Stewardship theory draws on key assumptions underlying agency theory and TCE to argue:
agency theory emphasises the control of managerial opportunism by having a board chair independent of the CEO and using incentives to bind CEO interests to those shareholders. Stewardship theory stresses the beneficial consequences on shareholders returns of facility authority structures which unify command by having roles of CEO and chair held by the same person… The safeguarding of returns to shareholders may be along the track, not of placing management under greater control by owners, nut of empowering managers to take autonomous executive actions (Donaldson and Davis, 1991)