This is a short extract from the book, “Procurement with Purpose - How organisations can change the way they spend money now to protect the planet and its people”. Available from Brown Dog here or all good online retailers.
There are five key stakeholder groups in terms of the sustainable and purposeful business movement. Some of the players drive change; some are reactive and simply respond to change. There is some overlap, too. Many of us will personally fall into several groups, perhaps as customers, employees and probably investors, too, directly or through pension funds or savings schemes.
These groups share some interests, but can also have different outlooks on the key issues. That is true of us as individuals, as we have our own internal conflicts. We can see the benefits of cycling and perhaps love doing it ourselves, yet get frustrated by the behaviour of some cyclists when we are driving! We want to buy products manufactured or farmed in a sustainable and thoughtful manner; but the 3 for 2 offer on cheap chicken or chocolate biscuits catches our eye. Flying to the Alps for a skiing holiday is not a very sustainable activity; but after a tough year, don’t we deserve our break?
Those examples may seem trivial, but they highlight the complexities within the sustainable and purposeful business agenda. Similarly, our viewpoint as an investor might be somewhat different from that we hold as a customer of a firm. Those conflicts have to be managed at corporate level, and balancing different interests will continue to be a key role for politicians, Boards, and senior corporate executives.
Let’s examine the five key stakeholder groups in more detail. They are:
· The customers of organisations, whether those customers are individual consumers, public sector bodies, or other businesses. Ultimately, we can argue that most business change is driven by customer wants, needs and behaviours, and pretty much everyone in the world fits into this group in some way.
· Business owners, whether individuals (owners of private firms and shareholders in public companies) or institutions such as pension funds, investment managers and insurance companies. Owners may be driven by their own beliefs, customer pressure or both.
· Staff within organisations, from CEOs and Boards to the grass roots “shop-floor” workers, who want to drive change and bring that imperative into their workplace. Staff are also customers and consumers (and they may be business owners, too), but working within organisations to promote change can bring an added dimension to the picture.
· Governments, and regulatory bodies linked to government, that have increasingly legislated to drive certain business behaviour, arguably in turn driven by the expectations of citizens (the voters).
· Other interested and expert parties, including the media, academics, charities and lobby groups who have raised awareness of issues generally or specifically. Whilst such individuals and organisations would probably not achieve much if the general public were not showing an interest in these topics, many provide valuable information and act as an amplifying force as the sustainable business movement develops.
All these groups are made up ultimately of people, but their interests and viewpoints on any particular issue can be different. They therefore have somewhat different roles when it comes to influencing sustainable business thinking and practice.