ABSTRACT
The foci of this study were to conduct a bibliometric analysis of articles on effective stakeholder engagement and management in early-stage ventures, develop a framework based on a blend of the findings of bibliographic coupling and keyword co-occurrence analyses, and propose an agenda for future research. The Scopus database was the source of documents used to conduct this study. From the co-authorship analysis, the United Kingdom, United States, and Italy emerged topmost. Both the keyword co-occurrence and bibliographic coupling analyses found that stakeholders, stakeholder engagement, social entrepreneurship, stakeholder management, and SMEs had clouded the research space for the period under review. Social responsibility and social value creation were also found to be relevant hotspots of research in the field. It is expected that this study would significantly contribute to the theoretical and empirical literature, notwithstanding the limitations of the Scopus database used and its implications for the findings.
