Meaning of stakeholder (what is it, concept and definition)

What is Stakeholder:

Stakeholder is an English word that, in the business field, means 'interested party' or 'interested party', and which refers to all those people or organizations affected by the activities and decisions of a company.

In every organization, in addition to its owners, various key actors and social groups participate that are made up of people or entities that, in one way or another, have an interest in the performance of a company because they are related, either directly or indirectly, with her.

In these groups we can count employees, clients, suppliers, shareholders, investors, public entities, non-governmental organizations, unions, civil organizations, the community and society in general.

The term stakeholder was first coined by R. Edward Freeman in his book Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach , published in 1984, in which its author argued that these interest groups are an essential element that must be taken into account in the strategic business planning.

Thus, the success or failure of a company affects or concerns not only its owners, but also the workers and their families; to suppliers, competitors, as well as the community where it is located, among others.

See also Business Administration.

There are two fundamental categories of stakeholders .

• The primary stakeholders , which are those essential for the operation of the organization, that is, all those who have a direct economic relationship with the company, such as shareholders, customers or workers. The stakeholders side, which are those not directly involved in the activities of the company, but which, however, are affected by it, for example, competitors or community, among others.

Effectively translating the word stakeholder into Spanish is difficult, since there are no words that account for this concept in our language. So we can choose a variety of translations depending on the meaning of the word in certain contexts. Thus, some suggested translations would be 'interested', 'affected by the process' or 'interested party'. While for stakeholders , in the plural, the closest translation would be 'interest groups'.

See also Suppliers.