stakeholder

A person, group or organization that has interest or concern in an organization.

Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the organization's actions, objectives and policies. Some examples of key stakeholders are creditors, directors, employees, government (and its agencies), owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, and the community from which the business draws its resources.

Not all stakeholders are equal. A company's customers are entitled to fair trading practices but they are not entitled to the same consideration as the company's employees.

An example of a negative impact on stakeholders is when a company needs to cut costs and plans a round of layoffs. This negatively affects the community of workers in the area and therefore the local economy. Someone owning shares in an business such as Microsoft is positively affected, for example, when the company releases a new device and sees their profit and therefore stock price rise.

See also corporate governance.