Sachs, Sybille, and Edwin Rühli. “The contribution of evolution theory to a new normative core for stakeholder theory.” In Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society , vol. 12, pp. 471-481. 2001.
URL1
In studying firms’ strategic change, we recognized that the logic of evolutionary theory provided a useful framework for explaining such change. The logic of evolutionary theory differs from the logic of other theories used to analyze strategic change, such as economic theory. The specific logic of evolutionary theory also implies a specific normative core. Based on these insights and on a comprehensive research project (Sachs 2000; Post, Preston, Sachs draft version 2001), we demonstrate in this paper that evolutionary theory can make a substantive contribution to a possible new normative core for stakeholder theory. This normative core calls for the explanation of corporations’ strategic behavior and performance from an economic, an ecological as well as a societal point of view (Rühli/Sachs 1999).