Publications
Publications
- September–October 2023
- Harvard Business Review
What Does 'Stakeholder Capitalism' Mean to You?: A Guide to the Four Main Types
By: Lynn S. Paine
Abstract
Business leaders are being urged to adopt a multistakeholder approach to governance in place of the shareholder-centered approach that has guided their work for several decades. But through hundreds of interviews with directors, executives, investors, governance professionals, and academics over the years, the author has found wide differences in how those leaders understand stakeholder capitalism. That lack of clarity can put boards and executives on a collision course with one another when decisions requiring difficult trade-offs among stakeholders’ interests arise. It also creates expectations among stakeholders that if unfulfilled will fuel cynicism, alienation, and distrust.
To help reduce the risk of such negative consequences, the author has created a guide for corporate leaders that illuminates four versions of stakeholder capitalism: instrumental, classic, beneficial, and structural. They reflect significantly different levels of commitment to the interests of stakeholders and rest on very different rationales.
To help reduce the risk of such negative consequences, the author has created a guide for corporate leaders that illuminates four versions of stakeholder capitalism: instrumental, classic, beneficial, and structural. They reflect significantly different levels of commitment to the interests of stakeholders and rest on very different rationales.
Keywords
Stakeholder Capitalism; Corporate Governance; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Organizational Structure; Trust
Citation
Paine, Lynn S. "What Does 'Stakeholder Capitalism' Mean to You? A Guide to the Four Main Types." Harvard Business Review 101, no. 5 (September–October 2023): 108–119.