SUSTAINABLE STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT IN A TERRITORIAL HRM APPROACH: THE CASE OF SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS TECHNOLOGY CLUSTER

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to better
understand how the sustainable engagement of
stakeholders is built in a territorial HRM approach.
Our empirical study focuses on the territorial HRM
approach implemented by the Sophia Antipolis
technology cluster. Thanks to the actor-network
theory, our research reveals the mechanisms of
engagement that make actors become stakeholders,
engaged durably in this approach: the capacity of
stakeholders to (re)problematize quickly and in
several directions the initial project; solid and regular
incentive devices, driven by a digital platform and
an active multichannel communication; an intensive
enrollment, maintaining pre-existing roles for better
resistance to counter-enrollment processes and for
social acceptability of the relational consequences of
devices; a polyphonic management carried by a duo
of translators, transformed into “boundary spanners”
(the project manager and the digital platform). These
mechanisms can be considered as key factors for
success in the sustainable engagement of stakeholders
in a territorial HRM approach.