offered by both
Victoria International and Central Services.
Step 5: Breakup the orientation into stages to avoid information overload. This will
also increase effectiveness of orientation as international students will have
better context on the topics covered later.
5.3 Contributions to Literature
This business research contributes to the existing literature on stakeholder management
(Elias, 2017) in an international operations scenario. Specifically, this research attempts
to apply theories of stakeholder management and international operations to the higher
education sector in New Zealand. In addition, this research contributes to the field of
Systems Thinking and Modelling (Maani & Cavana, 2007) by demonstrating how this
methodology can be used to formulate strategies that will create value to multiple
them (Tantalo & Priem, 2014).
5.4 Managerial Implications: Contribution to Practicing Managers
This business research throws light on the critical success factors for Victoria
International’s successful Indian operations. Further, stakeholder conflicts are identified
from different stand points. Most importantly, this study provides Victoria International
various strategies that will enhance the value received by multiple stakeholders
simultaneously. Some of these strategies indirectly benefit stakeholders of VUW in other
countries including New Zealand.
Further, this business research illustrates a framework that can be applied to
various strategic decision making processes of Victoria International. This research will
prompt practitioners to proactively search for multi-stakeholder value creation
opportunities in day-to-day international operations. Finally, although the research was
focused on Indian operations, insights gained can be used for improving the efficiency
and effectiveness of operations in other countries.
5.5 Methodological Lessons
Overall, the execution of this business research was smooth and the researcher
experienced very good co-operation from all stakeholders. The timely guidance and help
from the research supervisor ensured that there were no road blocks at any stage. Most
interviews lasted more than an hour and the researcher found that the key to good
interviews is to educate interviewees the value they provide in the research.
The group model building session could have been more purposeful if a
more variety of stakeholders were involved. Due to time constraints, among the four
steps of group model building (Elias, 2017), only hexagon generation and cluster
formation were completed with the involvement of participants. The last two steps,
variable identification and causal loop model development were finalised later by the
researcher with the guidance of the research supervisor.
5.6 Limitations of this Business Research
It is worth examining the limitations met by this business research. Time constraints
have led to the lost opportunity to conduct a quantitative analysis. A mix of qualitative
and quantitative data analysis would have provided deeper insights.
The research would have had a wider scope if prospective students from India
and also Immigration New Zealand personnel were interviewed. Further, the group
model building session was conducted without the participation of student recruitment
professionals and prospective Indian students.
Due to the limited scope and size of this business research, only the most
important dimensions of Victoria International’s Indian operations were considered in
recommending strategies. Only those strategies that will cater to the needs of multiple
stakeholders are included in this report.

