Convergent Stakeholder Theory

We describe two divergent approaches to stakeholder theory—a social science approach and a normative ethics approach—and examine their differences and similarities. Since neither approach is complete without the other, we propose a new way of theorizing about organizations: the development of normatively and instrumentally sound convergent stakeholder theory. This form of theory is explicitly and unabashedly normative, demonstrating how managers can create morally sound approaches to business and make them work.