Expectations of customer as a stakeholder of an agricultural enterprise: case study

Purpose: to present the possibilities of using the CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) method to manage relations with customers as one of the stages of managing company’s stakeholders. Project/ methodology/ approach: the studies were carried out in two stages. The first stage comprising a direct interview was used to identify the criteria used by the customers of agricultural products when choosing a supplier. In the second stage, after the criteria were grouped with the use of questionnaires, their order of importance was determined. Findings: the method of reaching to the customers used in the study relies on the application of the main criteria that they take into account in their decisions. These are: freshness, flavour, price and appearance of the product. Perception of these criteria is important for the studied entity on account of the specific location of the sales point. Study Limitations/Implications: the proposed method was tested with respect to the selected business entity. In the next stages, it is necessary to test its application in other industries in order to receive a broader range of the picture about perception of key stakeholders by the organisation. The results show critical points to which the company resources should be assigned in order to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. Practical Implications: the received results may be a prompt for the studied company and may indicate directions of development of stakeholder management, along with the areas that should be improved in this respect. Independent and uniform measurement characteristics of the studied model constitute a useful tool for carrying out a systematic comparative analysis in time. It also provides information about the weak and strong sides of the company in the opinions of its customers. Social Implications: the paper indicates the possibility of reciprocal impact of the main sides of the process: the customer and the company. The studies indicate the possibility of using the CSI method for the first stage of managing the relations with the customers, namely learning the degree of validity of various criteria when purchase decisions are made. Thanks to the use of the CSI method, it is possible to determine an efficient strategy of impact on the customers, using the criteria that are of major importance for them. Originality/Value: the authors made an attempt at using a tool from the realm of the CSI quality management for the process of managing a company’s stakeholders. This is possible by learning the importance of the individual criteria which are guiding the customers’ purchase decisions. This may inspire the companies to use the tool in the process of stakeholder management.