5.7 Scope for Further Research
To conclude, this business research presents a number of directions for further
research. This business research managed to conduct only the first two phases of the
five phase process of Systems Thinking and Modelling (Maani & Cavana, 2007). A natural
extension would be to conduct all the five phases for enhanced organisational learning.
For example, using the causal loop model developed in this business research, a
dynamic simulation model could be developed to test different policies, strategies and
scenarios.
This research was focused on Indian operations and future research could be
conducted by shifting the focus to other geographies. Another possibility is to use the
approach followed by this research to improve domestic operations and domestic
stakeholder management of Victoria University of Wellington.
This business research has revealed the most important factors behind the
success of international students. These factors can be subjected to more in-depth
analysis to identify the concealed connections and interdependencies.
Another interesting route is to compare operations in various countries. From an
operations standpoint, results of this study can be used to benchmark operations in new
countries. Similar studies could be conducted by players in the higher education sector
in other countries.
References
Aharoni, Y., & Brock, D. M. (2010). International business research: Looking back and looking forward.
Journal of International Management, 16, 5–15.
Aaltonen, K., Jaakko, K., & Tuomas, O. (2008). Stakeholder salience in global projects. International
Journal of Project Management, 26, 509–516.
Aaltonen, K., & Sivonen, R. (2009). Response strategies to stakeholder pressures in global
projects. International Journal of Project Management, 27, 131–141.
Aaltonen, K., Kujala, J., Lehtonen, P., & Ruuska, I. (2010). A stakeholder network perspective on
unexpected events and their management in international projects. International Journal of Managing
Projects in Business, 3(4), 564-588.
Angeleanu, A., Eidenmüller, T., & Keppler, T. (2016). Effective Stakeholder Management in International
Supply Chain Projects. Research Gate, 8-16.
Abreu, M.C.SÁ., Cunha, L.T. & Barlow, C.Y. (2015). Institutional dynamics and organizations affecting the
adoption of sustainable development in the United Kingdom and Brazil. Business Ethics: A European
Review, 24: 73-90.
Agle, B. R., J. A. Sonnenfeld, and R. K. Mitchell. "Managerial determination of important stakeholders."
Academy of Management Journal 42 (1999): 507-25.
Bloomberg, L. D., & Volpe, M. (2008). Completing Your Qualitative Dissertation A Roadmap from
Beginning to End. Los Angeles, CL: Sage Publications.
Baird, I. S., Lyles, M. A., & Orris, J. B. (1994, January). The choice of international strategies by small
businesses. Journal of Small Business Management, 32(1), 48-59.
Boddewyn, J. J. (1999). The domain of international management. Journal of International Management,
5, 3-14.
Barratt, M., Choi, T. Y., & Li, M. (2011). Qualitative case studies in operations management: Trends,
research outcomes, and future research implications. Journal of Operations Management, 29, 329–342.
Cavana, R. Y., Delahaye, L. B., & Sekaran, U. (2000). Applied Business Research Qualitative and
Quantitative methods (3 ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research Design Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed methods Approaches (4 ed.).
Thousand Oaks, CL: Sage Publications.
Contractor, F. J. (2000). The raisons d’être for international management as a field of study. Journal of
International Management, 6, 3-10.
Creazza, A., Dallari, F.,and Tommaso Rossi. (2012)"An integrated model for designing and optimising an
international logistics network." International journal of production research 50.11: 2925-2939.
Carroll, A. B. (2004). Managing ethically with global stakeholders: A present and future
challenge. Academy of Management Executive, 18(2), 114-120.
Crilly D. (2011). Predicting stakeholder orientation in the multinational enterprise: a mid-range theory.
Journal of International Business Studies 42(5): 694–717.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (2000). Handbook of Qualitative Research (2 ed.). London, United
Kingdom: Sage Publications, Inc.
Devinney, T. M., Mcgahan, A. M., & Zollo, M. (2013). A Research Agenda for Global Stakeholder
Strategy. Global Strategy Journal, 3, 325–337.
Devinney, T. M. (2011). Social responsibility, global strategy, and the multinational enterprise: global
monitory democracy and the meaning of place and space. Global Strategy Journal 1(3/4): 329–344.
Elder-Vass, D. (2012). The reality of social construction. Cambridge University Press.
Elango, B. (2010). Influence of industry type on the relationship between international operations and
risk. Journal of Business Research, 64, 303–309.
Eesley, C., & Lenox, M. J. (2006). Firm Responses to Secondary Stakeholder Action. Strategic
Management Journal, 27, 765–781.
Elias, A. A. (2017). Systems Thinking and Modelling for Stakeholder Management. IIM Kozhikode Society
& Management Review, 6(2):123-131.
Elias, A. A., Jackson, L. S., & Cavana, R. Y. (2004). Changing positions and interests of stakeholders in
environmental conflict: A New Zealand transport infrastructure case. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 45(1), 87-
104.
Elias, A. A. (2008). Energy efficiency in New Zealand's residential sector: A systemic analysis. Energy
Policy, 36(9), 3278-3285.
Elias, A. A. (2008). Energy efficiency in New Zealand’s residential sector: A systemic analysis. Elsevier,
36, 3278– 3285.
Elias, A. A. (2008). Towards a shared systems model of stakeholders in environmental conflict.
International Transactions in Operational Research, 15(2), 239-253.
Elias, A.A., Cavana, R.Y. & Jackson, L.S. (2002). Stakeholder analysis for R&D project management. R&D
Management, Volume 32, Issue 4.
Elias, A.A. (2012). A System Dynamics Model for Stakeholder Analysis in Environmental Conflicts.
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 54 (8): 1125-1147
Freeman, E. R. (2010). Strategic Management: A stakaeholder Approach (1 ed.). New York, NYC:
Cambtidge University Press.
Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. Boston, MA: Pitman Publishing.
Frooman J. (1999). Stakeholder influence strategies. Academy of Management Review 24: 191–205.
Fiss P. C., Zajac E.J. (2006). The symbolic management of strategic change: sensegiving via framing and
decoupling. Academy of Management Journal 49(6): 1173–1193.
Gunasekaran, A., & Ngai, E. W. (2012). The future of operations management: An outlook and
analysis. International Journal of Production Economics. 135, 687–701.
Harrison, J. S., Freeman, R. E., & Abreu, M. C. (2015). Stakeholder Theory as an Ethical Approach to
Effective Management: applying the theory to multiple contexts. Review of Business
Management, 15(55), 858-869.

