Stakeholders – THE GOOD, THE “BAD” and THE UGLY

If you have been a C-Class executive, Project Manager, Financial Analyst, CIO, in Middle Management or even among the IT developer community, I am quite sure you must have heard the word “STAKEHOLDER”.

STAKEHOLDER, as per business dictionary:

– a person, group or organization that has an interest or concern in that organization

And as per Merriam-Webster dictionary:

– a person or business that has invested money in something (such as a company)

– a person who holds the money that people have bet on something and then gives it to the winner

So, in a nutshell, stakeholders are the entities that can either affect or be affected by the organization’s actions, objectives and policies.

As we all agree that not all stakeholders are equal, there has been numerous attempts to classify them. Different groups over a period of time have come up with their own way to toss around the trendy buzzword to suit their purposes. Some of the commonly heard classifications are: Employees & Customers, Board of Directors, Partners, Stockholders, Funders & Donors, Internal & External, Primary & Secondary, Direct & Indirect, etc.

This can keep going on almost endlessly. What’s the point? How does this help? With such a huge list, it has merely caused confusion and diluted the relevance at the same time. Thus, following the principles of simplicity, my personal choice of classification will be:

GOOD,

“BAD”, and

UGLY.

GOOD stakeholders are entities that are committed to the survival of an organization, irrespective of how they are classified. They strive to be a positive influence and are the committed winds for the sail of an enterprise. These are entities to be preserved.

“BAD” stakeholders are people or groups that have a reason, purpose, desire or the potential to challenge the functioning of an organization. Again they can be anyone. They generally act as a reality check and introduce hard truths that at the end of day help enterprises make tough decisions in the right directions. “BAD” are key players and should be kept around.

UGLY stakeholders, are self-centered opportunists whose sole purpose of engagement with an organization is egomaniacal. They hardly bother to understand the purpose and reason for the existence of that organization and they linger until their self-interests are served. Again, they are widespread and can be found in every group: employees, customers, shareholders, stockholders, partners, etc. They should be watched, avoided, discarded or kept in check. They are the ones who have the potential to make a huge organization fail.

The history of the rise and fall of large (even ginormous) organizations can be very clearly seen through the glass of GOOD, “BAD“ and UGLY. The emphasis of organizational culture has been an attempt to eliminate the sanctimonious use of the word Stakeholder and to especially help distinguish the GOOD from the UGLY, but this has been very confined to the Employee group, which is not sufficient enough.

So, next time when you are up to the challenge of understanding your stakeholders, remember THE GOOD, THE “BAD“ and THE UGLY.

To Share (Info in the Supply Chain) or not to Share

That is the question.

Is it nobler for a distributor to suffer with out-dated forecast models and limited integration options than to coordinate with its downstream partners for some visibility?

What of the upstream partners? The heartache, the shock of order batching, price fluctuations and shortage gaming? For who could bear the Bullwhip Effect and the hell of eternal misalignment?

Efficient inventory management along with a significant reduction of uncertainties can become routine when a trusted network of individuals agree to share information. The dread and pangs of variability can be avoided with the proper user-friendly interface.

If a business system can talk seamlessly to select partners and exchange select data, productivity and response times increase. Goodbye uncertainty; hello better tracing and tracking, faster time to market and early problem detection. Above all, the building and strengthening of relationships and important social bonds.

What about confidentiality? Anti-trust regulations? Could this sharing be madness?

The importance of a configurable interface that can share and disseminate chosen information to preferred partners is paramount to success.

Do not lose the name of action. Explore the options for the controlled, secure sharing of data within the supply chain. Failure to gain this competitive advantage could be a real tragedy.

A Healthy Dose of Doubt

Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”

Anyone making tough business choices can surely appreciate this adage. How often do you find yourself trapped by indesicion simply from weighing the pros and cons of your future actions?

However, fortune favors the bold and great leaders build companies brick by brick, navigating difficult paths, while seeing and capitalizing on the patterns that dictate success. Step by sometimes meticulous step, intiatives are seized, creativity abounds and the fortress is strengthened. This is the timeless story of achievement and its simplicity is beautiful.

The connections behind the scenes should also be simple (and smart), allowing pure workflow that knows no limits and can capture the winning combinations needed to put another brick in the wall.

So second guess yourself all you want, the best do. Then go forward, simply, with confidence.