| Approach | Focus |
| Descriptive stakeholder theory | Description of how companies are managed; identification of relevant stakeholders |
| Instrumental stakeholder theory | Effects of stakeholder management on the achievement of corporate objectives |
| Normative stakeholder theory | Discussion of the purpose of business; moral justifications of stakeholder theory |
| Integrative stakeholder theory | Considers the descriptive, instrumental and normative aspects to be inextricably linked |