1. Tool D2The five satisfactions
(stakeholder analysis)
A stakeholder analysis supports the identification of objectives ana-
lysing the differing and coinciding interests and expectations of peo-
ple or groups of people in your specific context.
The stakeholder analysis tool used here is based on the five types of
stakeholders each organisation or project of whatever purpose can
identify. At the same time, it is in full concordance with the five
stakeholders considered by the Excellence Model of the European
Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM).
We call the co-operation structure, be it a company, an association,
an institution, a sports club, a network agency, or simply a project,
community of performance as for their perpetuation and survival
they all have to perform in agreement with two basic aims:
• fulfilling the practical purpose for which they were originally
founded or which meanwhile has been defined as their raison
d’être;
• making sure that they do not permanently spend more resources
than they receive, i.e., warrant at least simple reproduction.
The stakeholder
mind map -
a tool for
analysis and planning
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Any such organisation has five types of stakeholders whose interests
and expectations form part of the organisation’s mission. The overall
aim of any organisational performance resides in satisfying the per-
ceived needs of these stakeholders. Any misconception of the spe-
cific mix of stakeholder expectations will lead to critical situations
in a short or medium period or to existential crises in the longer run.
Therefore, analysing the specific mix of each organisation’s stake-
holder context is of strategic as well as immediate practical rele-
vance. It pursues the identification of the specific relationship of
taking and giving between the organisation and each stakeholder.
Analysing the take
and give relation-
ships of our organi-
sation
• Investors
are those people or groups of people providing capital or other
resources (time, influence) without which the organisation would
not exist or continue existing.
Investors
• Customers or clients (external)
are the direct and/or indirect buyers of products and services
provided by organisation. Their demand is decisive for the devel-
opment of an organisation. A notorious lack of demand of the
products or services will also lead to the decease of the organisa-
tion.
Customers
• Workforce
are those people, employed or in other contractual relationships
with the organisation who produce the products and/or provide
the services of the organisation. The way how their force of
working is transformed in useful work and products or services,
i.e., the specific shaping of the internal co-operation, the actual
organisation and processes and their material and cultural condi-
tions constitute the character and identity of the organisation.
Workforce
• Partners
are all those people and organisations who provide supporting
material and information needed for manufacturing or rendering
the services.
Partners
• The societal and natural environment
is constituted by the laws, standards and values the organisation
must or wants to respect regarding the social and political con-
text and the natural environment. These regards may concern
the production or services, e.g. the nature and quality of materi-
als used or the safety of working conditions, as well as the cul-
ture of internal communication with and of the workforce and of
the external communication, for example, the relationship with
the media, the region, the local labour market, etc.
The societal and
natural environment
How do we satisfy
our stakeholders?
The overall stakeholder analysis question is:
How do we satisfy the expectations of our stakeholders?
In order to answer this question, it is important to pose a further
question regarding the quality of the answer: Do we know these ex-
pectations from hearsay or do we have documents, inquiries and
surveys? Are they just hypotheses or sound information? Do we really
know or just assume?
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The analytical and planning process can be structured in four basic
steps:
In a first step,
the stakeholder analysis consists in clarifying who exactly are the
specific stakeholders of “our organisation” which can be named un-
der each of the five types represented in the mind map.
1. Who?
In a second step,
the stakeholders named under each type are ranked in order of im-
portance to the organisation. This importance may differ depending
on the purpose of the analysis; for a strategic analysis other criteria
may weigh more than for a very practical process review. An inter-
mediate step may include the following analysis:
2. What?
Which expectations?
WEAK INFLUENCE STRONG INFLUENCE
STRONG
INTEREST
Stakeholders in this seg-
ment may prove helpful if
they become supporters of
the project/programme.
Stakeholders in this seg-
ment must be accommo-
dated.
WEAK
INTEREST
Stakeholders in this seg-
ment will have little or no
affect on the pro-
ject/programme.
Stakeholders in this seg-
ment may become danger-
ous or very supportive to
project/programme if they
become interested.
In a third step,
and following the ranking results, the question to be answered is,
What are the expectations of each specific stakeholder with regard
to the performance of the organisation? This closer view may influ-
ence the initial ranking and lead to modifications.
3. How important
are they?
In a fourth step,
for selected stakeholders, the subsequent question is, What do we
do to meet the identified expectations? Do we know how satisfied
the respective stakeholder is with our performance? What is good?
What could be better? What will we do?
4. How good are we
in meeting their
expectations?
In-depth analysis
with Tool D3 and
Tool A9
For a more detailed analysis of such a relationship, a further instru-
ment is recommended. Tool D3, customer and supplier needs analy-
sis and planning, supports a critical task analysis in a customer sup-
plier relationship or along a customer supplier chain. Tool A9, cus-
tomer and supplier process analysis and planning, can provide fur-
ther support.