Stakeholder Theory

Biological Parallel

Mycorrhizal fungal networks connect dozens of tree species in resource exchanges—the network transfers nitrogen to nitrogen-poor birch while moving carbon from birch to carbon-starved fir seedlings in deep shade. The network 'serves multiple stakeholders' because its fitness depends on forest-level health, not individual tree success. When the network prioritizes only one species, diversity crashes and the entire system becomes vulnerable to disturbance—exactly the critique stakeholder theorists make of shareholder primacy's narrow optimization.