Page 390 - Operations Strategy

hoW does learnIng ConTrIbuTe To sTraTegIC ConTrol? 365
different stakeholders and, more importantly, how they should be managed, is to dis-
tinguish between their power to influence the project and their interest in doing so.
Stakeholders who have the power to exercise a major influence over the project should
never be ignored. At the very least, the nature of their interest, and their motivation,
should be well understood. But not all stakeholders who have the power to exercise
influence over a project will be interested in doing so, and not everyone who is inter-
ested in the project has the power to influence it. The power–interest grid, shown in
Figure 10.14, classifies stakeholders simply in terms of these two dimensions. Although
there will be graduations between them, the two dimensions are useful in providing an
indication of how stakeholders can be managed in terms of four categories:
1 Manage closely – High-power, interested groups must be fully engaged, with the great-
est efforts made to satisfy them.
2 Keep satisfied – High-power, less interested groups require enough effort to keep them
satisfied, but not so much that they become bored or irritated with the message.
3 Keep informed – Low-power, interested groups need to be kept adequately informed,
with checks to ensure that no major issues are arising. These groups may be very
helpful with the detail of the project.
4 Monitor – Low-power, but less interested groups need monitoring, but without exces-
sive communication.
Some key questions that can help to understand high-priority stakeholders include
the following:
● What financial or emotional interest do they have in the outcome of the implemen-
tation? Is it positive or negative?
● What motivates them most of all?
● What information do they need?
● What is the best way of communicating with them?
● What is their current opinion of the implementation project?

Figure 10.14 The stakeholder power–interest grid

High

Keep satisfied Manage closely

Stakeholder
power

Monitor Keep informed

Low
Low High
Stakeholder interest

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