Stakeholders & Shareholders

A stakeholder is an individual or group which is affected by the actions of a business.


Internal stakeholders are people who are already committed to serving your company, such as...

• board members
• staff
• volunteers
• former staff

External stakeholders are people who are impacted by your organization, such as...

• clients
• local community
• leaders of non-profit organisations such as green peace

Employees can impact upon the business as their productivity will increase if they are motivated through the firm recognising the needs and wants of these stakeholders.

The local community can impact upon the business as without their support the business could fail due to lack of customers, and without their support the brand name could be damaged.

Suppliers can impact greatly on a business and it is important to keep good relations with this stakeholder as they provide the business with the materials needed to succeed.

A shareholder is an owner of an organisation.  There are different types of shares but an 'ordinary' shareholder has one vote per share and receives a dividend if it is paid each year.

Many companies pay more attention to their shareholders rather than their stakeholders as a shareholder has put money in to the business and can influence the policy of the business.

A dividend is a reward paid by the company to its shareholders.