A stakeholder can be defined as any person or group that can affect or be affected by an entity. In this case， stakeholders are those that can affect or be affected by the building of the Giant Dam Project. Stakeholding is thus bi-directional. Stakeholders can be those (voluntarily or involuntarily) affected by the activities of an organisation or the stakeholder may be seeking to influence the organisation in some way.
All stakeholding is characterised by the making of ‘claims’ upon an organisation. Put simply，stakeholders ‘want something’ although in some cases， the ‘want’ may not be known by the stakeholder (such as future generations).It is the task of management to decide on the strengths of each stakeholder’s claim in formulating strategy and in making decisions. In most situations it is likely that some stakeholder claims will be privileged over others.
R&M’s external stakeholders include：
- The client (the government of the East Asian country)
- Stop-the-dam pressure group
- First Nation (the indigenous people group)
- The banks that will be financing R&M*s initial working capital
- Shareholders
(ii) Stakeholder claims
Four external stakeholders in the case and their claims are as follows.
The client，i.e. the government of the East Asian country. This stakeholder wants the project completed to budget and on time. It may also be concerned to minimise negative publicity in respect of the construction of the dam and the possible negative environmental consequences.
Stop-the-dam，the vocal and well organised pressure group. This stakeholder wants the project stopped completely，seemingly and slightly paradoxically，for environmental and social footprint reasons.
First Nation，the indigenous people group currently resident on the land behind the dam that would be flooded after its construction. This stakeholder also wants the project stopped so they can continue to live on and farm the land.
The banks (identified as a single group). These seem happy to lend to the project and will want it to proceed so they make a return on their loans commensurate with the risk of the loan. They do not want to be publicly identified as being associated with the Giant Dam Project.
Shareholders. The shareholders have the right to have their investment in the company managed in such a way as to maximise the value of their shareholding. The shareholders seek projects providing positive NPVs within the normal constraints of sound risk management.
Tutorial note：only four stakeholders need to be identified. Marks will be given for up to four relevant stakeholders only.
