What Are Stakeholders? Definition, Types, and Examples

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What Is a Stakeholder?

A stakeholder is an individual or a group of individuals with an interest, often financial, in the success of a business. The primary stakeholders in a corporation include its investors, employees, customers, and suppliers.

With the increasing attention on corporate social responsibility, the concept has been extended to include communities, governments, and trade associations.

Key Takeaways:

• A stakeholder has a vested interest in a company and can affect or be affected by its operations and performance.
• Stakeholders may include investors, employees, customers, suppliers, communities, governments, and trade associations.
• An entity's stakeholders may be internal or external to the organization.
• The public may also be construed as a stakeholder in some cases.

Understanding Stakeholders

Stakeholders can be internal or external to an organization. Internal stakeholders are people whose interest in a company comes through a direct relationship, such as employment, ownership, or investment.

External stakeholders do not directly work for or with a company but are affected by the actions and outcomes of the business. Suppliers, creditors, and public interest groups are all considered external stakeholders.

Stakeholder capitalism is a business concept that maintains that companies should serve the interests of all of their stakeholders, not only their shareholders.

Example of an Internal Stakeholder

Investors are internal stakeholders who are significantly affected by a company and its performance. If, for example, a venture capital firm decides to invest $5 million in a technology startup in return for 10% equity and significant influence, the firm becomes an internal stakeholder of the startup.

The return on the venture capitalist firm's investment hinges on the startup's success or failure, meaning that the firm has a vested interest.

Example of an External Stakeholder

External stakeholders do not have a direct relationship with the company but may be affected by its operations.

When a company goes over the allowable limit of carbon emissions, for example, the town in which it is located is considered an external stakeholder because its residents may be harmed by the increased pollution.

External stakeholders in some cases can have a direct effect on a company. The federal government, for example, is an external stakeholder. A policy change on carbon emissions affects the operations of any business that burns a significant amount of fossil fuel.

Issues Concerning Stakeholders

A common problem is that the interests of various stakeholders may not align. In fact, they may be in direct conflict.

For example, the primary goal of a corporation, from the perspective of its shareholders, is often considered to be the maximization of profits to enhance shareholder value.

Since labor costs are unavoidable for most companies, a company may seek to keep these costs under tight control. This is likely to upset another group of stakeholders, its employees. The most efficient companies successfully manage the interests and expectations of all their stakeholders.

It is a widely-held myth that public corporations have a legal mandate to maximize shareholder wealth. In fact, there have been several legal rulings, including by the Supreme Court, clearly stating that U.S. companies need not adhere to shareholder value maximization.

Stakeholders vs. Shareholders

Shareholders are only one type of stakeholder.

All stakeholders are bound to a company by some type of vested interest, usually for the long term. A shareholder has a financial interest, but shareholders can sell their stock; they do not necessarily have a long-term need for the company and can usually get out at any time and reduce their losses.

Others cannot. The vendors in a company's supply chain might suffer if the company limits production and reduces or eliminates its services. Employees of the company might lose their jobs.

What Are the Different Types of Stakeholders?

Examples of important stakeholders for a business include its shareholders, customers, suppliers, and employees.

Some stakeholders, such as shareholders and employees, are internal to the business. Others, such as the business’s customers and suppliers, are external to the business but are nevertheless affected by the business’s actions.

In recent years, it has become common to consider a broader range of external stakeholders, such as the government of the countries in which the business operates or the public at large.

Are Some Stakeholders More Important Than Others?

When a business fails and goes bankrupt, there is a pecking order among various stakeholders in who gets repaid for their capital investment.

Secured creditors are first in line to be repaid. They are followed by unsecured creditors, preferred shareholders, and finally owners of common stock (who may receive pennies on the dollar, if anything).

As this example illustrates, not all stakeholders have the same status or privileges. Workers in a bankrupt company can be laid off without any severance.

What Are the Stakeholders in a Business?

Stakeholders in a business include any entity that has a vested interest in a company's success or failure.

First there are the owners of the business. These can include hands-on owners as well as investors who have passive ownership.

If the business has loans or debts outstanding, these creditors (including banks or bondholders) will be the second set of stakeholders in the business.

The employees of the company are a third set of stakeholders, along with the suppliers who rely on the business for their income.

Customers, too, are stakeholders who purchase and use the goods or services the business provides.

Are Stakeholders and Shareholders the Same?

Although shareholders are an important type of stakeholder, they are not the only stakeholders. Other stakeholders include employees, customers, suppliers, governments, and the public at large. In recent years, there has been a trend toward thinking more broadly about who constitutes the stakeholders of a business.

The Bottom Line

Stakeholders are individuals, organizations, or other entities that have a vested interest in the success or failure of a company or an endeavor. Stakeholders can be internal or external and range from customers and shareholders to communities and even governments.

1. New York Times. "Corporations Don’t Have to Maximize Profits."

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