Henisz, W. J., Dorobantu, S., & Nartey, L. J. (2014). Spinning Gold: The Financial Returns to Stakeholder
Engagement. Strategic Management Journal, 35, 1727–1748.
Harrison J, Bosse D, Phillips R. (2010). Managing for stakeholders, stakeholder utility functions, and
competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal 31(1):58–74.
Ireland, L.R. (2006), “Project quality management in international projects”, in Cleland, D.I. and Gareis,
R. (Eds), Global Project Management Handbook, 2nd ed., Ch. 15, McGraw-Hill Professional, New York,
NY.
Karmarkar, U.S., Apte, U.M., (2007). Operations management in the information economy: information
products, processes and chains. Journal of Operations Management 25 (2), 438–453.
Lemak, D. J., & Arunthanes, W. (1997). Global business strategy: A contingency approach. Multinational
Business Review, 5(1), 26-37.
Leeds-Hurwitz, W. (2009). Social construction of reality. In S. Littlejohn, & K. Foss (Eds.), Encyclopedia of
communication theory. (pp. 892-895). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Maani, K. E., & Cavana, R. Y. (2007). Systems Thinking, System Dynamics Managing Change and
Complexity (2 ed.). Auckland, NZ: Pearson.
Morgan D L. The focus group guide book. London: Sage Publications, 1998.
Martínez, Z. L., & Toyne, B. (2000). What is international management, and what is its domain? Journal
of International Management, 6, 11–28.
Mitchell RK, Agle BR, Wood DJ. (1997). Toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience:
defining the principle of who and what really counts. Academy of Management Review 7; 22 (4):853–
886.
Prasad, S., & Babbar, S. (2000). International operations management research. Journal of Operations
Management, 18, 209-247.
Paiva, E. L., & Vieira, L. M. (2009). International operations and export performance: an empirical study.
Management Research News, 32, 272-285.
Post, J. E., Preston, L. E., & Sachs, S. (2002). Managing the Extended Enterprise: The New Stakeholder
View. California Management Review, 45(1), 6-28.
Patton, M. Q. (1983). Qualitative Evaluation Methods. Beverly Hills, CL: Sage Publications
Reimann, F., Ehrgott, M., Kaufmann, L., & Carter, C. R. (2012). Local stakeholders and local legitimacy:
MNEs' social strategies in emerging economies. Journal of International Management, 18, 1-17.
Sreejesh, S., Mohapatra, S., & Anusree, M. R. (2013). Business Research Design: Exploratory, Descriptive
and Causal Designs. In Business Research Methods: An Applied Orientation (pp. 27-30).
Susskind, L., & Cruikshank, J. (1987). Breaking the impasse, New York: Basic Books.
Spellman R, (2011) Managers and leaders who can: how you survive and succeed in the new economy.
Wiley, Chichester, p 93.
Sterman, J. D. (2000). Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for the Complex World.
McGraw Hill: Boston, MA
Veal, A. J. (2005). Business research methods: A managerial approach. Pearson Education
Australia/Addison Wesley. Tantalo, C., & Priem, R. L. (2014). Value Creation through Stakeholder
Synergy. Strategic Management Journal, 37, 314–329.
Turner, J.R. (1999), The Handbook of Project-based Management, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, London.
Tarnow, K., P. Watt and D. Silverberg (1996) Collaborative approaches to decision-making and conflict
resolution for natural resources and land uses: a handbook for land use planners, resource managers
and resource management councils, Oregon: Oregon department of land conservation and development.
Ticehurst, G. "W., & Veal, AJ (1999)." Business research methods: A managerial approach.
Vennix, J. M. (1996). Group Model Building Facilitating Team Learning Using System Dynamics. New
York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Veser, M. (2004). The Influence of Culture on Stakeholder Management: Social Policy. Business and
Society, 43(4), 426-436.
Victoria University of Wellington. (n.d.) Victoria’s story. Retrieved from
https://www.victoria.ac.nz/about/victorias-story
Westrenius, A., & Barnes, L. (2015). Managing Complex Business Relationships: Small Business and
Stakeholder Salience. The Journal of Developing Areas, 49(6), 481-488.
Weber, J., & Marley, K. A. (2012). In Search of Stakeholder Salience: Exploring Corporate Social and
Sustainability Reports. Business and Society, 51(4), 626-649.
Westphal, James D., and Edward J. Zajac. (1993). "Substance and Symbolism in CEOs’ Long-term
Incentive Plans." Academy of Management Proceedings. Vol. 1993. No. 1. Academy of Management,
1993.
Appendices
Pipitea Human Ethics Committee Application for MMBA 532
Name of applicant: Praveen Philip (300394723)

