Question: Taking into account Figure 3.4 on page 45 of your textbook (Stakeholder Typology: One, Two, or Three Attributes Present) discuss the ‘Ethics in Practice case’ on page 46 (Are Plants and Flowers Stakeholders? Do they have rights?)
Freeman (1984, P. 46) popularized the definition of a stakeholder as ‘. . . ANY group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization’s objectives’. This is a very broad definition meaning that in today’s global business environment any individuals and groups may be business’s stakeholders (Davey, 2015). This sparks the debate about whether or not the natural environment can be identifiable as a stakeholder. In the ethics in practice case ‘Are Plants and Flowers Stakeholders? Do they have rights?’ this topic is highlighted. The following discussion will review the idea of the environment as a primary stakeholder taking into account the stakeholder identification framework of Mitchell et al. (1997), suggesting that stakeholders have a mixture of legitimacy, power and urgency(Davey, 2015).
In keeping up with the growing concern for sustainability many argue that the natural environment should be considered among important stakeholders (Davey, 2015). Historically the natural environment has often been neglected because it has never had a spokesperson(Davey, 2015). However as a concern for the environment (particularly global warming) grows so does the number of environmental groups. Groups such as Greenpeace are regarded as indirect stakeholders and as a result many organisations fail to fully incorporate their concerns into their business(Davey, 2015).
As an attempt to make the wellbeing of the natural environment a priority Ecuador has passed a new law that recognises ecosystem rights as enforceable in the eyes of the law(Davey, 2015). The document argued that vegetation has an inherent value