Stakeholder Theory and Organizational Ethics

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Chapter 1Stakeholder Theory and Organizational Dogma

Business organizations are among the most powerful social entities on earth. They are the grand social institutions of our time, perhaps the sole remaining effective social institutions, expected not only to fuel free-market economies, but also to carry burdens once thought the province of government and religion (e.g., health care, child care, protection of privacy, education). Business organizations control vast resources, cross national borders, and affect every human life. Their pervasive impact on human lives rivals that of history’s most powerful czars, kings, and emperors.

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