Title of project: Stakeholder Management in Victoria International’s Global Operations:
A Systems Approach
Supervisor: Dr Arun Elias
1. Describe the objectives of the project.
The overall objective of this research project is to suggest strategies that can create
received by any of them in Victoria International’s international operations in India.
2. Describe the benefits and scholarly value of the project.
This business research will provide Victoria International with a few strategies that can
enhance the value received by their international stakeholders simultaneously without
reducing the value currently received by any of them.
This research project will provide a generic framework for strategy development that
can be applied in various strategic decision making processes of Victoria International.
Finally, this project will prompt practitioners to proactively search for multi-stakeholder
value creation opportunities in day-to-day international operations.
3. Describe the method of data collection. Note that you will need to attach relevant
documentation such as interview schedule, survey, questionnaires, focus group rules,
observation protocols etc.
 Semi-structured interviews
 Secondary data collection
 Focus groups method
4. Proposed end date for data collection.
14th October, 2017.
5. Proposed end date for research project as a whole.
14th October, 2017
6. Is any professional code of ethics to be followed?
Yes
x No
If yes, please explain.
7. Is ethical approval required from any other body?
Yes
x
No
8. Depending on the characteristics of your participants or location of the research, you
may need to arrange permission from another body or group before proceeding. If this is
the case, explain and describe how you are addressing this.
Not Applicable
9. How does your research conform to the University's Treaty of Waitangi Statute?
Yes. This research will reflect appropriate standards of integrity, respect, concern,
interest and wellbeing of all Maori communities and individuals in New Zealand.
10. How many participants will be involved in your research? If you are using records
(e.g. historical), please estimate the number of records.
8-10 Interviews and 10 records.
11. What are the characteristics of the people you will be recruiting?
Various stakeholders of Victoria International – Students, Faculty, Staff, and
Student Recruitment Agents
12. Are you specifically recruiting any of the following groups?
 Māori - NO
 Pasifika - NO
 Children/youth - NO
 Students – Yes – Victoria University of Wellington’s International Students
 People who are offenders and/or victims of crime - NO
 People with disabilities - NO
 People in residential care - NO
 People who are refugees - NO
x
Yes
No
13. Have you undertaken any consultation with the groups from which you will be
recruiting?
No
14. Provide details of consultation you have undertaken or are planning.
Not Applicable
15. Outline the method(s) of recruitment you will use for participants in your study.
Face to Face conversations, email, and telephone calls.
16. Will your participants receive any gifts/koha in return for participating? Yes/No. If
yes, please explain.
Yes
x
No
17. Will your participants receive any other assistance (for instance, meals, transport,
release time or reimbursements)? Yes/No. If yes, please explain.
Yes
x No
18. Will your participants experience any special hazard/risk including deception
and/or inconvenience as a result of the research?
Yes
x No
19. Is any other party likely to experience any special hazard/risk including breach of
privacy or release of commercially sensitive information?
Yes
x
No
20. Do you have any professional, personal, or financial relationship with prospective
research participants?
x
Yes – As an MBA student at Victoria University of Wellington, I have a
professional relationship with students, faculty and Victoria International.
However, I do not have any financial relationship with any of them.
No
21. What opportunity will participants have to review the information they provide?
(tick all that apply)
They will be given a transcript of their interview

