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`I used to be an employee but now I am a stakeholder': Implications of labelling employees as stakeholders

Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, michelle.greenwood{at}buseco.monash.edu.au

Eve Anderson

Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The term `stakeholder' has become ubiquitous. By almost any definition, employees are stakeholders in the firm. But what are the implications for employees to be classified as stakeholders? The expression carries a connotation of social responsibility; however, identification of persons as stakeholders remains controversial. This paper addresses significant implications of the labelling of employed persons as stakeholders which have not been fully explored in extant literature: the homogenising and unifying of employee interests; the construction of employees as their roles; the undermining of employment stability; and the risk to individual dignity and rights. It is argued that act of labelling employees as stakeholders is more likely to serve the interest of the organisation rather than the interests of employees.

Key Words: employees • ethics • pluralism • stakeholder identification • stakeholder theory

Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 47, No. 2, 186-200 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1038411109105441


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