Who are Stakeholders

The power of economic stakeholders is well documented in the case of customers, employees, and suppliers they are often important partners for companies increasingly dependent on collaboration and networking to create and sustain competitive advantage (Heskett et al., 2003). Societal stakeholders have increasingly impacted 

With advances in information and communications technology, the cycle time for identifying and internalizing negative stakeholder impacts has been shortened. A company s impact on a stakeholder group in any part of the world can be instantly communicated across the globe, with direct consequences for its ability to conduct business. 

Globalization and instantaneous communication of information, exploited by a cadre of highly committed and effective NGOs,3 have contributed to the heightened risk of negative publicity arising from controversial events. 

The rise of complex and amorphous NGO alliances serves as an emerging indicator of a global business environment that is on the cusp of fundamental change. Increasingly, previously marginal actors create opportunities to realize their collective potential as networked actors in ways unimagined in the past. 

Rising societal expectations for corporate responsibility have created a new class of socially-responsible investors, customers, and employees and, more generally, a broader public awareness of human health and ecological risks. 

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