What is a stakeholder?

Answer 1

AnswerStake Holder :

Anyone that is affected by the entity in question is said to be a stakeholder in that entity.

or

Someone who is physically grasping a piece of stake in his or her hand.

Another answer:

'Stakeholder' may be interpreted literally or metaphorically.

Literally:

'Paul was a stakeholder in his aunt's business.' (Paul had invested some money in the business.)

Metaphorically:

'I'm a stakeholder in my daughter's future.' (I have invested time and effort in my daughter and I am personally interested in, and affected by, what happens in her life.)

A stakeholder is also the person who holds the bets in gambling.

A third answer In some economics theory, an entity such as a company can be imaged as a pentagon. One set of interested parties (stakeholders) are the owners, another set is the employees. A third set is the suppliers, and a fourth set is the customers. And the fifth set is the regulatory agencies. These set business practices, product performance standards, taxation regimes, etc.

Hope that helps.

Business context

In Management Theory stakeholders are defined by their relationship to an organisation. For example Eden and Ackermann define stakeholders as 'People or small groups with the power to respond to, negotiate with, and change the strategic future of the organization' (Eden and Ackermann 1998: 117).

R. Edward Freeman, in the now classic text Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach (1984), defines a stakeholder as 'any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization's objectives' (1984: 46).