Description: Stakeholder Capitalism: It’s a term coined by a key figure from the annual World Economic Forum in Davos. Stakeholder Capitalism is supposed to represent a new approach for business, one that extends responsibility beyond the shareholders. But some are questioning the nature of the commitment following news that consulting giant, McKinnsey & Company, is paying close to $600 million for helping Purdue Pharma “supercharge” its sales of opioids. McKinnsey’s former leader was a big promoter of the Stakeholder Capitalism concept. In the wake of this news, and other corporate controversies, one could question where responsibility to the stakeholders really starts and ends.

Date:  February 5, 2021

Source:  thestar.com

 Link: https://www.thestar.com/business/2021/02/06/mckinseys-role-in-opioid-scandal-happened-under-a-boss-who-led-the-charge-for-stakeholder-capitalism-now-hes-our-ambassador-to-china.html

Discussion points:

1) Are you familiar with the concept of stakeholder capitalism?

2) Does our approach to accounting make it difficult to pursue stakeholder capitalism?

3) In Chapter One of Wiley’s Auditing: A Practical Approach, we can read about auditors providing assurance for reporting on corporate social responsibility. What would be some of the key things an auditor would need to consider for an engagement where the subject matter was corporate social responsibility?