Typology of Organisational Stakeholders

Typology of Organisational Stakeholders:

The typology of organizational stakeholders in the figure shows two dimensions: potential for threat and potential for cooperation. Note that stakeholders can move among the quadrants, changing positions as situations and stakes change. Generally, officers of a firm in confroversial situation, or situations that offer significant opportunities for an organisation, try to influence and move stakeholders toward type-1. (Weiss,2014)

		Stakeholder’s Potential for  Threat to Ogranisation
		High	Low
Stakeholder’s Potential for Cooperation with Ogranisation	High	Type-4 MIXED BLESSING Strategy: COLLABORATE	Type-1 SUPPORTIVE Strategy: INVOLVE
	Low	Type-3 NON-SUPPORTIVE Strategy: DEFEND	Type-2 MARGINAL Strategy: MONITOR

Figure: Diagnostic Typology of Organisational Stakeholders [Source: Adopted from: Weiss,2014]

Type-1: Supportive Stakeholder, with low potential for threat and high potential for cooperation. Here the strategy of the focal company is to involve the supportive stakeholder. Think of both internal and external stakeholders who might be supportive and who should be involved in the focal organisation’s strategy.

Type-3: The Non-supportive stakeholder, who shows a high potential for threat and a low potential for cooperation, represents an undesirable stance from the perspective of the influencer. The suggested strategy in this situation calls for the focal organisation to defend its interests and reduce dependence on that stakeholder.

Type-4: Mixed Blessing stakeholder, with high potential for both threat and cooperation. This stakeholder calls for collaborative strategy. In this situation, the stakeholder could become a Supportive or Non-supportive type. A collaborative strategy aims to move the stakeholder to the focal company’s interests.

Type-2: The Marginal stakeholder. This stakeholder has a low potential for both threat and cooperation. Such stakeholders may not be interested in the issues of concern. The recommended strategy in this situation is to monitor the stakeholder, to “wait and see” and minimize expenditure of resources, until the stakeholder moves to a Mixed Blessing, Supportive, or Non-supportive position. (Weiss,2014)

Bibliography:

Weiss, J. W. (2014), Business Ethics: A Stakeholder and Issues Management Approach, California: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.