Stakeholders and Stakeholder Mapping
Summary
TLDRThis concise session delves into the fundamentals of stakeholders versus shareholders, underscoring the crucial distinctions between the two. It emphasizes that stakeholders encompass anyone with an interest in a company's decisions and activities, from employees and customers to suppliers and society at large, unlike shareholders who own parts of the company. The discussion extends to the diverse interests stakeholders have in a business, highlighting potential conflicts among these interests. Additionally, it introduces stakeholder mapping as a strategic approach for businesses to prioritize their engagement based on stakeholders' power and interest levels, ensuring management focuses on the most influential groups to maintain harmony and drive organizational success.
Takeaways
- 👥 Stakeholders are individuals, groups, organizations, or businesses with an interest in a company's activities and decisions, but they don't necessarily own it.
- 📜 The term 'stakeholders' should be distinguished from 'shareholders'; the latter are owners of the business, typically with a financial interest in its success.
- 👨💼 Stakeholders include a diverse range of parties such as employees, managers, customers, suppliers, creditors, and societal groups like the government and community.
- 🤝 Stakeholders have varying interests in the business, which can sometimes lead to conflicting priorities and demands.
- 💡 Shareholders are primarily interested in the financial performance of the company, including profitability, dividends, and share price appreciation.
- 🛍️ Customers are stakeholders who seek value for money, quality products, and good customer service.
- 🚚 Suppliers are concerned with being paid for their goods and services, as well as maintaining a continuous business relationship with the company.
- 🌐 Society at large is interested in the ethical and socially responsible conduct of businesses, including compliance with laws and regulations.
- 🔄 Stakeholder interests can conflict with one another, such as when automation benefits shareholders but may disadvantage employees.
- 🗺 Stakeholder mapping is a theory that suggests businesses should focus more on stakeholders with both high power and high interest, engaging with them regularly and managing conflicts effectively.
- 📊 The concept of stakeholder mapping helps businesses prioritize their engagement efforts, directing most resources to the most influential and concerned stakeholders.
Q & A
What is the definition of a stakeholder?
-A stakeholder is an individual, group of people, organization, or business that has an interest in the activities and decisions taken by a company. This includes employees, customers, suppliers, government, and society at large, among others.
How is a stakeholder different from a shareholder?
-A stakeholder is anyone with an interest in a company's activities, while a shareholder is an owner or part-owner of a company, typically by owning shares or stocks. Shareholders are a specific type of stakeholder, but not all stakeholders are shareholders.
What are some examples of stakeholders in a business?
-Examples of stakeholders include employees, managers, customers, suppliers, creditors, government entities, and societal groups. Each stakeholder has different interests and concerns related to the company's operations and decisions.
What are the different interests that stakeholders might have in a business?
-Stakeholders have varied interests in a business, such as financial performance for shareholders, quality and customer service for customers, timely payments and continued business for suppliers, regulatory compliance and ethical behavior for society, and job security and good working conditions for employees.
How can stakeholder interests sometimes conflict with each other?
-Stakeholder interests can conflict when a decision made by the business benefits one group of stakeholders while negatively affecting another. For example, introducing automation might increase efficiency and profits, pleasing shareholders, but potentially leading to job losses for employees.
What is the theory of stakeholder mapping?
-Stakeholder mapping is a concept that helps a business understand and address the varying levels of power and interest among its stakeholders. It involves identifying which stakeholders have the most power and interest in the company's activities and focusing management efforts on engaging with these key stakeholders.
Why is it important for a business to map its stakeholders?
-Stakeholder mapping is important because it helps a business prioritize its resources and efforts on the stakeholders who have the most significant impact on the company. By understanding the power and interest levels of different stakeholders, a business can manage relationships more effectively and address potential conflicts.
How should a business respond to stakeholders with high power and high interest?
-A business should engage regularly and closely with stakeholders who have both high power and high interest. This involves maintaining open communication channels, being responsive to their concerns, and ensuring their needs are considered in decision-making processes.
What is the approach for stakeholders with low power and low interest?
-For stakeholders with low power and low interest, a business should communicate only when necessary, without expending excessive resources or management time. The focus should be on maintaining basic levels of satisfaction and addressing any issues that arise.
How does the concept of corporate social responsibility relate to stakeholders?
