RESEARCH OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROPOSALS FOR THE APPLICATION OF STAKEHOLDER THEORY IN THE FIELD OF HIGHER EDUCATION

The article is devoted to the research of the development of the theoretical concept of stakeholders and the description of its main provisions, as well as the consideration of the main tools for the application of stakeholder analysis methods. The history of the emergence of the theory of stakeholders is analyzed and its varieties are described. The essence of the concept of «stakeholders» was found out and approaches to the definition and grouping of stakeholders are summarized. Analytical tools used during the justification of stakeholders and their groups are considered. In the sense of an interested person, the term «stakeholder» appeared in 1708, later the discussion about stakeholders intensified as early as the 1930s. In its modern form, the theory of stakeholders has been spreading since the mid-80s of the 20th century, proposed and formulated by E. Freeman within the concept of business ethics and described in the work «Strategic management: the concept of stakeholders». Thus, according to his definition, «a stakeholder is a group (individual) whose activity involves influencing the organization's achievement of its goals or the organization's work as a whole» [30, p. 27]. In the modern sense, stakeholders are physical persons and legal entities who have an interest in the organization's activities, depend on it to some extent and can have an influence on its activities [11]. It was determined that the identification and assessment of the influence of stakeholders is carried out using a wide set of tools. The article considers and describes such of them as: stakeholder matrix, table of interests of stakeholders, map of stakeholders (Stakeholder's Map), system of responsibility indicators (ASC model), method of «Brainstorming», model of A. Mendelow (matrix «power/interest»), Mitchell's model of significance, as well as R. Savage's model of stakeholder differentiation. Thus, it was found out that stakeholder analysis is a method of quantitative and qualitative analysis of information to identify groups (or individuals) whose interests should be taken into account throughout the life cycle of an organization or project.