STAKEHOLDER DIALOGUES
oCompanies can pursue three different strategies for managing stakeholders: reactive,
proactive, or interactive. Managers can:
owait for problems to arise (reactive)
oanticipate problems and implement plans before the problems arise (proactive), or
oengage with key stakeholders and jointly determine the appropriate course of
action (interactive)
oThe most difficult, yet possibly the most meaningful, approach is interactive dialogue
with stakeholder groups.
oTo begin this process, managers must reach an understanding that unilateral decision
making, which excludes stakeholder input and dialogue, can generate more intense
conflict and create both short-term and long-term organizational problems.
o Julia Roloff highlights six phases of issues-driven multi-stakeholder dialogues.
oInitiation Phase: Begin the dialogue process by having an independent third party
with expert facilitation skills moderate the meeting. Invite leaders from all
stakeholder groups involved with the issue. Make sure representatives from the
most prominent stakeholder groups participate. Excluding particular stakeholders
from the initial discussion will raise questions about the business’s sincerity and
intentions.
oAcquaintance Phase: Representatives of each stakeholder group, including the
business itself, presents their unique perspectives. Stakeholder groups can invite
“experts” who may have a better understanding of factual details and
implications. In an uninterrupted round-robin format, each stakeholder group
presents facts, and its interpretation of the facts, to the other stakeholders. The
business and other stakeholders will likely learn new knowledge about capacity
limitations and impacts. Listening and being able to paraphrase the various
stakeholder perspectives begins to establish a foundation for trust. Business
managers must take the lead in demonstrating empathy toward the other
stakeholders to ensure continued dialogue.
oFirst Agreement Phase: Based on the articulated perspectives, participants, guided
by the facilitator, reach agreement on the problem definition. Do not progress to
other issues until after consent is first achieved on the problem definition.
oSecond Agreement Phase: After understanding the competing viewpoints,
stakeholder group representatives propose potential solutions to the defined
problem. For this phase to succeed, representatives must be willing to entertain
potential win-win scenarios. Dialogue process credibility is damaged if
participants are not open to exploring alternative solutions. At this point, some
stakeholders may disengage from further deliberations because important
demands are not being addressed.
oImplementation Phase: Begin this phase by recognizing that every stakeholder,
including the business, may have sacrificed something in reaching the agreement.
The channels of communication must remain open to ensure commitments are
upheld. Any broken promises by the business, whether intentional or
unintentional, can ignite protests, negative publicity, or lawsuits if not rectified