Stakeholder Approaches to Corporate Sustainability

The ability of business to meaningfully engage with those groups and individuals who it affects, and is affected by – its stakeholders – is a critical component in humanity’s pursuit of net zero, sustainable development for all. This chapter explores and unpacks stakeholder approaches to corporate sustainability and responsible business.

It starts off by framing the big picture of why a stakeholder approach – one that accounts for the interdependencies between business, society and nature – is increasingly pivotal during the uncertain and ambiguous times of the 2020s. Following on, the chapter introduces the core features of a stakeholder approach to corporate sustainability. The third section looks at different stakeholder models. It illustrates stakeholder model development in business settings over time, as well as the influence of the cultural context, such as the one found in the Nordic countries, to foster a stakeholder mindset in business.

The fourth and final section considers stakeholder theory in the age of sustainability, with particular coverage given to the implications of new Information Communication Technologies (ICT) for successful stakeholder engagement strategies.

Weaved in throughout this chapter, and parallel to the online case study, are a number of examples designed to illustrate how a stakeholder approach manifests in the ‘real world’.