1. Stakeholder Engagement
in the context of
Conflict Analysis and Intervention
Sharon McCarthy

2. Stakeholder
• A person, group or organization that has interest in
or concern about a proposed action.
• Anyone who may impact or be impacted by an
organization’s actions, objectives or policies.
*An action can include a policy, project, plan, program or procedure.

3. Stakeholder (cont’d)
• Primary stakeholder – someone directly or
immediately affected, positively or negatively,
by an action.
• Secondary stakeholder – someone indirectly
or gradually affected, positively or negatively,
by an action.
• Key stakeholders – have significant influence
upon or importance within an organization.
(They can belong to the first two groups.)

4. Engagement
• Understanding stakeholders’ views, taking
them into consideration, being accountable to
them, and using the information gleaned in
decisions.

5. Stakeholder Engagement
• A continuum of interaction that reflects the
degree of influence stakeholders have in decision
making.
• The formal and informal ways of staying
connected to the parties who have an actual or
potential interest in, or can affect an action.
• The process of building long-term, collaborative,
mutually beneficial relationships.
• A form of participatory decision making.

6. Spectrum of Engagement/Participation
Inform
To provide balanced
information to assist
with understanding the
problem, alternatives,
opportunities, and/or
solutions.
Consult
To obtain feedback on
analysis, alternatives
and/or decisions.
Involve
To work directly with
stakeholders
throughout the process
to ensure their
concerns are
consistently
understood and
considered.
Engage/Collaborate
To partner with
stakeholders in each
aspect of the decision
including the
development of
alternatives, and the
identification of a
preferred solution.
Empower
To place final decision-
making with
stakeholders.

7. Spectrum of Stakeholder Engagement

8. Public Involvement Continuum

9. History of Stakeholder Engagement
• Modern stakeholder thinking arose in the 1930s in the midst of legal
debate about the responsibilities of corporations to their stockholders and
other constituencies.
• As health, safety, environment and community relations evolved, other
stakeholders groups were included.
• The Stanford Research Institute is often credited with first using the
modern definition of stakeholder in the 1960s.
• The concept was fused with management thinking in the 1980s with the
publication of Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, R. Edward
Freeman (1984).
• In the 1990s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability were
receiving more attention from the general public and corporations.
• From 2000 onward there has been a gradual recognition of the distinction
between stakeholder management/responsibility and stakeholder
responsiveness/building relationships.

10. A Plan, a Process, or an Approach
• An engagement plan can
- refer to the “communications” plans that
support a stakeholder process;
- entail a plan, do, check, and act model.
• An engagement process can flow from a
stakeholder plan; engagement plans can flow
from an engagement process.
• An engagement approach can refer to the
engagement plan and process.

11. Steps in Stakeholder Engagement
• Rationale
• Desired Outcomes
• Stakeholder Identification
• Stakeholder Analysis
• Interest/Issues Identification
• The Stakeholder Engagement Strategy

12. Rationale for Stakeholder Engagement
• public expectations
• regulatory requirements
• history of engaging stakeholders
• stakeholder management or stakeholder
responsiveness (relationship building)

13. Desired Outcomes
• Desired outcomes are the overall aims of an
engagement process.
• Outcomes are more specific than “purpose”
and are a clear statement of exactly what is
sought from a process.

14. Stakeholder Identification
• Who has an interest in the current situation?
• Who has history with the current situation,
e.g., based on locality, type of action, or the
roots of a conflict?
• Who can influence the outcome?
• Who has not been identified?

15. Stakeholder Identification (cont’d)
• Brainstorm on an initial list.
• Collect names from people who are active in
the community of interest.
• Consult with organizations that have been
involved with similar efforts or who work with
the population in the area of concern.
• Solicit further ideas from stakeholders who
have been identified.

16. Stakeholder Mapping
• Determine the relationship between
stakeholders.
• Determine the strength of each relationship
and its basis, e.g., historical, geographic.
• Determine whether there are groups with
similar or overlapping interests.

17. Stakeholder Mapping (cont’d)
• Primary care
providers
• Health and human
service
organizations
• Community
volunteers/activists
• Policy makers and
agencies
Advocacy
groups
People at
risk
Residents of
a particular
geographic
area.
A population
defined by
race or
ethnicity.

18. Stakeholder Mapping (cont’d)

19. Stakeholder Mapping (cont’d)
Power, Legitimacy and Urgency
• Latent stakeholders (groups 1,2,& 3) subdivided
into dormant, discretionary or demanding
stakeholders.
• Expectant stakeholders (groups 4,5,& 6)
subdivided into dominant, dangerous or
dependent stakeholders.
• Definitive stakeholders (group 7) have all three
characteristics and often take the most attention.

