Legitimate Stakeholders Research Articles

The Environment as a Stakeholder

Stakeholder theory is often unable to distinguish those individuals and groups that are stakeholders from those that are not. This problem of stakeholder identity has recently been addressed by linking stakeholder theory to a Rawlsian principle of fairness. To illustrate, the question of stakeholder status for the non-human environment is discussed. This essay criticizes a past attempt to ascribe stakeholder status to the non-human environment, which utilized a broad definition of the term stakeholder. This paper then demonstrates how, despite the denial of stakeholder status, the environment is nonetheless accounted for on a fairness-based approach through legitimate organizational stakeholders. In addition, since stakeholder theory has never claimed to be a comprehensive ethical scheme, it is argued that sound reasons might exist for managers to consider their organization's impact on the environment that are not stakeholder-related.

Accountability

Accountability, it is claimed, has become a `politically incorrect' issue because: governments have encountered the limitations of simplistic market thinking just as the economic and political pressure for intervention in education has waned; parental desire to participate in governance has been largely satiated; and teachers are reasserting their view of professionalism. Despite all this, is it argued that accepting responsibility in education implies public accountability; accountability in education implies formative evaluation, educative reporting relationships and politically sensitive planning; and that educational leaders need to help legitimate stakeholders produce educative accountability policies that will help to improve the quality of learning, teaching and leadership.