ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that the model of corporate behaviour is an anachronism—a holdover from an earlier period of human development that nevertheless continues to cause much confusion among corporate managers about what it is that they and their organisations are supposed to do. In contrast to the grounding of value maximisation in economics, stakeholder theory has its roots in sociology, organisational behaviour, and the politics of special interests. Much of the discussion in policy circles about the proper corporate objective casts the issue in terms of the conflict between various constituencies, or 'stakeholders', in the corporation. The global corporate governance debate over whether corporations should maximise value or act in the interests of their stakeholders is generally couched in terms of the second issue, and is often mistakenly framed as stockholders versus stakeholders. Stakeholder theory taps into the deep emotional commitment of most individuals to the family and tribe.
