Why Stakeholder Theory is “Non-exploitative”

Abstract

This essay explores the growing interest in stakeholder theory, especially its non-exploitative nature, arising out of the need to contribute to the long-term and sustainable development of corporations. As corporations continue to grow, the traditional shareholder primacy theory is increasingly challenged, many scholars believe that this theory only pays one-sided attention to the benefits of shareholders, leading to the problem of short-term and financialization of corporations. The stakeholder theory, however, takes into account the benefits of customs, manufacturers, and other stakeholders, and better avoids exploitation. However, there are also some criticisms of stakeholder theory. For example, some people argue that the implementation mechanism of stakeholder theory is not feasible, and there are still groups that are not considered under stakeholder theory, so its non-exploitative nature is questioned. Many of the existing papers focus on the content of stakeholder theory and lack to analyze whether it avoids corporate exploitation through a specific interpretation of its content. The emphasis of this essay lies in analyzing the background and content of stakeholder theory and interpreting why it is not exploitative from the two levels, theoretical basis, and practical application, and contributes to the long-term success and win-win relationship of the company. This essay concludes that stakeholder theory can reduce corporate exploitation both in theory and practice, and contribute to the long-term success and sustainable development of corporations.