They will be given a summary of their interview
They will not have an opportunity to review the information they provide
Other
22. Will participation be anonymous? 'Anonymous' means that the identity of the
research participant is not known to anyone involved in the research, including
researchers themselves. It is not possible for the researchers to identify whether the
person took part in the research, or to subsequently identify people who took part (e.g.,
by recognising them in different settings by their appearance, or being able to identify
them retrospectively by their appearance, or because of the distinctiveness of the
information they were asked to provide).
Yes
x
No – This is because data collection methods include personal interviews and
focus group discussions which cannot be performed in an anonymous
manner.
23. Will contributions of participants be confidential? Confidential means that those
involved in the research are able to identify the participants but will not reveal their
identity to anyone outside the research team. Researchers will also take reasonable
precautions to ensure that participants’ identities cannot be linked to their responses in
the future.
x
Yes
No
24. How will confidentiality be maintained in terms of access to the research data? (Tick
all that apply)
Access to the research will be restricted to the investigator
Access to the research will be restricted to the investigator and their
supervisor
Focus groups will have confidentiality ground rules
Transcribers will sign confidentiality forms
Other
25. How will confidentiality be maintained in terms of reporting of the data? (tick all that
apply)
Pseudonyms will be used
Participants will be named only in a list of interviewees
Data will be aggregated and so not reported at an individual level
Participants will be referred to by role or association with an organisation
rather than by name
Names will be confidential, but other identifying characteristics may be
published with consent
Other
26. How will informed consent be obtained? (tick all that apply to all phases of the
research you are describing in this application)
Informed consent will be implied through voluntary participation (anonymous
research only)
Informed consent will be obtained through a signed consent form
Informed consent will be obtained by some other method
27. What procedures will be in place for the storage of, access to and disposal of data,
both during and at the conclusion of the research? (tick all that apply)
All written material will be kept in a locked file; access restricted to
investigator(s)
All electronic information will be password-protected; access restricted to the
investigator(s)
All questionnaires, interview notes and similar materials will be destroyed
Any audio or video recording will be returned to participants and/or
electronically wiped
Other procedures
28. Will the data be destroyed immediately after the conclusion of the research?
Yes
x
No
29. How many years after the conclusion of the research will the materials be destroyed?
1 Year
30. If data and material are not to be destroyed, indicate why and the procedures
envisaged for ongoing storage and security
Not Applicable
31. How will you provide feedback to participants?
The summary of the findings will be provided to the participants if they require it.
32. How will results be reported and published? Indicate which of the following are
appropriate. The proposed form of publications should be indicated on the information
sheet and/or consent form (tick all that apply).
Publication in academic or professional journals
Dissemination at academic or professional conferences
Availability of the research paper or thesis in the University Library
Other
32. Is it likely that this research will generate commercialisable intellectual property?
Yes
x No
Please attach the following documents:

