Freeman Stakeholder Theory of the Modern corporation

Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by University of Toronto Press 1998

From the book The Corporation and Its Stakeholders

R. Edward Freeman

    https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442673496-009

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    © 2016 University of Toronto Press, Toronto

    From the book

    The Corporation and Its Stakeholders

    Chapters in this book (17)

    Frontmatter

    Contents

    Foreword: Redefining the Corporation

    The Corporation and Its Stakeholders: Classic and Contemporary Readings

    The Changing Basis of Economic Responsibility

    For Whom Are Corporate Managers Trustees?

    Whose Interests Should Corporations Serve?

    Understanding Stakeholder Thinking: Themes from a Finnish Conference

    The Moral Standing of the Market

    Business Ethics and Stakeholder Analysis

    A Stakeholder Theory of the Modern Corporation

    Stakeholder Thinking in Three Models of Management Morality: A Perspective with Strategic Implications

    The Stakeholder Theory of the Corporation: Concepts, Evidence and Implications

    Instrumental Stakeholder Theory: A Synthesis of Ethics and Economics

    A Stakeholder Framework for Analysing and Evaluating Corporate Social Performance

    Toward a Theory of Stakeholder Identification and Salience: Defining the Principle of Who and What Really Counts

    Stakeholder Mismatching: A Theoretical Problem in Empirical Research on Corporate Social Performance

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    “The 21st Century is one of “Managing for Stakeholders.” The task of executives is to create as much value as possible for stakeholders without resorting to tradeoffs. Great companies endure because they manage to get stakeholder interests aligned in the same direction.”                                                                                     — R. Edward Freeman


    About the Stakeholder Theory

    Stakeholder Theory is a view of capitalism that stresses the interconnected relationships between a business and its customers, suppliers, employees, investors, communities and others who have a stake in the organization. The theory argues that a firm should create value for all stakeholders, not just shareholders.

    In 1984, R. Edward Freeman originally detailed the Stakeholder Theory of organizational management and business ethics that addresses morals and values in managing an organization. His award-winning book Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach identifies and models the groups which are stakeholders of a corporation, and both describes and recommends methods by which management can give due regard to the interests of those groups.

    The theory has become a key consideration in the study of business ethics and has served as a platform for further study and development in the research and published work of many scholars, including those featured on this website.

    Since the 1980s, there has been a substantial rise in the theory’s prominence, with scholars around the world continuing to question the sustainability of focusing on shareholders’ wealth as the most fundamental objective of business.

    We aim to be the hub of leading stakeholder research and thinking by providing resources to new scholars, students, and business leaders.

    Freeman Stakeholder Theory of the Modern corporation

    Darden School of Business, University of Virginia

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    Bio

    Darden School of Business, University of Virginia
    Elis and Signe Olsson Professor of Business Administration, Academic Director, Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics

    Research Interests: Stakeholder management, leadership, business ethics, corporate responsibility, business strategy, Conscious Capitalism

    First notable publication on the Stakeholder Theory: Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, originally published in 1984 and reprinted 2010 by Cambridge University Press

    For Ed Freeman’s complete CV, click here.


    Published Work on Stakeholder Theory

    (2014) with Jacob Hörisch and Stefan Schaltegger, Applying Stakeholder Theory in Sustainability Management: Links, Similarities, Dissimilarities, and a Conceptual Framework, Organization Environment,May 27, 2014,1086026614535786.

    (2014) Management Ethics: Placing Ethics at the Core of Good Management, by Domènec Melé, Business Ethics Quarterly, Volume24, Issue1, pp. 142–143.

    (2012) with Gianfranco Rusconi, Silvana Signori, Alan Strudler, Stakeholder Theory (ies): Ethical Ideas and Managerial Action, Journal of Business Ethics, August 2012, Volume 109, Issue 1, pp 1–2.

     (2010) with Jeffrey Harrison, Andrew Wicks, Bidhan Parmar, Simone De Colle, Stakeholder Theory: The State of the Art, Cambridge University Press, New York.

    (2007) with Jeffrey Harrison, Andrew Wicks, Managing for Stakeholders: Survival, Reputation, and Success, a Caravan book.

    (2004) with Andrew Wicks and Bidhan Parmar, Stakeholder Theory and “The Corporate Objective Revisited,” Organization Science, Volume 15 Issue 3, May-June 2004, pp. 364–369.

    (2001) Stakeholder Theory of the Modern Corporation, Perspectives in Business Ethics Sie, Volume 3, p. 144.

    (1984 and 2010) Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, Cambridge University Press, New York.

    This is only a partial representation of Ed Freeman’s published works on Stakeholder Theory. Click here for a complete list.


    R. Edward Freeman Speaking on Stakeholder Theory

    What is Freemans stakeholder theory?

    About the Stakeholder Theory The theory argues that a firm should create value for all stakeholders, not just shareholders. In 1984, R. Edward Freeman originally detailed the Stakeholder Theory of organizational management and business ethics that addresses morals and values in managing an organization.

    What are the big 5 of stakeholder theory?

    Customers, employees, suppliers, communities and investors comprise the “Big Five” stakeholders.

    What are the theories of modern corporation?

    The modern view is that a firm has responsibilities to all its stakeholders i.e. everyone with a legitimate interest in the company. These include shareholders, competitors, government, employees, directors, distributors, customers, sub-contractors, pressure groups and local community.

    What is Freeman's perspective on the social responsibility of corporate executives?

    Overview. Friedman introduced the theory in a 1970 essay for The New York Times titled "A Friedman Doctrine: The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits". In it, he argued that a company has no social responsibility to the public or society; its only responsibility is to its shareholders.