Stakeholder Theory, Embedddedness and Democracy: A Dewey Encounter

Abstract

Recently, the research on the embeddedness of business-stakeholder relationships in society is gaining momentum. Here in this paper we present an approach for businesses and stakeholders' embeddedness based on John Dewey's Dewey, a well-known pragmatist thinker who elaborated a thick, original and innovative concept of democracy as an associated living, as a source of conjoint and shared experience between organizations and groups (including business and stakeholders) based on freedom, equality, and fraternity considered the democratic values. We develop the concept of democratic embeddedness, that is, the embeddedness that brings social progress and social hope, based on five main tenets: 1) A diverse, novel, and enriching conjoint experience 2) Cooperation based on equality, freedom, and fraternity 3) a higher degree of overlapping membership between stakeholders 4) Flexibility and adjustment between organizations 5) No isolated organizations or clusters of organizations. Consequently, a new role of the executive has described the democratic role, which consists of the promotion of the 5 tenets, requires democratic habits (courage, intelligence, open-mindedness), requires a scientific and experimental method for solving public problems, and creative and face-to-face communication (with new symbols and signs).