-Corporate social responsibility (CSR) relates to how a business considers its wider societal stakeholders and acts ethically and responsibly. This includes complying with laws and regulations, minimizing negative impacts on the environment and community, and contributing positively to society.
What is a potential conflict that may arise from a business decision and how might it be managed?
-A potential conflict could arise, for example, from adding extra shifts to increase factory capacity. While this might benefit suppliers and customers by ensuring product availability, the local community might oppose it due to increased noise and traffic. To manage such conflicts, a business should engage in dialogue with all stakeholders, assess the potential impacts, and seek balanced solutions that consider the interests of all parties involved.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to Stakeholders and Stakeholder Mapping
This paragraph introduces the concept of stakeholders, emphasizing that they can be individuals, groups, organizations, or businesses with an interest in a company's activities and decisions. It distinguishes stakeholders from shareholders, noting that while shareholders own the business, stakeholders may not necessarily own it but are affected by its operations. The paragraph highlights various types of stakeholders, such as employees, managers, customers, suppliers, creditors, and society at large. It underscores that stakeholders have differing interests in the business, which can sometimes conflict with one another. The section concludes with a brief overview of stakeholder mapping, a theory that suggests businesses should focus more on stakeholders with higher power and interest levels.
🤝 Managing Stakeholder Conflict and Power Dynamics
The second paragraph delves into the potential conflicts of interest that can arise among stakeholders due to business decisions. It introduces the concept of stakeholder mapping as a tool for businesses to manage these conflicts effectively. The theory posits that stakeholders with greater power and interest in the business should be engaged more frequently and closely, while those with less power and interest require less frequent communication. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of understanding and managing the power dynamics among stakeholders to ensure the business operates efficiently and maintains positive relationships with its key stakeholders.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Stakeholders
💡Shareholders
💡Interests
💡Conflict
💡Power
💡Stakeholder Mapping
💡Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
💡Customer Service
💡Automation
💡Dividends
💡Ethical Behavior
Highlights
Stakeholders are individuals, groups, organizations, or businesses with an interest in a company's activities and decisions.
There is a distinction between stakeholders and shareholders; stakeholders may not necessarily own the business.
Shareholders are owners of a limited company and may have overlapping interests with stakeholders.
Different stakeholders have varying interests in the business, such as employees, customers, suppliers, creditors, and society.
Shareholders are primarily interested in the financial performance, dividends, and share price appreciation of the business.
Customers are stakeholders because they seek value for money, quality products, and good customer service.
Suppliers are stakeholders with an interest in being paid and continuing to supply the business.
Society and government are stakeholders with interests in corporate social responsibility and ethical business practices.
Stakeholder interests can sometimes conflict, with decisions supported by some and opposed by others.
The introduction of automation may be supported by shareholders but opposed by employees fearing job loss.
Stakeholder mapping involves understanding the power and interest levels of different stakeholders.
Businesses should focus on engaging with stakeholders who have both high power and high interest in the company.
Stakeholder mapping helps businesses manage their relationships by prioritizing communication and engagement based on power and interest.
Less powerful stakeholders with low interest may only require necessary communication, allowing management to focus on key stakeholders.
The theory of stakeholder mapping provides a framework for businesses to address the different power dynamics among stakeholders.
This session offers a quick reminder and understanding of the concept of stakeholders and the importance of stakeholder mapping.
Conflict management among stakeholders is a crucial aspect that businesses need to navigate carefully.
The session emphasizes the importance of balancing the interests of various stakeholders to ensure business success.