1) Participant information sheet(s)
2) Participant consent form(s)
3) Interview questions or guide
4) Questionnaire or survey
5) Transcriber confidentiality agreement
Checklist
Please check the information below and tick the box at the bottom of the page. Then
hand this form (and attachments) to your supervisor.
 Have you read the Human Ethics Policy?
 Have you included an information sheet for participants which explains:
 the nature and purpose of your research;
 the proposed use of the material collected
 who will have access to the material collected
 whether the data will be kept confidential to you
 How confidentiality is to be guaranteed?
 Does your information sheet also include:
 A statement about participants' right to withdraw and the final date for doing so
(and is this also referred to in the consent form)?
 A statement confirming that the research has been approved by Victoria
University of Wellington Human Ethics Committee?
 A statement about the destruction of the data at the end of the project?
 Your supervisor's name and email address?
 Have you used your VUW email address?
 Have you included a written consent form?
 If not, have you explained on the application form why you do not need to get
written consent?
 Are your information sheets and consent forms on VUW letterhead?
 Have you included a copy of any questionnaire or interview schedule you propose
using?
I have gone through the checklist and completed all the relevant tasks.
Yes
x
Signed:
Student: Praveen Philip (300394723)
Supervisor: Dr Arun Elias
Course Controller: Dr Bronwyn Howell
Stakeholder Management in Victoria International’s Global
Operations: A Systems Approach
INFORMATION SHEET FOR INTERVIEW PARTICIPANTS
Thank you for your interest in this project. Please read this information before deciding
whether or not to take part. If you decide to participate, thank you. If you decide not to
take part, thank you for considering my request.
Who am I?
My name is Praveen Philip, and I am a Master of Business Administration student at
Victoria University of Wellington. This research project is work towards my business
research project.
What is the aim of the project?

This research has been approved by the Victoria University of Wellington Human Ethics
Committee.
How can you help?

If you agree to take part I will interview you. I will ask you questions about various
operations of Victoria international and your perspectives on them. The interview will
take 45-60 minutes. I will audio record the interview with your permission and write it
up later. You can choose to not answer any question or stop the interview at any time,
without giving a reason. You can withdraw from the study by contacting me at any time
before 10th September, 2017. If you withdraw, the information you provided will be
destroyed or returned to you.
What will happen to the information you give?

You will not be named in the final report but your organisation will be named (provided
you have the authority to agree to this on behalf of the organisation).
Only my supervisors and I will read the notes or transcript of the interview. The
interview transcripts, summaries and any recordings will be kept securely and
destroyed on September 20th, 2018.
What will the project produce?
The information from my research will be used in MBA business research project. This
research project will be published in the Victoria University of Wellington library and
excerpts may be included in academic publications and/or academic conference.
If you accept this invitation, what are your rights as a research participant?
You do not have to accept this invitation if you don’t want to. If you do decide to
participate, you have the right to:
 choose not to answer any question;
 ask for the recorder to be turned off at any time during the interview;
 withdraw from the study before 10th September, 2017;
 ask any questions about the study at any time;
 receive a copy of your interview recording;
 receive a copy of your interview transcript;
 read over and comment on a written summary of your interview;
 be able to read any reports of this research by emailing the researcher to request a
copy.
If you have any questions or problems, who can you contact?

If you have any questions, either now or in the future, please feel free to contact one or
both of the following:
Student: Praveen Philip Supervisor: Dr Arun Elias

University email address: Role: Associate Dean,
philip.prav@vuw.ac.nz International &
Accreditation
School: Victoria Business
School
Phone: 04 4635736
Email:
arun.elias@vuw.ac.nz
Human Ethics Committee information
If you have any concerns about the ethical conduct of the research you may contact the
Victoria University HEC Convenor: Associate Professor Susan Corbett. Email
susan.corbett@vuw.ac.nz or telephone +64-4-463 5480.
Operations: A Systems Approach
CONSENT TO PERSONAL INTERVIEW
This consent form will be held for One year.
Researcher: Praveen Philip, Victoria Business School, Victoria University of

Wellington.
• I have read the Information Sheet and the project has been explained to me. My
questions have been answered to my satisfaction. I understand that I can ask further
questions at any time.
• I agree to take part in an audio recorded interview.
I understand that:
• I may withdraw from this study at any point before 10th September, 2017, and any
information that I have provided will be returned to me or destroyed.
• The identifiable information I have provided will be destroyed on 20th September, 2018.
• Any information I provide will be kept confidential to the researcher and the supervisor.
• I understand that the results will be used for an MBA Business Research Project and/or
academic publications and/or presented to conferences.
• My name will not be used in reports, nor will any information that would identify me.
• I would like a copy of the recording of Yes No

