The point was made in a previous post that in making decisions,

The point was made in a previous post that in making decisions, management needs to take the views and interests of stakeholders into consideration. (Boatright (2006).  Notwithstanding the necessity  to take the needs  and interests of stakeholders into consideration, it has been established, that the interest s of all stakeholders are not normally congruent with each other, and thus the question arises as the what is the best  way to manage the conflicting interests of  nonprofit organization.

 

One is not sure as to whether there is one best way to manage these conflicting and varied interests as it may very well be a function of the circumstance or the stakeholder groups at the time…

 

The first point to note however is that if one is going to manage any situation, relationships or otherwise, it is necessary that one first needs to create the enabling environment for such management to occur. According to Boatright (2006) the management of the organization should begin by creating an environment, of trust, fairness, the use of ethical standards, and honoring of agreements. In fact what is required is to begin build relationships based on core organizational values.

 

Boulette (2004). Identifies a methodology which he believes can be a useful tool I managing stakeholder interests. The tool is based on the prioritization of stakeholder’s interest which can be based on stakeholder level of interest and experience, identifying the stake holder’s perspective and their needs and finally aligning the stakeholder’s perspective and needs based on their perceived impact.

 

Organizations can also use a strategy particularly for the management of internal stakeholders of which Morris (1997) describes an s Stakeholder Management Devices. These are in effect  mechanisms through management can respond to the  concerns of internal stakeholders  and includes  these of ethics committees, written codes of ethics, employee newsletters which has the desired effete  of moderating the behaviour  of internal stakeholders..

 

Another  approach would be to manage stakeholders based on their relative salience. As Gago and Antolin note the management can manage stakeholders  based on  their  salience or relative importance but also with regard to their interest  on the various issues to be dicussed..

 

References

 

Boutelle, J. (2004). Understanding organizational stakeholders for design success.

 

Understanding Organizational Stakeholders for Design Success

 

Boatright, J. R. (2006). What’s wrong—and what’s right— with stakeholder management. Journal of Private Enterprise, 21(2), 1-25.

 

Gago F R Antolin M N (2004) Stakeholder salience in corporate environmental strategy.  Corporate Governance. 4(3) 65-76

 

Morris, S. A. (1997). Internal effects of stakeholder management devices. Journal of Business Ethics, 16(4), 413-424.