Spanning the Gap – the theoretical principles that connect stakeholder policies to business performance

If the word “stakeholder” were a person, it would just be coming into its prime. Born in 1963, it has accumulated experience in influential positions, and ought to be prepared for some serious responsibility. But what exactly does it offer, and is it ready? This paper tries to show that the stakeholder concept is ready. In the first half, it explains three principles that form the heart of the idea: co‐operation, commitment and rich information. Rich information, in particular, is given a new role in interpreting stakeholder theory. The second half of the paper focuses on a practical issue: methods for encouraging co‐operation. For fifty years, organizational psychologists at the (UK) Tavistock Institute and the (US) National Training Laboratories have developed methods for changing relations in the workplace. The principles underlying their work are shown to be very close to the principles underlying the stakeholder approach. This means that the stakeholder approach has foundations in an important body of practical scientific experimentation. Lastly, by explaining the principles underlying the idea of stakeholding, this paper fills a gap which has previously prevented the identification of a convincing causal connection between stakeholder policies and business performance.