STAKEHOLDERS AND SHAREHOLDERS: BUSINESS IS ABOUT CREATING VALUE FOR STAKEHOLDERS

In 1981, a few years after the founding of Whole Foods Market, Austin, Texas, suffered what natives called a “hundred-year flood.” At the time of the flood, Whole Foods had one store, and it lost everything in the deluge. As CEO John Mackey tells it, he thought the company was finished—they had no money, no inventory, and not much hope. What the company did have, however, was a commitment from its stakeholders to help get it back on its feet. Customers and community members showed up at the store to urge Mackey and his employees to rebuild. They offered