Question: Evaluate the relationship between stakeholder strategy and sustainable competitive advantage.
¦ Stakeholders are individuals or groups that have a claim or interest in the performance and continued survival of the firm. They make specific contributions for which they expect rewards in return.
¦ Internal stakeholders include stockholders, employees (for instance, executives, managers, and workers), and board members.
¦ External stakeholders include customers, suppliers, alliance partners, creditors, unions, communities, governments at various levels, and the media.
¦ Several recent black swan events eroded the public's trust in business as an institution and in free market capitalism as an economic system.
¦ The effective management of stakeholders-the organization, groups, or individuals that can materially affect or are affected by the action of a firm-is necessary to ensure the continued survival of the firm and to sustain any competitive advantage.