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- Different approaches to corporate
Stockholder theory
- The stockholder approach is quite similar to that set forth in agency theory. The difference is that it views the corporation as the property of its owners (stockholders) who may dispose of it as they see fit. Most of the time this involves using it to receive maximum return on investment.
- Stockholders are oriented toward self-interest, so stockholder theory, along with agency theory, takes an egoistic/Hobbesian view of human nature. Humans are rational, self-interest maximizers. Owners should expect this from the corporation's managers and employees. They should integrate procedures and controls that channel the corporation and its members in the direction of their (owners) self-interest.
- The owners invest in the corporation and seek a return (profit) on this investment. But this narrow role has been expanded into overseeing the operations of the corporations and its managers to ensure that the corporation is in compliance with ethical and legal standards set by the government. Just as the master, under tort law, was responsible for injury brought about by the negligence of a servant, so also are directors responsible for harm brought about by their property, the corporation.
- Managers are role-responsible for ensuring that investors get maximum return on their investment. This includes exercising good business judgment and avoiding conflicts of interests and violations of confidences.
- Like corporations operating within agency theory, stockholder corporations focus on compliance strategies to monitor managers and make sure they remain faithful agents. However, directors under the stockholder approach also take seriously oversight responsibility which include ensuring corporate compliance with laws such as Sarbanes-Oxley and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Stakeholder theory
- Owners drop out of the center of attention in this approach to become one of several, equal stakeholders. A stakeholder is any group or individual that has a vital interest, right, good, or value in play or at risk. (A gambler's stake is the money on the table in play as the roulette wheel turns. Depending on the outcome of the situation, the gambler either keeps or loses the stake.) Examples of corporate stakeholders include stockholders, employees, customers, suppliers, local community, and government. The corporation on this view exists for the sake of its stakeholders, not stockholders.
- The stakeholder view can be closely tied to egoism if it is assumed that the different stakeholder groups exist to maximize their selfish interests. But the stakeholder approach to corporate governance goes beyond the egoistic account of human nature. The corporation (and its managers) become responsible for mediating between these different, often conflicting, stakeholder interests, always keeping in mind that all stakeholders deserve equal respect. If stakeholders have any solidarity with one another, it is because the interest set of each includes the interests of the others. (This is how Feinberg defines solidarity.) The ability to envision the interests of each stakeholder and to work toward integrating these must be built on a view of human nature that is as altruistic as egoistic. While not embracing the social view of human nature outlined above, the stakeholder view assumes that stakeholders are capable and willing to negotiate and bargain with one another. It begins, in other words, with enlightened and long term self interest.
- The first feature of the owner role is the reduction in centrality mentioned just above. They advocate their interests in the same arena as the other stakeholders, but they also must work to make their interests compatible with the other stakeholders. This requires integrating interests when possible and drawing integrity-preserving compromises when necessary. (See Benjamin 1990).
- Managers play an important meta-role here. They are faithful agents but of all stakeholders, not just stockholders. Thus, they becomes referees or (to switch metaphors) brokers between stakeholders. They oversee the generation of expansive corporate values capable of absorbing and integrating narrower stakeholder interests.
- Stakeholder approaches combine compliance and value-based approaches. In compliance, corporate officers define a moral and legal minimum; this consists of the minimum set of rules necessary for stakeholder coexistence. Beyond this, value-based approaches seek to create common, broader objectives, aspirations that can unite the different stakeholders in the pursuit of excellence. Stakeholder approaches need both; the compliance approach gets things started and the values-based approach sets them on the path to excellence.
Source:
OpenStax, Introduction to business, management, and ethics. OpenStax CNX. Aug 14, 2016 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11959/1.4
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