It is no exaggeration to say that the ability of organisations, whether public or private, to operate within our society depends not only on their success in wealth creation or, for the public sector, achievement in the delivery of Government policy, but also on their capacity to meet the expectations of a diverse and often changing group of constituents who contribute to their existence and success. These constituencies and interests are the organisation’s stakeholders. All organisations must, as a consequence, be engaged in utilizing resources to create benefits for all its stakeholders now and into the future.
That said, what we have found in practice is somewhat different. Organisations recognise that they often have a quite enormous group of stakeholders but when tested will generally admit to only addressing the needs of a small number. They talk about those stakeholder groups who are a priority at that time, those who have the ability to negatively impact on the organisation, those that are the proverbial ‘squeaky wheel, and those that they simply can’t ignore. When the conversation turns to stakeholder relationship management organisations will often give a quick assurance that they have CRM software up and running. Unfortunately, having the software is not the same as managing the issue!
At this stage some definitions may be helpful. Stakeholders may be defined as “any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization’s objective.” Building on this, stakeholder relationship management is not software, long lunches or … Continue reading