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The Pressure of Stakeholders

In: Business Logic for Sustainability

Author

Listed:
  • Aileen Ionescu-Somers
  • Ulrich Steger

Abstract

Although the notion of companies serving broader interests than those of stockholders or shareholders has been around since the 1930s (Coase, 1937), the term ‘stakeholder’ first formally appeared with reference to business in a 1963 internal memorandum at the Stanford Research Institute. Researchers at the Institute postulated that instead of an exclusive focus on shareholders, corporations were also responsible for a wider range of entities or interest groups ‘without whose support the corporation would cease to exist’ (Freeman, 1998, p. 602). Society can call into question the right of companies’ legitimacy to exist, that is; their ‘licence to operate’, should they not wield their power responsibly. If society grants legitimacy — and, hence, power — to business, what society giveth, society can equally take away…

Suggested Citation

  • Aileen Ionescu-Somers & Ulrich Steger, 2008. "The Pressure of Stakeholders," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Business Logic for Sustainability, chapter 4, pages 78-111, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-58350-4_4
    DOI: 10.1057/9780230583504_4
    as

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