Stakeholders are defined as ...

• A. Internal Stakeholders
• B. External Stakeholders
• C. People with an interest in a company's performance; those affected by or can influence decisions
• D. Stakeholders

Answer: (C)

Stakeholders are people with an interest in a company's performance; those affected by or can influence decisions. This definition captures the full range of groups that matter for a company’s actions, including internal ones like employees, managers, and owners, and external ones like customers, suppliers, lenders, regulators, and the local community. The key idea is that stakeholders are tied to the company through either impact or influence—they are affected by what the company does, or they have the power to affect what the company does. The other options fall short because naming only internal or only external groups covers only part of the picture, while calling stakeholders simply “stakeholders” doesn’t define who they are or why they matter.