Global Compact International Yearbook 2013
14
products onto the market. Legitimate interests are no longer
being articulated solely by opinion-leading stakeholders such
as “the politicians,” “the media,” “the banks,” or “the NGOs,”
but by local communities, parents, civic leaders, investors, as-
sociations, teachers, doctors, and ratings agencies. Alongside
the so-called primary stakeholders, there are an increasing
numbers of secondary and tertiary stakeholders who are put-
ting forward clear positions and convincing cases.
Moreover, responsible, sustainable, and ethical corporate leader-
ship is no longer generally regarded just as a social ideal but as
a commercial necessity. Sustainability and improved efficiency,
previously believed to be in conflict, are now recognized as
joint prerequisites for competitive advantage.
Future importance of stakeholder management
The reason for the high importance attached to stakeholder
management by small and medium-sized enterprises lies in
the increasing pressure that stakeholder groups are now ex-
erting on such firms. Whereas it was mostly big players who
were under attack around the time of the millennium, today
it is increasingly the so-called hidden champions – classic
business-to-business companies – that are being closely
monitored by critical stakeholder groups. The objects of this
media attention are no longer only companies from the
food production, financial, energy, and automobile sectors,
but also include components suppliers, food retailers and
delivery companies, raw materials suppliers, and mechanical
engineering companies.
This trend is going to continue. Critical stakeholder groups
are expanding their horizons beyond consumer and environ-
mental concerns to take in the entire business supply chain.
Whereas in the past, questionable product or contractual is-
sues dominated the debate, today all the links in the corporate
value-creation chain are scrutinized under ecological, ethical,
and sustainability criteria with the aim of comprehensive risk-
and sustainability management. It is in this spirit, too, that
NGOs now publicly proclaim that they will no longer restrict
their attacks to major companies but will deliberately include
small companies and suppliers.