How the theory developed (stakeholders) Available to Purchase

Suggests ‘stakeholder approach’ has been around for 40 years and looks back in time for key points to show this as different ages: entrepreneurial capitalism — from early 18th to early 20th century; managerial capitalism — early to mid 20th century; professional managerial capitalism — from the Second World War up to the present time; and investor capitalism — a period starting somewhere over the last 5–10 years. Highlights that each period has brought its own set of issues about business within society, though US‐biased it does state that the UK lagged 25–50 years behind in the earlier times. Posits that the stakeholder theory really began in the late 1950s and 1960s USA, with the UK taking up the reins in the 1970s. Chronicles that in the UK companies may have to adopt an inclusive stakeholder approach but in the USA the arguments move on.