Rethinking the Normative Foundations of the Stakeholder Theory Through the Civil Economy Approach: Insights From a Relationality-Based Anthropological Perspective

Abstract

A growing enthusiasm to reconsider the normative foundations of the stakeholder theory is spreading in related literature. Current research mainly focuses on religious, spiritual, and philosophical underpinnings to reexamine these foundations. We believe these conceptual elaborations must be complemented and extended with an in-depth investigation of the relationality-based anthropological assumptions of the stakeholder theory. To do this, our work draws from the civil economy approach to encourage scholars and practitioners to change their perspectives on each person's stake by shifting from an individualistic approach to a relationality-based view. Through our theoretical work, we shed light on one of the most important pillars of the civil economy tradition—the principle of gratuità—to contribute to current research on the normative foundations of the stakeholder theory. We asserted that the common good can be achieved insofar as the principle of gratuità finds its place in every type of human relationship, including those in the business sphere.