Final answer:
Stakeholders can generally be classified into shareholders, who invest capital, and a broader group that includes anyone affected by the company's activities. Friedman supports the idea of maximizing shareholder returns, while stakeholder theory advocates balancing the interests of all stakeholders, including non-investors.
Step-by-step explanation:
Stakeholders are typically divided into two main groups: those with a direct financial investment in a company, such as shareholders, and those who may be affected by the company's operations, like employees, customers, communities, etc. While shareholders invest capital and may receive a positive return on their investment when a company is profitable, stakeholders include a much wider group with varying interests in the business's operations. Milton Friedman's viewpoint supports shareholder primacy, which maintains that the primary responsibility of a firm's managers is to its shareholders and their interest in maximizing returns. In contrast, stakeholder theory takes a broader view, suggesting that managers should seek to balance the interests of all stakeholders, not just shareholders.