Week 10 - Strategy: Stakeholders, Governance and Responsibility Flashcards
1
Q
Stakeholders and strategy
A
- Stakeholders are relevant to strategy as strategies and strategic decisions are influenced by the expectations of stakeholders.
- Stakeholders are best defined as the “individuals or groups that depend on organisations to fulfil their own goals and on whom organisations depend”. - “Stakeholders are individuals and entities that can be influenced by, or can impact on, a firm”
- Hill and Hones (1992)
2
Q
Stakeholder mapping
A
- Stakeholder mapping is a means to understand the influence of different stakeholders/groups in strategy (and different strategic projects).
- Two key dimensions in stakeholder mapping to consider – extant power and perceived attention.
3
Q
Stakeholder mapping
A
- High power, high attention: The most important stakeholders who need to be prioritised– keep them happy!
- High power, low attention: Have some influence and organisations should work to keep these stakeholders satisfied but lack significant attention. - Low power, high attention: Although the power of these stakeholders is low, they have high attention and this could be useful/important to monitor.
- Low power, low attention: Stakeholders who need to be monitored and kept updated, but have little power/attention.
4
Q
Stakeholder mapping - core groups
A
- Players: Owners, leaders, top managers, shareholders, clients. - Subjects: Non-execs, advisors, the media, government.
- Context-setters: Middle-managers, suppliers, consultants, customers.
- Crowd: Customers, local media, councils/local government.
5
Q
Stakeholder mapping - four steps
A
- Step 1: Identify key stakeholders.
- Step 2: Group and prioritise.
- Step 3: Buy-in, communicating/collaborating.
- Step 4: Review and manage over-time (repeat?)
6
Q
Stakeholders and governance
A
- Governance concerns the structures and systems of control by which managers are held accountable to those who have a legitimate stake in an organisation.
- Governance is thus a strategic concern.
- It is relevant to the legitimacy and responsibility actions of firms.
7
Q
CSR and strategy
A
- Corporate social responsibility is perhaps the most common term we associate with responsibility/sustainability in business.
- Firms often incorporate CSR as part of their strategy (or less commonly have a separate CSR strategy/plan).
- Increasingly, we see firms (forprofit/third sector) that have responsibility/sustainability at the core of their business model.
8
Q
Lyon et al (2018) - recommended reading
A
- CSR needs CPR.
- Focus on stakeholders and responsibilities – the relationship between firms and government.
- Firms have responsibilities to be responsible. These may be aligned to policy or be an independent strategic decision.
9
Q
Balancing profit/performance and responsibility
A
- What organisations do (or do not do!) depends on their leaders (c-suite, top managers, boards/directors).
- Formulating responsibility and sustainability goals (as we’re mostly discussing here).
- Also, for example, measuring risk assessment, fostering gender equality and inclusiveness, etc. - Rhetoric and different motives
10
Q
CSR and strategy example1 & 2
A
picture
11
Q
Example in disparity - FMCG (Unilever, Nestle)
A
- Strategic concerns between firms can differ hugely.
- Some actively look to CSR as a strategic decision/commitment.
- Others see CSR as a secondary consideration (or possibly a unwanted cost/consideration).
12
Q
Responsibilities and future of work (wetherspoon, sports direct, deliveroo)
A
- The notion of the future of work is another key (strategic) concern for organisations and their responsibility.
- Casual work, ’zero hours’, and the ‘gig’ economy are central to (some) modern firms. - Digital work represents how technology is changing the nature of work – AI, automation, algorithms?
13
Q
Organisational legitimacy
A
- Organisational legitimacy is the perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper or appropriate.
- Organisations might be in the position where they need to: - 1) Establish legitimacy.
2) Defend legitimacy.
3) Re-establish (or build) legitimacy
14
Q
Legitimation strategies
A
- Legitimation strategies represent strategic responses of firms.
- They are important for how organisations can strategically manage their legitimacy over time. - There are three core legitimation strategies which organisations can ‘use’.
- Key here is the balance between organisational actions and societal expectations and how the two influence one another.
15
Q
Organisational actions vs societal expectations
A
- Organisational actions - the general (strategic) actions that organisations take to function (e.g., deliver to consumers, provide services, make profit).
- Societal expectations - what society comes to expect from organisations (institutions) which are the source of legitimacy judgements.
