IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cwk/ajocsl/2026-020.html

Stakeholder Theory: A Millennial Lens on Institutional Foundations, Functional Imperatives, and the Governance of Value

Author

Listed:
  • Kithandi, Charles Katua

    (Daystar University, Kenya)

Abstract

Stakeholder theory posits that organisations must create value not only for shareholders but for all parties affected by their operations. This study examines the historical evolution of stakeholder thinking, the broad categories of stakeholders, the two dominant perspectives through which stakeholder management is practised, the core theoretical framework and related theories that underpin the process, the rationale for stakeholder governance and regulation, and the strategic functions that stakeholder engagement serves for households, firms, and government. The study contends that organisations operating with a millennial lens must integrate institutional and functional stakeholder perspectives to sustain profitability and long-run societal growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Kithandi, Charles Katua, 2026. "Stakeholder Theory: A Millennial Lens on Institutional Foundations, Functional Imperatives, and the Governance of Value," African Journal of Commercial Studies, African Journal of Commercial Studies, vol. 7(3).
    • Handle: RePEc:cwk:ajocsl:2026-020
    DOI: 10.59413/ajocs/v7.i3.49
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ijcsacademia.com/index.php/journal/article/view/604
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.59413/ajocs/v7.i3.49?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Merton, Robert C., 1995. "Financial innovation and the management and regulation of financial institutions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(3-4), pages 461-481, June.
    2. Robert G. Eccles & Ioannis Ioannou & George Serafeim, 2014. "The Impact of Corporate Sustainability on Organizational Processes and Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(11), pages 2835-2857, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gary F. Peters & Andrea M. Romi & Juan Manuel Sanchez, 2019. "The Influence of Corporate Sustainability Officers on Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(4), pages 1065-1087, November.
    2. Xu, Chong & Tao, Miaomiao & Qi, Lingli & Roubaud, David, 2025. "Can green CEOs trigger the green premium effect?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Misra, Shekhar & Mishra, Saurabh, 2026. "Environmental, social, and governance performances, media sentiments, and shareholder wealth," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    4. McShane, Michael K. & Cox, Larry A. & Butler, Richard J., 2010. "Regulatory competition and forbearance: Evidence from the life insurance industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 522-532, March.
    5. Agnès Labye & Christine Lagoutte & Françoise Renversez, 2002. "Banques mutualistes et systèmes financiers : une analyse comparative Allemagne, Grande-Bretagne, France," Revue d'Économie Financière, Programme National Persée, vol. 67(3), pages 85-109.
    6. Zhu, Bo & Wang, Yiwei, 2024. "Green governance and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    7. Aseem Kaul & Jiao Luo, 2018. "An economic case for CSR: The comparative efficiency of for‐profit firms in meeting consumer demand for social goods," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(6), pages 1650-1677, June.
    8. Olivier Boiral & Marie‐Christine Brotherton & Léo Rivaud & David Talbot, 2022. "Comparing the uncomparable? An investigation of car manufacturers' climate performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2213-2229, July.
    9. Schawlowski Dan Michael, 2025. "The Correlation between Employee Benefits and Financial Performance: A Bibliometric Analysis," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 19(1), pages 294-303.
    10. Florian Kiesel & Felix Lücke, 2019. "ESG in credit ratings and the impact on financial markets," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(3), pages 263-290, August.
    11. Yang Gao & Stephen Satchell & Nandini Srivastava, 2020. "Styles through a convergent/divergent lens: the curious case of ESG," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(1), pages 4-12, February.
    12. Amrou Awaysheh & Randall A. Heron & Tod Perry & Jared I. Wilson, 2020. "On the relation between corporate social responsibility and financial performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(6), pages 965-987, June.
    13. Eunice Ngozi Ajuluchukwu & Usani Joseph Ofem & Stephen Undie & Mecry Akeke & Eno E. Elogbo & Fabian Ugbe Udida & Patricia Akwaya Olom & Mary Rose Eze & Bessong Bessong, 2026. "Exploring the impact of green human resource management practices enabled by artificial intelligence on organizational sustainability: the mediating roles of digital literacy and green organizational climate," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-21, December.
    14. Hortlund, Per, 2005. "Do Inflation and High Taxes Increase Bank Leverage?," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 612, Stockholm School of Economics.
    15. Dimson, Elroy & Marsh, Paul, 1997. "Stress tests of capital requirements," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(11-12), pages 1515-1546, December.
    16. Kwon, He-Boong & Lee, Jooh, 2019. "Exploring the differential impact of environmental sustainability, operational efficiency, and corporate reputation on market valuation in high-tech-oriented firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 1-14.
    17. Andrea Lučić, 2020. "Measuring Sustainable Marketing Orientation—Scale Development Process," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-22, February.
    18. Munshi Muhammad Abdul Kader Jilani & Luo Fan & Mohammad Tazul Islam & Md. Aftab Uddin, 2020. "The Influence of Knowledge Sharing on Sustainable Performance: A Moderated Mediation Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-18, January.
    19. Svetlana Popova & Natalia Turdyeva, 2024. "Environmental and Climate Factors of Corporate Lending in Russia," Bank of Russia Working Paper Series wps143, Bank of Russia.
    20. Homroy, Swarnodeep, 2023. "GHG emissions and firm performance: The role of CEO gender socialization," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cwk:ajocsl:2026-020. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr. Charles G. Kamau (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://ijcsacademia.com/index.php/journal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.