1.4 Conflicts between stakeholder interests

| Stakeholders | Conflicts |
|----|----|
| Employees and owners/shareholders | Employees require safe working conditions and reasonable wages, but this may reduce the business’s profit and dividends to owners/shareholders |
| Management and customers | Management could attempt to maintain profit and a high dividend to satisfy shareholders by raising the prices of products, but this will upset customers, who expect reasonably priced products |
| Management and the general community | Management might decide to cut costs by neglecting maintenance, which could possibly put members of the community in danger |
| Suppliers and the general community | Suppliers expect to be paid fairly and promptly, but they might reduce costs by using unethical or socially irresponsible practices, which can upset members of the community |
| Management and suppliers | Management wishes to keep costs down to improve profit but suppliers providing ethical materials require higher prices to cover their costs |
| Business owners and customers | If, in searching for greater levels of profitability, the owners of a business decide to increase their prices or find a cheaper supplier to reduce their expenses, this could lead to a conflict occurring with customers who could be unhappy at having to either pay more for the business’s goods or services or pay the same amount for a poorer quality good/service |

\