What's Wrong—and What's. Right—with Stakeholder Management

What's Wrong—and What's. Right—with Stakeholder Management

The literature of management and business ethics during the last quarter of the twentieth century is replete with references to “stakeholder analysis” and a “stakeholder theory” of managerial decision making. Debates have considered whether “stakeholder thinking” accurately describes specific individuals, organizations, or corporate legal requirements. Some have suggested that “stakeholder analysis” provides a normative principle—in contrast with a descriptive one—for guiding managers (Boatright, 2006).

The decision-making task is described as systematically identifying parties affected by organizational decisions (e.g., customers, employees, suppliers, investors, communities) and taking the interests and rights of ...