The aim of this article is to discuss the assumptions of the major theoretical perspectives for the building of a stakeholders' theory, using the ethical dimension as its groundwork. For this purpose, the article is organized in three parts, in addition to this introduction and a conclusion. In the first part, some ideas regarding the descriptive dimension of the debate are discussed. In the second part, the stakeholders' theory is presented along with the ethical explanation inherent in its proposition. In the third part, we discuss the ethic underlying the shareholders' theory in order to contrast this theory with the stakeholders' theory. Finally, we present the assumptions intended to establish the stakeholders' theory based on the organizational participants' interests.
stakeholders; shareholders; ethics; cooperation