stakeholder = 'a party with any sort of interest whatsoever'

[David A. Daniel]

Ah, good, so we are agreed then. Whether through media perversion or other
means - perhaps just everyday usage, phase of the moon or something else
entirely - Stakeholder means anyone substantially or peripherally (or
anywhere in between), directly or indirectly involved with or affected by an
issue/situation/decision/whatever. Glad we got that settled.
DAD


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>I guess, all it means is that restricted use in one context--where the
>word may even become a part of the jargon--does not mean that it will be
>used similarly in all other contexts. Pervasive media presence also
>guarantees that any topic open to public discussion is guaranteed to
>have its internal terminology eventually perverted either by the media
>or by the general public being made aware of (and misinterpreting) the
>term. And "stakeholder" is such a basic, nearly Marxist, term that it
>would be hard to hold on to an exclusive meaning even if anyone tried.

     VS-)

On 2/7/2011 3:36 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC wrote:
> I compared stockholders to stakeholders because they sound alike, and
> didn't mean to limit discussion of "stakeholders" to contexts in which
> "stockholders" would also be pertinent.
>
> The last five articles in Newsbank in which "stakeholders" appears seem
> to support my claim, which I will restate more generically:
>
> "Stakeholders" is used be speakers who wish to include people in a
> discussion, whom they wish to placate or acknowledge, but who may not
> actually have any real stake in the discussion (or at least, may not
> have any significant ownership interest, or decision-making or veto
> authority, or any other interest other than having bothered to show up).
> Since "stakeholders" sounds similar to "stockholders", it has an air of
> importance; it is better to be a "stakeholder" than it is to be just an
> interested observer.
>
> Or, (restated), "stakeholders" is used as a meaningless word that means
> "everybody who may be peripherally interested".  It could often be
> replaced with "voters", "customers", "citizens", or other group names
> that include so many people that the specific interest represented by
> those people as individuals is diluted.  In general, a "stakeholder"
> doesn't in fact "hold" anything of value, and can't be distinguished
> from people who are not designated as stakeholders.
>
>
> 1.  Contract Notice: California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
> Issues Request for Proposals for Rail and Development Plan Services [a
> press release?]
> US Fed News (USA) - March 1, 2011
> " ...transportation issues of importance to the state, partner agencies,
> stakeholders and the people of California. Insurance is required..."
>
> Here, stakeholders is meaningless.
>
> 2.  World Trade
> Agweek - Monday, February 7, 2011
> " CALGARY, Alberta - Agrium Inc. says it has reached a deal to sell most
> of the grain business it just acquired in a purchase of Australian
> company AWB Ltd. to Cargill Inc. for about $870 million. "Agrium
> indicated from the outset that we would conduct a thorough review of the
> commodity business with AWB management, and we believe that this is the
> best course of action for all stakeholders involved." "
>
> Stakeholders appears to include everyone who is interested, and is not
> limited to those who are actually participating in the business deal.
>
> 3.  Ready to go to work - New Minnesota age commissioner takes his place
> Agweek - Monday, February 7, 2011
> " I will honor that support by serving all our stakeholders to the best
> of my ability."
>
> Here, stakeholder means anyone who produces or uses agricultural
> products.  Meaningless.
>
>
> 4.  Trade group disapproves of alfalfa ruling - Organic Trade
> Association says Roundup Ready alfalfa ruling will affect organic
> farmers
> Agweek - Monday, February 7, 2011
> " While USDA, for the first time, took a step and acknowledged organic
> and IP agriculture as a stakeholder in decisions around the release of
> GE crops, it is a small step for organic alongside giant steps toward
> accelerated decisions to deregulate many new GE crops awaiting review by
> USDA."
>
> Here, the USDA has endorsed a plan to allow genetically modified
> alfalfa. The "stakeholders" are a trade group of Organic farmers, and
> since they are on the losing side of the decision, it's apparent that
> their "stake" is one which may be ignored.  But at least they are
> acknowledged.
>
> 5.  Thales Joins Cloud Security Alliance
> Business Wire - Monday, February 7, 2011
> " The Cloud Security Alliance is led by a broad coalition of industry
> practitioners, corporations, associations and other key stakeholders."
>
> Stakeholders is a meaningless placeholder word here.
>
> Continued reading of the next 10 articles shows the same themes --
> "stakeholders" are either members of such a large group that identifying
> them is not possible (and thus their interests don't have to be
> addressed); or they are in fact members of a smaller group, but they are
> only acknowledged and identified, and their interests are in fact
> ignored.

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