my interview:  
• I would like a summary of my Yes No

interview:  
• I would like to receive a copy of the Yes No

final report and have added my email  
address below.
Signature of participant: ________________________________
Name of participant: ________________________________
Date: ______________
Contact details: ________________________________
Operations: A Systems Approach.
INFORMATION SHEET FOR FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANTS
Thank you for your interest in this project. Please read this information before deciding
whether or not to take part. If you decide to participate, thank you. If you decide not to
take part, thank you for considering my request.
Who am I?
My name is Praveen Philip, and I am a Master of Business Administration student at
Victoria University of Wellington. This research project is work towards my business
research project.
What is the aim of the project?
This research has been approved by the Victoria University of Wellington Human Ethics
Committee.
How can you help?
If you agree to take part you will be part of a focus group. I will ask you and other
participants’ questions about various operations of Victoria international and your
perspectives on them. The focus group session will take approximately 3 hours. I will
audio record the focus group with your permission and write it up later.
The information shared during the focus group is confidential. That means after the
focus group, you may not communicate to anyone, including family members and close
friends, any details about the focus group.
You can withdraw from the focus group at any time before the focus group begins.
You can also withdraw while the focus group it is in progress. However it will not be
possible to withdraw the information you have provided up to that point as it will be
part of a discussion with other participants.
What will happen to the information you give?
You will not be named in the final report but your organisation will be named (provided
you have the authority to agree to this on behalf of the organisation). Only my
supervisors and I will read the notes or transcript of the focus group. The focus group
transcripts, summaries and any recordings will be kept securely and destroyed on
September 20th, 2018.
What will the project produce?
The information from my research will be used in MBA business research project. This
research project will be published in the Victoria University of Wellington library and
excerpts may be included in academic publications and/or academic conference.
If you accept this invitation, what are your rights as a research participant?
You do not have to accept this invitation if you don’t want to. If you do decide to
participate, you have the right to:
 choose not to answer any question;
 ask for the recorder to be turned off at any time during the focus group;
 withdraw from the focus group while it is taking part however it will not be possible to
withdraw the information you have provided up to that point;
 ask any questions about the study at any time;
 read over and comment on a written summary of the focus group;
 be able to read any reports of this research by emailing the researcher to request a
copy.
If you have any questions or problems, who can you contact?

If you have any questions, either now or in the future, please feel free to contact one or
both of the following:
Student: Praveen Philip Supervisor: Dr Arun Elias
University email address: Role: Associate Dean,

International &
philip.prav@vuw.ac.nz Accreditation
School: Victoria Business

School
Phone: 04 4635736
Email:
arun.elias@vuw.ac.nz
Human Ethics Committee information

If you have any concerns about the ethical conduct of the research you may contact the
Victoria University HEC Convenor: Associate Professor Susan Corbett. Email
susan.corbett@vuw.ac.nz or telephone +64-4-463 5480.
CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN FOCUS GROUP
This consent form will be held for one years.
Researcher: Praveen Philip, Victoria Business School, Victoria University of

Wellington.
I have read the Information Sheet and the project has been explained to me. My questions
have been answered to my satisfaction. I understand that I can ask further questions at
any time.
I agree to take part in an audio recorded focus group.
I understand that:
 I acknowledge that I am agreeing to keep the information shared during the focus
group confidential. I am aware that after the focus group, I must not communicate to
anyone, including family members and close friends, any details about the focus
group.
 I can withdraw from the focus group while it is in progress however it will not be
possible to withdraw the information I have provided up to that point as it will be
part of a discussion with other participants
 The identifiable information I have provided will be destroyed on September 20th,

2018.
 Any information I provide will be kept confidential to the researcher and the
supervisor.
 I understand that the results will be used for an MBA Business Research Project.
 My name will not be used in reports, nor will any information that would identify me.
• I would like a summary of the focus Yes No
group:  
• I would like to receive a copy of the final Yes No

report and have added my email  
address below.
Signature of participant: ________________________________
Name of participant: ________________________________
Date: ______________
Contact details: ________________________________
Interview Questions to Victoria International’s Stakeholders
Stage 1: Introduction and background

