Business Commons^™

Should All Stakeholders Be Treated Fairly? Identifying Stakeholders That Legitimately Matter, Desmond Ng

Organization Management Journal

A key contribution of stakeholder research is that a firm’s purpose and objective is influenced by those stakeholders who have a legitimate stake in a firm’s business activities. Yet, identifying those that have a legitimate stake remains a challenge in stakeholder research. This research draws on legitimacy arguments to explain how stakeholders develop accountability and reliability in their legal and moral claims and how legitimacy influences a firm-manager’s obligations of fairness to these stakeholder groups. A concept of directness, consisting of close and relational specific exchanges, is introduced to explain this legitimation process. Directness offers accountability and reliability when an …