Stakeholders is an English word, which in the field of the company, means interested party or interested party. It refers above all to the organizations or people who take part in the decisions of a company and who are affected by its activities. They could be considered by the interest groups that surround the company.
In every company, in addition to the managers or owners, different social groups and important actors participate, who have a clear interest in the business running in the best possible way. They can be directly or indirectly involved. Among the examples of stakeholders of a company, we find theemployed workers that has on its staff, suppliers, investors, shareholders, partners, clients, public entities, unions, civil organizations, non-governmental entities and ultimately the whole of society. We see that we can find internal and external stakeholders.
The concept of stakeholder is relatively 'young', as it first emerged in 1984 from R. Edward Freeman in his book Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. In this publication, the author pointed out that the different interest groups mentioned above were essential and should be taken into account when planning business.
In a way, the success or failure of a company, in addition to affecting the owners, will also involve the employees, family, competitors, Suppliers and the environment in which the business is based.
Las principales categorÃas the Stakeholders
Different types of stakeholders must be differentiated, such as primary and secondary stakeholders, as you will see below.
- Primary stakeholders: they are those necessary to guarantee the operation of the company, which is why it includes those who have a direct economic relationship with the organization, such as managers, partners or employees.
- Secondary stakeholders: refers to those who do not participate in the activities of the company directly. However, they can be affected by it, like the competition or customers.
It is difficult to translate the concept of stakeholder into Spanish, since there is no specific word that encompasses it. A stakeholder meaning that is closest to reality would be 'affected by the process',' interest groups' or 'interested party.
We must not confuse stakeholders with target, since the stakeholders refer to all the interest groups that our activity may affect.