Discuss the Clarkson Principles of Stakeholders Management.

Max Clarkson founded the Centre for Corporate Social Performance and Ethics. Four conferences were hosted by the Centre between 1993 and 1998 which brought together management scholars to share ideas on stakeholder theory. After an introduction to the stakeholder concept with comments on share owners and the legal and moral duty of managers, following seven principles of Stakeholder Management were framed – Principle 1: Managers should acknowledge and actively monitor the concerns of all legitimate stakeholders, and should take their interests appropriately into account in decision-making and operations. Principle 2: Managers should listen to and openly communicate with stakeholders about their respective concerns and contributions, and about the risks that they assume because of their involvement with the corporation. Principle 3: Managers should adopt processes and modes of behavior that are sensitive to the concerns and capabilities of each stakeholder constituency. Principle 4: Managers should recognize the interdependence of efforts and rewards among stakeholders, and should attempt to achieve a fair distribution of the benefits and burdens of corporate activity among them, taking into account their respective risks and vulnerabilities. Principle 5: Managers should work cooperatively with other entities, both public and private, to insure that risks and harms arising from corporate activities are minimized and, where they cannot be avoided, appropriately compensated. Principle 6: Managers should avoid altogether activities that might jeopardize inalienable human rights (e.g., the right to life) or give rise to risks which, if clearly understood, would be deliberately unacceptable to relevant stakeholders. Principle 7: Managers should acknowledge the potential conflicts between (a) their own role as corporate stakeholders, and (b) their legal and moral responsibilities for the interests of stakeholders, and should address such conflicts through open communication, appropriate reporting and incentive systems, and, where necessary, third party review. The Clarkson Principles of stakeholder management are "meta-principles" that encourage management to embrace specific stakeholder principles and then to implement them in accordance with the norms listed above.