Transcripts
hi there
let's do some quick revision on the
concept of stakeholders and also spend a
couple of minutes
on a theory called stakeholder mapping
at the end of this session
a quick reminder about what we mean by a
stakeholder it can be an individual it
can be a group of people it can be
another organization or business
it's anyone who has an interest in the
activities
and the decisions taken by a business
and a key point to remember here
is that there is a difference between
stakeholders and a similar sounding term
shareholders so be really clear and take
care if you see a question with one or
other of these two terms in it to make
sure you've picked the right one
stakeholders what we'll look at in this
session are those who have an interest
in the business but they don't
necessarily own it but they don't own it
they may work for the business as an
employee or a manager a type of employee
there may be a transactional
relationship for example a customer
you're a stakeholder in the businesses
you buy from it could be a supplier and
of course it's other external
stakeholders such as the government and
society at large
shareholders similar sounding word but
there is a very important difference
they own the business shareholders are
the owners
of a limited company for example now of
course they may also be stakeholders
they may work in the business
they may benefit from the activities of
the business but there is a difference
hopefully you're happy with that
let's just spend a couple of minutes
refreshing our memory as to what we mean
by stakeholders there are lots of
different types of stakeholders we've
mentioned some already employees
managers customer suppliers
creditors
firms that the business owes money to
and of course society
and the government
and the key point to remember about
stakeholders is that they have different
interests in the business activity let's
pick out a couple from this table on the
screen there well clearly uh
shareholders are interested in the
activities of the business in terms of
how it performs financially what profits
does it make
is it able to pay out a dividend
to shareholders as a return on their
investment
if it's a public company is the share
price of the business rising that's an
interest for them and also is the
business being run properly most
shareholders in larger businesses
aren't involved in the day-to-day
running of the businesses what's known
as a divorce between ownership and
control so they want to be happy that
their business is being run properly
let's pick out another one there
customers customers are a stakeholder
because they have an interest in getting
value for money they have an interest in
receiving
a good quality customer service and
getting a product that is of the right
quality
let's pick out one or two more
suppliers
clearly they're a stakeholder in the
business they're selling to a business
they want to make sure of course that
they'll be paid
for the goods and services that they
provide
but also they have a an interest in
continuing to supply the business
because at the end of the day that
business
is one of their customers isn't it and
also let's pick up the bottom one there
society this links really closely with
the concept of corporate social
responsibility the wider responsibility
of businesses to their societal
stakeholders
for example the extent to which a
business complies with regulations and
laws but also wider than that acting
ethically acting in a socially
responsible way
so key point with this stakeholders have
lots of different interests in different
parts of the business
and the second key point is to remember
that sometimes the stakeholder interest
will create a conflict a business
decision can be supported by one
stakeholder stakeholder group or
possibly more than one
but it could just as easily be opposed
by a different stakeholder group
let's pick up an example out here from
the table
let's pick uh
introduction of greater automation it's
likely to be supported not support
supported
by
shareholders if it leads to greater
efficiency and profits
but it's possibly
unlikely and more likely to be opposed
by employees particularly if it results
in employees losing their jobs
adding extra shifts to increase the
capacity of a factory for example
again customers and suppliers suppliers
may find that
absolutely something they want to
support it may result in more
reliable delivery a greater availability
of the product
however a local community whilst they
may enjoy the benefit of the extra jobs
and employment
they may not welcome the additional
noise the additional traffic
there is a cost associated with extra
capacity so key points stakeholders have
an interest in the business but
sometimes depending on the business
decision
the stakeholder interest can come into
conflict and that course raises an issue
with the business as to how to deal with
stakeholder conflict how should you deal
with them
and
this comes on to the final part of this
session the theory of stakeholder
mapping which is really to say
how does a business address the fact
that stakeholders have different power
for example
if i'm running a business and i i owe
half a million to the bank
and my cash flow is pretty weak and i'm
not making profits that bank has a lot
of power over me
it's a very important stakeholder
a lot more power than perhaps an
individual customer or one of my
employees
so some stakeholders have more power
than others how should a business manage
the difference between stakeholder power
and that leads us on to this concept
called stakeholder mapping
now it's a simple concept
and essentially it's this
the idea is that a business
should spend more time responding to
stakeholders who have firstly a high
level of power
but also a higher level of interest
they're very closely
interested in the activities of the
business and therefore if that's the
case
the business should engage regularly
closely with those stakeholders
keeping constant
regular communication with them take
notice of what the stakeholder is saying
it's important to keep on the right side
and understand
that stakeholder group
conversely if a stakeholder has
relatively little power or no power over
the business
and has a relatively low level of
interest in the activities of business
you don't need to keep communicating
with them every day just communicate
when necessary
focus the management time on the most
important stakeholders with the highest
power so that's the takeaway of
stakeholder mapping
management should spend most time
working closely with the most powerful
stakeholders who have the greatest
interest in the business
there we go that's a very quick overview
of the concept of stakeholders
how stakeholder conflicts arise and also
how a business should address the
different power
held by different stakeholders and
hopefully you found that useful
you
تصفح المزيد من مقاطع الفيديو ذات الصلة
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)