Choose one of the companies below and identify three key stakeholders. Then discuss how the company caters for their interests and what may happen if their expectations are not met.
When I started thinking about three key stakeholders of a water utility company, it became a challenge I would never expect. Too many people are interested in it – government, unemployed people, banks, local authorities, and probably I made a wrong choice trying to make a shorter list – please note, these are only my ideas and I will try to explain them.
First, I asked myself without whom this company cannot exist. The answer is obvious: without Affected people such as households, families, and individuals. These people have an extremely high interest in receiving the supply of piped water, as well as in everything that is connected with improving the quality of this service. These people should be catered well; if the quality of the service is bad (e.g., the water is dirty, there is no water during some long periods of time, the fee is too high, etc.) – affected people might do several things, from applying to the court (and, actually, winning the case) to moving in order to change the water utility company.
The other two key stakeholders are the Government and Owners. The government is interested in improving water supply and sanitation services and is responsible for setting taxes, providing opportunities and guidance. The Government sets laws, taxes, and rules – every company must obey them and if it doesn’t, it will lose a lot of money and, probably, won’t exist for a long period of time. The water utility company plays a serious role in the daily life of hundreds and thousands of citizens, and in some cases when something goes wrong the Government can directly regulate how this company works to make sure that affected people are satisfied.
Owners are interested in the successful implementation of the water utility system as well as providing unemployed people with jobs. As in many other businesses, of course, Owners of the water utility company are also highly interested in raising their income. If their expectations are not met, they can get rid of the company – e.g., sell it or close, in the worst case. But normally they will ask their top managers to change the strategy first – who knows, maybe it will drastically change the situation.
References
Carpenter, M., Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2010). Management Principles, v. 1.1. Retrieved from https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/management-principles-v1.1/