Boxers, referees and stakeholders

7 april 2008

Do you know the story in the famous book Barbarians at the gate? It’s about two boxers. One of them is getting beat up something awful and going back to his corner at the end of the round saying, “He never laid a glove on me”. The trainer says: “Well keep an eye on the referee, because somebody’s kicking the shit out of you.” I believe it is an adequate metaphor for the arena in which companies have to operate nowadays. A wide range of (self pro claimed) stakeholders have an opinion on what the company should do or not. Activism of shareholders, NGO’s and others is increasing. Companies can not afford to be ill prepared for attacks. For then they will be “groggy” before knowing what hit them and why; thus only sure to be facing an uphill battle. As part of their sustainability agenda companies have to be aware about the dynamics they are in. Board members should take personal responsibility for that. How?
First: all stakeholders have to be treated as clients. You know what moves your clients, what they think, want and buy. Does the client want a relationship, or just a transaction? With the same drive you should assess other stakeholders. What are their motives? You will only find out through dialogue. For that board members have to step out of the ivory tower and go into the field. Meet your stakeholders and make sure you get unfiltered information so you can make a sound judgement on the perceptions about your company.
However, and that is my second point, unlike the client not every stakeholder is king. Shareholders, clients and employees with whom you have a direct relationship are obviously more important than the coincidental passer-by who wants to score a point. Depending on your strategic agenda and priorities you prioritise stakeholders and close the door for those that have little respect for that. So you definitely don’t have to build a relationship with every stakeholder.
Some, mistakenly say, that stakeholder dialogue is soft. They are wrong. Because it doesn’t mean that you transfer the responsibility for decision making to the other party. A dialogue is a navigation tool which helps you to take better decisions in view of the perceptions, expectations and demands of outside parties. Without careful navigation and dialogue you set your company up for disaster. Board members who are not willing or capable of taking personal responsibility have to step down in favour for others who can. Otherwise their company will become a “bruised boxer”, not able to maintain (let alone expand) its position. As we have stated before: business today is all about the survival of the best fitting.

(this blog is a summary of an article published in ManagementScope April 2008. The article itself is available in Dutch).

Deel dit artikel via :

---

Reacties op deze blog

---

Er zijn geen reacties op deze blog

---

Jouw reactie

---

Naam * :
E-mail :
	Laat mijn e-mail zien op de website
Bericht * :