A STUDY CASE OF THE STAKEHOLDERS´ INCIDENCE IN TWO PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS OF ECUADOR

The stakeholder theory has increased its applicability in the public and private field since Freeman proposed it in1984. Through the years, different authors have suggested methodologies to identify, classify, and prioritize the stakeholders considering dissimilar variables; therefore, the managers have different options to select the most appropriate methodology process. Nevertheless, the public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) still do not have a specific procedure to evaluate the stakeholders’ incidence in these organizations. Hence, this article proposes a mixed methodology (quantitative and qualitative) to provide a clear level of incidence for each stakeholder. The proposal is based on Savage´s model (2004), and, Mitchel, Agle and Wood´s model (1997) with some required adjustments. The potential stakeholders were included in the variables evaluation, in order to reduce subjectivity in the results. The study case was selected to explain all the methodology process proposed and applied for the public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) of the zone six in Ecuador.