Researcher and Interviewee - Self-introduction, brief overview of the research project,
and also the interview structure and the interviewee’s role.
Question 1: Please tell me about your background and how you are connected with
Victoria International?
Stage 2: Stake Identification
Question 2: How are you interested in Victoria International’s activities in India?
Stage 3: Critical Success Factors
Question 3a. What are your positive experiences during your professional relationship
with Victoria International?
Question 3b: What were the negative experiences or identify the areas that needs
improvement.
Question 3c: Could you identify the factors that you think are the most important in
enriching your professional relationship with Victoria International?
Stage 4: Strategy Development to Resolve Conflicts
Question 4a: In your opinion, what are the strategies Victoria International could adopt
to resolve or ease the conflict of interest between stakeholders?
Question 4b: What are the strategic areas you think need immediate attention from
Victoria International? Further, what are the areas that need attention in the long term
for a sustainable professional relationship with Victoria International?
Stage 5: Open Ended Questions
Question 5: Do you have any other suggestions, questions, or comments?
Stage 6: Summary of the Interview
The researcher provides a short summary of the information exchanged during the
interview.

MMBA532 Report 300394723 PraveenPhilip

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

MMBA532 Report 300394723 PraveenPhilip

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Stakeholder Management in Victoria

International’s Global Operations:

Author: Praveen Philip

MMBA 532 Business Research Project

By Praveen Philip (#300394723)

Research Supervisor: Dr Arun Elias

Faculty: Dr Bronwyn Howell

‘Stakeholder Management in Victoria International’s Global

Submitted on 18th September, 2017.

A business research submitted as per the requirements for the Master of

Victoria University of Wellington, 2017.

Purpose of this Business Research

received by any of them in Victoria International’s global operations in India.

Research Design and Methodology

Victoria International’s stakeholder management and international operations.

appropriate strategies, it is possible to provide value to multiple stakeholders

orientation for sustainable growth and success in international operations.

Originality and Value

increasing the value received by multiple stakeholders simultaneously, and exploiting

the synergies developed between them seems to be a better approach to stakeholder

management by firms with international operations. It takes a systems approach to

understand the complexities involved in managing stakeholders in international

of a handful of people who were genuinely interested in my success.

involvement of the right people that makes any mission successful.

Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................... 1

Chapter 3: Research Design ........................................................... 24

TABLE 1: STAKEHOLDER STRATEGIES TO INCREASE SALIENCE ....................................................................... 17

Operations management that has a global scope is identified as International Operations

likely to have conflicting relationships with various local stakeholders. Negative

2008, p.515). “A stakeholder perspective on global strategy emphasizes the role of a

observe but are strongly interdependent” (Devinney et al., 2013, p. 327).

In this context, Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) and specifically the

prestigious tertiary institutions with a proud tradition of academic excellence (Victoria,

Victoria University is characterised by the depth, consistency and effectiveness of

their culture of domestic and international engagement. The university’s commitment to

reciprocal, high-quality relationships springs from identifying and understanding the

need for New Zealand to achieve sustainable development (Victoria, 2017).

business development, and providing services (including visa services) to international

students. There is a substantial overlap between services offered by Victoria

channels are agents located across the globe.

and research questions were designed.

multiple stakeholders simultaneously without reducing the value currently received by

any of them in Victoria International’s global operations in India.

their perceived stakes?

stakeholders simultaneously without reducing the value currently received by any of

them in Victoria International’s operations in India?

International’s operations in India.

Victoria International’s Global Operations. Chapter 1 of this report introduces the

questions. Chapter 2 contains a literature review of international operations

management (IOM) and also stakeholder management in international operations.

group modelling exercise. Chapter 5 concludes the report by discussing intervention

the scope for further research.

2.1 Chapter Overview

This chapter presents a literature review of international operations management and

research related to IOM.

then proceeds to examine stakeholder conflicts in international operations and the

by reviewing literature on stakeholder salience and dynamics.

This chapter concludes by critiquing the explored literature, identifying specific

gaps and proposing potential areas for research.

2.2 International Operations Management

2.2.1 Overview of International Operations Management

Accelerated international trade, operations or even mere investments in foreign

radar and identified the following 19 categories:

 Operations Strategy, Location, Capacity, Layout