Stakeholder Capitalism Tension

ESG commitments face political backlash and performance scrutiny. Some funds divest from ESG-labeled products amid concerns about fiduciary duty and greenwashing. Simultaneously, employee activism and consumer preferences push companies toward social positioning. The tension is irresolvable through current frameworks; "shared value" rhetoric often masks unchanged profit-maximization. Authentic stakeholder orientation requires governance restructuring—employee board representation, benefit corporation status—that most public companies resist despite marketing claims.