On the Nature of Stakeholders’ “stakes”

The stakeholder view of the firm has contributed to re-define the relationship between the firm and its stakeholders. Stakeholder theory can be grounded on instrumental or normative arguments. While many recent theoretical and empirical works in the stakeholder management literature have used the generic instrumental/normative distinction, the nature of stakeholders “stake” itself has received little attention. Some stakes are instrumental in nature while others are normative. Paying higher attention to the different “stakes” in firms and their nature may lead to further advancements in the stakeholder view of the firm.