Essay on Maximizing Stakeholder Engagement: Unlocking Business Success

Introduction

Stakeholder management is the lifeblood of any business (Tanimoto, 2019). All stakeholder matter, regardless of their roles. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the needs of each stakeholder, establishing a feeling of relevance and trust (Tanimoto, 2019). Effective management of stakeholders contributes to the success of any business because as group stakeholders might understand the situation that a single input, bringing different perspectives during the problem-solving process. Also, various stakeholders have different expectations. For instance, when customers feel their priorities and expectations have not been met in the product, a company may risk rejection.

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Since the overall goal of an organization is to address the value of any challenging opportunity, this goal should meet the overall goal of the end-user, whether it is offering actual products or services (Tanimoto 2019). To achieve this objective, effective management of stakeholders requires keeping communication channels open, giving room for feedback. Feedback is vital in identifying the unique needs of every stakeholder, contributing to a satisfied company community: investors, employees, customers, suppliers, and society at large. When there is satisfaction coordinating efforts to reach successful outcomes is an easy task (Tanimoto 2019).

Stakeholders at Walmart

Walmart understands that stakeholders have both direct or indirect influence when taking strategic directions in the company. It uses dynamics in their relationships in making managerial decisions to achieve satisfactory leadership position (Meyer 2017). Although Walmart has its prioritization of these stakeholders, they are all involved in the decision-making process Meyer 2017.

Internal Stakeholders

The three major internal stakeholders at Walmart are the owners, board of directors, and employees. Although owners are not involved in the daily operations at Walmart, they are usually consulted on strategic decisions at the company (Meyer 2017). Owners have shares in the company, and as such, affected directly when the value of the shares fall.

The board of directors carries out executive functions at the company. They assign duties to different managers. These directions are finally passed to the employees for implementation. Employee management (motivation and engagement) is an essential part of human resource management, and as such employees are given significant consideration when making managerial decisions Meyer 2017.

External Stakeholders

The three major stakeholders at Walmart are investors, customers, and suppliers. Investors are given the highest priority (Meyer, 2017). Investors are interested in making profits, and as such, they are concerned when the operational costs are high. Policy changes which minimize operational costs are of great importance to them.

Customers are given the second priority after investors (Meyer 2017). Since they are interested in getting high-quality products at low prices, affordability, and quality aspects of products or services is of great interest to them. Suppliers are interested in selling their products to Walmart at favorable prices. Therefore, there in engagement when there are changes in prices.

Recommendations

One area that Walmart has to improve is addressing the needs of its employees and suppliers as stakeholders. Currently, the company maintains relatively low wages when compared to the market pay ranges per pay grade. Also, the company insists on suppliers providing products at excessively low prices (Meyer 2017). The company can consider giving a small but significant pay rise to keep employees engaged and motivated. Concerning suppliers, the company should strive to meet the suppliers halfway in price negotiations.

References

Meyer, P., 2017. Walmart's stakeholders: analysis & recommendations. [Online] (updated 25 March, 2017) Available at: < http://panmore.com/walmart-stakeholders-analysis-recommendations> [Accessed 18 July, 2019].

Tanimoto, K., 2019. Do multi-stakeholder initiatives make for better CSR? Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society.