The Problem

above, manager’s can (and already have) more effectively dealt with the complexities of
joint action and the people involved in them.
Within public administration, calls for increased public participation and deliberation
abound. The concept of stakeholders and stakeholder management are disseminated
throughout the literature but are poorly defined and very often do not present effective
tools for carrying out real public deliberation processes. Given the changing stances of
ontological and epistemological research paradigms taking place throughout the social
sciences, as well as the shifting dynamics of the working environments for contemporary
administrators, the tools of old are no longer adequate, if they ever were. This paper has
attempted to begin to fill this methodological void.
Drawing from various scholars in the business management literature, this paper
demonstrates how these concepts associated with stakeholders and stakeholder
management can be effectively adapted for practical use by administrators in the public
service, or across all sectors for that matter. This approach emphasizes a pragmatic
perspective which places a premium on the initial assessment stage of the implementation
process. Using the three-way classifications of power, legitimacy, and urgency discussed
above, the paper demonstrates how managers can effectively identify relevant
stakeholders, and using the two-way dimension of potential cooperation and threat,
devise potential strategies for effectively facilitating or managing the implementation
processes. Using a case study of our experiences implementing a rural Advanced
Traveler Information System, we have demonstrated how the dynamics of this approach
have played themselves in a real world setting, thus adding to the efficiency of our
approach and its utility for managers.
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