A stakeholder refers to persons or groups that affect, or are affected by, an

organizations decisions, policies, and operations. They may have a direct

or indirect interest in the business, and may be in contact with the
business on a daily basis, or may just occasionally. Examples of
stakeholders are customers, policy makers, community, supplier,
employee and many more.
Stakeholders are important in ethics because they make the judgements
about what is right and what is wrong. The culture of the company
determines the decisions maker. Ethical behaviour and corporate social
responsibility brings significant benefits to a business. Businesses may
adopt ethical policies because they believe in them or they believe that by
showing they are ethical, they improve their sales. In orders to serve their
stakeholders in an ethical and social manner, more and more organizations are
adapting the model of corporate social responsibility. The term Corporate Social
Responsibility goes by many other terms such as corporate citizenship, responsible
business or simply corporate responsibility.

An organization owes a duty not only to the people it operates directly

with, but to anyone who may be affected by the businesss activities. An
organization has a responsibility to support the public interest when it
can, or at the very least minimize any negative impact it has on its
surrounding community. An organization can meet these goals in a
variety of ways, such as by promoting charitable acts by its employees
and minimizing pollution during the production of its products. By being
socially responsible, the entity cannot only meet its ethical obligations,
but promote its public image and possibly avoid violating laws.