Sustainable development of an enterprise and stakeholder interests: theory of the issue

The analysis of the literary sources shows that at present the problem of sustainable development of an enterprise remains in the center of attention of various scientists and economists. At the same time, despite the large number of scientific works existing in this area of knowledge, there is still no consensus on the essence of this term. The article provides an overview of various approaches to disclosing the essence and content of the concept of “sustainable development of an enterprise”, a critical analysis of the definitions of this term, which have been formulated by various authors, their advantages and disadvantages are revealed. Based on the results of such an analysis, the author's version of this definition is substantiated, taking into account the interests of various groups of stakeholders. The "sustainable development of an enterprise" is proposed to be viewed not just the ability of an enterprise to function, adapting to the destabilizing influence of various factors of the internal and external environment, but also to develop, providing an increase in property and economic potential, satisfying the requirements of various groups of stakeholders (stakeholders). At the same time, the interests of not only the current but the future generations must be respected as well. The proposed interpretation of the concept of “sustainable development of an enterprise” is based on the global concept of “sustainable development” (“triune total”) and allows taking into account the requirements of all parties interested in the activities of the enterprise. The refined formulation of this term can be used as the basis for the development of a methodology for assessing the level of sustainable development of an enterprise through the definition of goals pursued by various stakeholders of the company.