Stakeholder Engagement - Cranfield School of Management ...

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Consultation
Figure 11: Issue Prioritisation from Organisation and Stakeholder Perspectives
Prioritisation of Issues from Issues 1 Prioritisation of Issues from Issues 1
an Organisation perspective 18 a Stakeholder perspective
Secures / threatens licence to operate Enhance / reduces overall quality of
life e.g. noise, space or light implications
Direct financial benefits / costs to Enhances / reduces health of
organisation operation stakeholder group
Improves / strains relations with Enhances / reduces livelihoods of
neighbouring communities stakeholders
Improves / strains relations with Enhances / reduces environment for
regulators stakeholder group
Improves / strains relations with NGOs Enhances / reduces educational access
of stakeholder group
Enhances / undermines perceptions Enhances / reduces legal rights of
of business unit within organisation stakeholder group
Enables / disrupts operations Enhances / reduces water and food
security of stakeholder group
Damages / improves corporate Results in perceived criminal activity
reputation against stakeholder group, e.g. forced
migration, loss of property, loss of life
Compliance / noncompliance with Results in direct action against the
responsible business principles organisation operation (e.g. public
protests, legal action, media action etc.)
Example: Lack of Priorities Lead to Decisions of Ambiguous Value
A major commodity organisation began an engagement process with stakeholders to identify possible actions to take in
conjunction with stakeholders as a way to improve and enhance the reputation and communication capacity of the
organisation.
A number of options were recommended to the organisation by stakeholders, particularly with regard to public security
and safety.Without any assessment of relevance of the issues to stakeholders or to the organisation or any form of
prioritisation for selecting issues, the organisation agreed to stakeholder requests.This included a commitment to support
and fund the development of a national police force, a role for which the organisation had no expertise or experience, or
democratic legitimacy.This led to considerable confusion within the organisation regarding the decision, given the significant
doubts as to whether ‘policing the Caribbean’ was a priority or an area of expertise for the organisation.
18 Adapted from McCallum, Alison et al. 2007. SEAT: Socio-Economic Assessment Toolbox. Anglo American
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