Remove Your Blinders: Looking Beyond Narrow Stakeholder Views

  Governance   PM Network  

As more organizations turn to project management, they need to expand their definition of stakeholders. Who are the “social” stakeholders and what are their expectations? And how can organizations deliver value to the greater community?

Typically, we think of clients, management, suppliers and the project team as our stakeholders. Sometimes we include users and financial or regulatory bodies as well, but we need to take an even wider view. In their book Strategy: Process, Content, Context—An International Perspective, 3rd Edition [Thomson Learning, 2004], Bob De Wit and Ron Meyer describe a circle of stakeholders that extends beyond this typical view. We need to take responsibility for the way we deal with all of these stakeholders:

• Industry Partners: Share knowledge and build longterm relationships rather than focus on the shortterm contract obligations. Promote empowerment over control.
• Competitors: Be ethical and fair—beyond what is required by law—even in dealings with rivals.
• Economic Actors, such as tax authorities, central banks, employers’ federations, unions, stock exchanges: Apply sound governance principles and aim to create sustainable value for the organization.
• Socio-Cultural Actors, such as community groups, media, opinion leaders, religious organizations: Exercise sound corporate citizenship …

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