What is Opportunistic Exploitation

Evan and Freeman (1988) once argued that managers have fiduciary obligations to act in the vital interests of all organizational stakeholders. For some, this “multi-fiduciary” approach is paradoxical, as one cannot simultaneously put the interests of each respective stakeholder ahead of the interests of all other stakeholders; hence, the “stakeholder paradox.” This chapter argues for a version of multi-fiduciary stakeholder theory. The argument is based on the following claims. Fiduciary obligations ought to be imposed to control the opportunistic exploitation of the especially vulnerable and dependent. The conditions of special vulnerability and dependence that generate fiduciary obligations are present in various manager-stakeholder relationships. Finally, when properly understood, multi-fiduciary stakeholder theory is logically consistent and morally advantageous.