Characteristics of Stakeholders1. Owners and Shareholders
- The number of owners and the roles they carry out differ according to the size of the firm
- In small businesses there may be only one owner (sole trader) or perhaps a small number of partners (partnership)
- In large firms there are often thousands of shareholders, who each own a small part of the business
2. Managers:
- organise
- make decisions
- plan
- control
- are accountable to the owner(s)
3. Employees or Staff:
- A business needs staff or employees to carry out its activities
- Employees agree to work a certain number of hours in return for a wage or salary
- Pay levels vary with skills, qualifications, age, location, types of work and industry and other factors
4. Customers:
- Customers buy the goods or services produced by firms
- They may be individuals or other businesses
- Firms must understand and meet the needs of their customers, otherwise they will fail to make a profit or, indeed, survive
5. Suppliers:
- Firms get the resources they need to produce goods and services from suppliers
- Businesses should have effective relationships with their suppliers in order to get quality resources at reasonable prices
- This is a two-way process, as suppliers depend on the firms they supply
- Firms and the communities they exist in are also in a two-way relationship
- The local community may often provide many of the firm’s staff and customers
- The business often supplies goods and services vital to the local area
- But at times the community can feel aggrieved by some aspects of what a firm does
7. Government:
- Economic policies affect firms’ costs (through taxation and interest rates)
- Legislation regulates what business can do in areas such as the environment and occupational safety and health
- Successful firms are good for governments as they create wealth and employment