20. Stakeholder Analysis
A process of systematically gathering and
analyzing qualitative information to determine
whose interests should be taken into account
when
- developing and/or implementing a policy,
project, plan, program or procedure
- attempting to build relationships absent a
proposed action

21. Community Profiles
• Community profiles provide a summary of the
history, present conditions, and anticipated
future of an area/situation.
• Community profiles typically include population
demographics, economic and social history,
existing amenities and facilities, recent changes
and future plans.
• For stakeholder engagement with an
international focus population demographics and
economic and social history are the most
important aspects.

22. Value-Focused Thinking
Values-focused thinking
• defining and structuring fundamental values
in terms of objectives and using the objectives
to guide and integrate decision making
• making decisions in relation to objectives that
derive from stakeholder values
• contrasts with alternative-focused thinking

23. Value-focused Thinking (cont’d)
Criteria used to evaluate
people, behavior, experiences
and objects
Reflected in attitudes, beliefs,
feelings and perceptions and as
such form a critical component
of the decisions we make
Can be endemic, found across
cultures, or embedded within a
particular culture.
Principles used for evaluation
that help with choosing among
various possible goals.
Values

24. Value-focused Thinking (cont’d)
Thinking
about
Values
Creating
alternatives
Uncovering
hidden
objectives
Evaluating
alternatives
Improving
communication
Facilitating
involvement in
multiple-
stakeholder
decisions
Guiding
information
collection
Interconnecting
decisions
Guiding
strategic
thinking
Identifying
decision
opportunities

25. Stakeholder Analysis (cont’d)
High
Influence
Low Interest
High Interest
High Influence
Low
Influence
Low Interest
High Interest
Low Influence

26. Stakeholder Analysis (cont’d)
Communicate
High Level Engage
Monitor Keep Informed

27. Stakeholder Analysis (cont’d)
• Delineate a geographic sphere of influence.
• Delineate impact zones where different types
of environmental and social impacts may
occur.
• Note those groups who will be most directly
affected within the impact area.
• Include in the analysis groups and
organizations not adversely affected but
whose interests define them as stakeholders.

28. Interest/Issues Identification
• Interest/issues identification often occurs in
concert with stakeholder analysis.
• Interests and issues are most readily identified
by asking stakeholders:
– What is important to you?
– Why is this important?

29. The Stakeholder Engagement Strategy
• Prioritize who needs to be contacted and the
method(s) of contact.
• Detail the schedule of activities and the
decision making process.
• Identify aspects integral to the strategy:
– the need for a Terms of Reference
– the inclusion of a Chair, facilitators(s) and/or
mediator
– representativeness of stakeholders

30. Requirements to Engage
• The Ontario Electricity Act (1998), Sec. 13.2
specifies requirements for stakeholder input.
• Guidelines for federal officials to fulfill the
duty to consult and accommodate Aboriginal
interests.
• The International Labour Organization (ILO)
169 on Indigenous and Tribal People outlines
consultation requirements.

31. Enabling Conditions for Stakeholder
Engagement
A successful stakeholder engagement process is
helped along when the parties
• possess a cultural affinity
• recognize each other’s legitimacy
• dedicate time to building trust
• are willing to accept incremental gains

32. Enabling Conditions (cont’d)
• There exists the motivation of all parties to
engage one another in dialogue.
• There is articulated and agreed upon
existence of a goal(s) that can only be
accomplished through the participation of all
parties.
• Representatives of each party must have the
internal organizational capacity to act.

33. International Standards for Reporting
on Stakeholder Engagement
In recent years, international reporting standards
for business have begun to include requirements
for reporting on stakeholder activities and
performance.
• Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) – sets
standards for corporate governance and
stakeholder engagement including corporate
codes of conduct and public reporting.
• FTSE4Good Index Series – a series of benchmark
indices for socially responsible investors.

34. International Standards for Reporting
on Stakeholder Engagement (cont’d)
• UN Global Compact – commits signatory companies to
support and respect the protection of internationally
recognized human rights and make sure they are not
complicit in human rights abuses.
• Credit 360 – a web based data management system
that facilitates data collection and aggregation for
reporting and communication purposes.
• REACT – an online record of research, engagement and
consultation exercises undertaken by local authorities
across a district.

35. Concluding Comments
• At its best, stakeholder engagement enables
cooperation and collaboration.
• The timing for stakeholder engagement
depends on the situation and the availability
of information.
• Stakeholder engagement is often undertaken
to help avoid or resolve conflict, yet, conflict
can raise awareness and function as an
important check on a situation.

36. Concluding Comments (cont’d)
• Power imbalances go hand in hand with
stakeholder engagement.
• The conclusion of a stakeholder engagement
strategy does not always signal the end of a
conflict/dispute.

37. Resources
• International Finance Cooperation. Stakeholder
Engagement: A Good Practice Handbook for Companies
Doing Business in Emerging Markets.
• The KU Work Group, Community Tool Box, University of
Kansas Work Group for Community Health and
Development http://ctb.ku.edu/en
• International Association for Public Participation
http://www.iap2.org/
• The Global Reporting Initiative, include indicators for labour
practices, decent work and human rights
www.globalreporting.org
• Dow Jones Sustainability Index www.sustainability-
indices.com