Are stakeholder management and innovation substitutes or complements in affecting firm performance? Extant research provides support for both positions and thus leaves us with a puzzle. We conduct an exploratory fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) of 204 publicly listed European firms combining survey and archival data to formulate theory on how stakeholder management and innovation work (in)effectively together. Distinguishing between internal and external stakeholders and exploitative and exploratory innovation, we elaborate that managing for stakeholders and innovation can be both substitutes and complements depending on a set of contingencies. We discuss boundary conditions and implications for future research.

利益相关者管理和创新是影响公司绩效的替代品还是互补品？现存的研究为这两种立场提供了支持，因此给我们留下了一个难题。我们结合调查和档案数据对 204 家欧洲上市公司进行了探索性模糊集定性比较分析 (fsQCA)，以制定有关利益相关者管理和创新如何有效协同工作的理论。区分内部和外部利益相关者以及开发性和探索性创新，我们阐述了利益相关者管理和创新可以作为替代和补充，取决于一系列的突发事件。我们讨论边界条件和对未来研究的影响。