I have worked for a local utility company that practiced the
stewardship theory with corporate governance. The utility operated
in a small town, and it was the only option for electricity for all the
residents. Because the utility operated as a monopoly and provided a
resource that people relied on, it made it essential for the company to
consider more than only the shareholders. The textbook's authors
discuss that “stewardship advocates recognize that directors need to
consider a broader range of interests” (Mintz, 2020, p.136). The most
noticeable way this was displayed was through the “tone from the
top” (Mintz, 2020). One way leaders within an organization can set
the tone, is to model the type of behavior they expect (Mintz, 2020).
Managers and executives modeled this by making decisions that
benefited customers and shareholders. Profits were reinvested into
the company to maintain and improve infrastructure, which was for
the customers' benefit and to keep energy costs low. This is a
different approach than agency theory, which is focused only on the
shareholders (Mintz, 2020).
Mintz, S., Morris, R. (2020). Ethical Obligations and Decision Making
in Accounting (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education
