The World Economic Forum (WEF) is the chief architect and driver of stakeholder capitalism. From the WEF hyperlink, the following diagram and text summarize stakeholder capitalism:
In short, the WEF does not like free market capitalism. By synthesizing the best features of market capitalism with a collectively managed economy, they believe that better outcomes can be achieved over the long term. In socialist systems of government, the primary beneficiaries are state leaders and its apparatus. Stakeholder capitalism involves public-private partnerships that result in an interconnected web of non-profit organizations, government departments, and businesses working together to control the economy. In this new system of stakeholder capitalism, funding, services, and personnel are blended. The primary beneficiaries are the stakeholders; state leaders and employees, but also preferred businesses and non-profit organizations. Stakeholder models are being implemented at local, state and federal levels of government.
This model demands that companies focus on social goals rather than immediate core business strategies, lending itself advantageous to stakeholders that already have the infrastructure in place to handle high levels of compliance and regulation. Small companies that lack the resources to comply will find themselves squeezed out of the market place, leading to even more control by those managing the new model.
Ottawa County is no stranger to stakeholder capitalism. Over roughly the last ten years this model of public/private partnership has established a firm foundation.