What is stakeholder capitalism?

What is stakeholder capitalism?

Stakeholder capitalism is a form of capitalism in which companies seek long-term value creation by taking into account the needs of all their stakeholders, and society at large.

Klaus Schwab discusses its history and relevance in this excerpt from the book Stakeholder Capitalism: A Global Economy that Works for Progress, People and Planet.

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These days, a lot of political and business leaders debate whether "stakeholder capitalism“ would provide us with a better way to organize the economy. But what exactly is stakeholder capitalism, and where does it originate? In this blog, adapted from our book Stakeholder Capitalism: A Global Economy that Works for Progress, People and Planet, we like to tackle this question, and provide the reader with a clear answer.















History

The stakeholder concept goes a long way back: more than 50 years. I first wrote about it in 1971, when I was a young business academic. But its roots go even further. In the 1950s and 1960s, it was quite natural for a company and its CEO to consider not just shareholders, but everyone who as a "stake“ in the success of a firm.