What
is Stakeholder Analysis?
Stakeholder
Analysis (SA) is a methodology used to facilitate institutional
and policy reform processes by accounting for
and often incorporating the needs of those who have a ‘stake’ or
an interest in the reforms under consideration. With information
on stakeholders, their interests, and their capacity to
oppose reform, reform advocates
can choose how to best accommodate them, thus assuring
policies adopted are politically realistic
and sustainable.
Although Stakeholder Analysis originated from the business
sciences, it has evolved into a field that now incorporates
economics, political science, game and decision theory, and
environmental sciences. Current models of SA apply a variety
of tools on both qualitative and quantitative data to understand
stakeholders, their positions, influence with other groups,
and their interest in a particular reform. In addition, it
provides an idea of the impact of reform on political and
social forces, illuminates the divergent viewpoints towards
proposed reforms and the potential power struggles among
groups and individuals, and helps identify potential strategies
for negotiating with opposing stakeholders.
Who Are Stakeholders?
A stakeholder is any entity with a declared or conceivable
interest or stake in a policy concern. The range of stakeholders
relevant to consider for analysis varies according to
the complexity of the reform area targeted and the
type of
reform proposed and, where the stakeholders are not organized,
the incentive to include them. Stakeholders can be of
any form, size and capacity. They can be individuals,
organizations,
or unorganized groups. In most cases, stakeholders fall
into one or more of the following categories: international
actors (e.g. donors), national or political actors (e.g.
legislators, governors), public sector agencies (e.g.
MDAs), interest groups (e.g. unions, medical associations),
commercial/private
for-profit, nonprofit organizations (NGOs, foundations),
civil society members, and users/consumers. Major Attributes to Consider
Four
major attributes are important for Stakeholder Analysis:
the stakeholders’ position on the reform issue,
the level of influence (power) they hold, the level
of interest
they have in the specific reform, and the group/coalition
to which they belong or can reasonably be associated
with. These attributes are identified through various
data collection methods, including interviews with
country experts
knowledgeable about stakeholders or with the actual stakeholders
directly.
The level of influence depends on the quantity and type
of resources and power the stakeholder can marshal to promote
its position on the reform. The level of interest or salience
is the priority and importance the stakeholder attaches to
the reform area. Broadly, these attributes signal the capability
the stakeholder has to block or promote reform, join with
others to form a coalition of support or opposition, and
lead the direction/discussion of the reform. SA therefore
provides a detailed understanding of the political, economic,
and social impact of reform on interested groups, the hierarchy
of authority and power among different groups and the actual
perceptions of the reform among different groups, all of
which are important for reform advocates to consider.
When to Conduct Stakeholder Analysis
Timing is an important factor in the implementation of
Stakeholder Analysis to assure the usefulness of
the results for policy
formulation. In most cases, SA should precede the finalizing
of reform proposals. In early stages of policy formulation,
SA can help gauge the likelihood of acceptance and sustainability
of anticipated policy reforms. By initiating SA prior
to the introduction of the reform and continuing
to modify
the policy proposal during the design process, potential
obstacles to implementation and results can be avoided.
When used at the right time and in conjunction with other
tools such as qualitative political economy analyses
and social impact assessments, Stakeholder Analysis
can inform
task team strategies to overcome opposition, build coalitions,
and channel information and resources to promote and
sustain proposed reform. Data Collection
Several methods can be employed to collect
data on stakeholders in a comprehensive
and efficient manner. Prior to the actual
collection, a brief review of background literature and
country studies can provide a useful understanding of
the
country’s political economy. One method of collecting
data is to conduct interviews directly with the stakeholders
involved in the specific policy area. The second method
is to interview local experts in the field who are knowledgeable
about the issue and the important groups and individuals
involved in the policy area. Some country team members (e.g. country managers) often
hold extensive local knowledge and can provide a critical
first hand understanding of which stakeholders are relevant
to the reform area. However, unless resources and time do
not permit, interviewing of local and international experts
in the policy area or country and/or the stakeholders themselves
is imperative.
Broad,
all-inclusive interviews will lead to an effective Stakeholder
Analysis process since it will uncover many facets
of the country’s political economy. The content and
questions of the interviews should focus on background information
on the policy making process, information that identifies
key stakeholders from a variety of groups in the reform process,
and clarifying assumptions about stakeholders power and interest
in the decision-making process. The number of interviews
is determined by the research team, taking into consideration
field conditions and logistical constraints (e.g. sensitivity,
access, time, budget, etc.).
Analyzing Data and Designing Strategy
Data from interviews – including
scaled values assigned to the attributes and
relative rankings calculated accordingly – are
catalogued and
presented in charts and/or matrices, highlighting
the following attributes:
- group
- their
interest (or salience)
- influence
(power)
- position
on the reform
An important
measure called “effective power” (degree
of power the stakeholder holds over other groups in relation
to a reform area) is determined by weighting a combination
of a stakeholder’s salience and influence.
A clear
assessment of each stakeholder’s power and
likely impact on the policy making process is conducted through
several steps. The first step is to create a continuum. Stakeholders
are mapped on a continuum indicating support for the reform
on a scale of 0 to 100 from low (far left) to high (far right).
The varying degrees of support are marked on the line with
a value indicating their reform preference. This implement
also provides a quick visual of the ‘lay of the land’,
illuminating clusters of groups that support, oppose or are
indifferent to reform.
The next step is to organize the stakeholder data according
to relative power/influence and salience of each stakeholder
to understand their potential support or opposition for the
proposed reform. Often, a matrix is used to organize and
classify the stakeholder data. One form is to map salience/interest
and influence on the axes. This matrix provides a shorthand
categorization and analysis of which stakeholders will gain
or lose from a proposed reform and whether they can significantly
impact the process. To guide strategic responses, stakeholders
are categorized by their power and salience in a grid according
to the following attributes:
- Promoters: Stakeholders who attach a high priority to the reform
policy a priority
and whose actions can have an impact on the implementation
of the policy
- Defenders: Stakeholders who attach a high priority to the reform policy
but
whose actions cannot have an impact on the implementation of the
policy
- Latents: Stakeholders whose actions can affect the implementation
of the reform
policy but who attach a low priority to this policy
- Apathetics: Stakeholders whose actions cannot affect the implementation
of the
reform policy and who attach a low priority to this policy
The above grid and an additional one facilitate scenario-building
and discussion and helps task teams determine appropriate
responsive strategies (e.g. which stakeholders to target
for negotiations and trade-offs, or which to buttress with
resources and information, etc.).
One of the main goals of Stakeholder Analysis is to reveal,
and therefore potentially assist in reducing, the power imbalance
among weaker groups which is often revealed during policy
reform process. Depending on the attributes of the stakeholder
(e.g. their level of influence vs. their salience on the
issue), strategies may be tailored to address their concerns.
For example:
- Maintain
or increase power of reform supporters through building
coalitions, and providing information and
resources
- Convert
opposition into support through negotiations, information
and/or coalition building, including offering
tradeoffs.
- Offset
or counter powerful and not so powerful opponents
Because stakeholders and their positions may change over
the course of negotiations and analyses, SA should remain
an ongoing process allowing for policy design to adjust as
more is known about the political reality. Ultimately, Stakeholder
Analysis is a critical tool in clarifying the micro political
economy of a policy area and can help identify interested
parties that should be incorporated in the decision-making
process, in addition to understanding the basis for their
inclusion.
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