Ethics & Stakeholder Management Module 3 Chapter Content Review

Report

Module 3 – Chapter Content Review

Report

Ethics & Stakeholder Management

(MGMT 703)

Submitted to Professor Byron Tobar

Centennial College

Submitted by:

Jassimrat Kaur (301089606)

Ethics & Stakeholder Management Module 3 Chapter Content Review
Report

1. A stake can be defined as a part of ownership or an interest in an establishment. For example,

if a person has a stake in something such as a business, he owns a part of it. Whereas a

stakeholder is someone with a stake or interest with the company, they may affect or be

affected by its policies or decisions. Different stakeholder parties might be interacting with an

organization in one or the other way, such as investors (owners & stockholders), employers or

employees, suppliers, customers, communities, and the government. In short, stakeholders

help in determining the success or failure of an organization. For example, as a college

student, the stakeholders will include the teachers, administration, fellow students, families,

and college board members.

2. Unilever’s stakeholders include primary stakeholders and secondary stakeholders, which are

then sub categorised into social and non-social stakeholders.

- Unilever’s Primary social stakeholders include the customers, employees, investors,

communities, suppliers, and brand partners as they are the prime contributors to Unilever’s

success and have a direct interest in it. Their stake includes the satisfaction, quality of the

product, pay, profits, return, etc. For example, a customer will put his or her money into

buying Unilever’s product if it is of good quality.

- Like the primary social stakeholders, Unilever's success is also influenced by the secondary

social stakeholders, but their impact is more on its reputation. Unilever's secondary social

stakeholders include the competitors such as Nestle, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson,

the government, and the trade associations or business groups.

- Unilever's primary non-social stakeholders include the future generation and the

environment, as Unilever's vision is to be a global leader in sustainable business. It is working

on its brands to fight climate change and preserve resources for future generations. 

- Unilever’s secondary non-social stakeholders includes - People for the Ethical Treatment of

Animals (PETA), Rainforest Alliance, Worldwide Fund, World Economic Forum, etc

(Unilever 2020). These stakeholders represent and take a stand for the primary non-social
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stakeholders of the Unilever with an interest to improve the natural environment, promote

social welfare, etc.

3. Unilever have the following kinds of legitimacy, power, and urgency:

- The owners, employees, customers, investors and suppliers can be considered as the

‘definitive stakeholders’ because they have a high legitimacy and power as they can have

significant impact on the Unilever’s activities.

- Unilever’s competitors, such as Nestle, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, etc.,

can be viewed as the ‘dangerous stakeholders’ as they have the ability to directly affect

external elements of Unilever like its market share value, financial performance, promotional

strategies and pricing strategies.

- The government can be considered as the ‘dormant stakeholders’ as they have a say in the

company but have a little interaction with it. However, they can also be recognized as

‘dangerous stakeholders’ because they can gain power or legitimacy by changing the laws or

regulations, the taxation policy, etc.

- Considering the Unilever’s contribution towards the protection of the environment and

community development, makes the environment and community its Demanding

Stakeholders. These stakeholders have high urgency and needs more attention to protect the

future of the planet.

- The ‘demanding stakeholders’ of Unilever can be the environment and communities as these

stakeholders need attention and have high urgency. 

4. In my opinion, Unilever uses the multifiduciary stakeholder approach. Unilever sees its

stakeholders as an essential part of its business and believes that they have the same

responsibility for the stakeholder, just like it has for the shareholders. To succeed in achieving

the targets set in the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, it engages with its stakeholders on a

regular basis to understand which issues are more critical to the business and its stakeholders.

Unilever collaborates with NGOs and other stakeholders to build programmes to fight climate
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change, promote gender equality, and improve the health and well-being of billions of people

(Unilever, 2020)

References
Carroll, A.B., Brown, J. A., & Buchholtz, A. K. (2018). Business & society ethics, sustainability, and
stakeholder management. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning
Unilever. (2020). Engaging with stakeholders. Retrieved from Unilever.com:
https://www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/our-approach-to-reporting/engaging-with-
stakeholders/

Unilever. (2020). Making sure our products are safe without testing on animals. Retrieved from
Unielever: https://www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/what-matters-to-you/making-sure-
our-products-are-safe-without-testing-on-animals.html