More companies focus on stakeholder-
Good news- If done right-
So many firms screwed a lot of people in name of profit-
Screw the community, contaminate the water-
Don’t clean up after closing the plant-
Blackmail cities to give more benefits and etc-
It is great that there is more focus on stakeholders-
However, one issue with this approach- Is the big question who are the stakeholders-
So in such case, it could just be a slight of hand-
A good PR campaign-
Or it could lead some special interest groups to blackmail the firm-
Some environmental group may claim to advocate the community and
force the firm to close the plant and decrease employment/ tax revenues-
Sometimes even communities may blackmail the firm and say you need
to build us a whole new park/ facilities and etc-
Unions can blackmail the firm and keep asking for wage increases and more perks-
So it can get messy-
It is good that firms care more about the community but the stakeholder approach is
not perfect-
Also, the shareholder focus still works. Any group can buy shares and exert influence on the firm.
Of course, it is hard to buy large amount of shares but still once a shareholder, they do have a voice-
Overall, nice to see more focus on community- But hope it works well-