News on Stakeholder Management

Hand picked news stories about stakeholder actions, stakeholder management - good and bad practice and anything else related to stakeholders or the term stakeholder.

Thomas Cook - a case study in poor Stakeholder Engagement

BBC News. www.bbc.com, 02 November 2015, Leeds & West Yorkshire.

Thomas Cook gas deaths: Firm's contact with family 'often ill-judged'

Thomas Cook have shown how focus on profit and the interests of your shareholders at the expense of your stakeholders leads to lasting negative consequences. In 2006 two children died from Carbon Monoxide poisoning while on a Thomas Cook holiday in Corfu. Justin King, former CEO of Sainsburys led a review into Thomas Cook's handling of the deaths. Justin King said parts of the company had a tendancy to:
to protect cost rather than maximise the customer experience
and that:
Decisions were often not taken in the thoughtful and caring way you would expect from a company such as Thomas Cook Justin King, author of Review into Thomas Cook
This is another example of the case for Stakeholder Theory and a Stakeholder Approach to business. Read full article see also Thomas Cook 'puts profit above customer safety', report finds

Victory for Jamie Oliver in the U.S. as McDonald’s is forced to stop using ‘pink slime’ in its burger recipe

Jill Reilly, Updated: 11:31, 7 January 2015, Daily Mail

McDonald's deny that Jamie Oliver's TV campaign drove their decision, but they have altered their ingredients after Jamie showed audiences the slime used in the ammonium hydroxide process used to convert beef offcuts into filler for burger patties.
'Why would any sensible human being want to put ammonia-filled meat into their children's mouths? asked Jamie Oliver
Read the full article

Royal Dutch Shell agrees £55m Nigeria oil spill settlement

Christopher Adams and William Wallis, January 7, 2015 12:03 am, Financial Times

Proving that stakeholder theory could provide an important framework in helping to protect shareholder interests. Notice the comment from the executive director of the Stakeholder Democracy Network.
Royal Dutch Shell is to pay tens of millions of pounds in compensation to 15,000 Nigerian fishermen affected by two huge oil spills. The out of court deal, believed to be the biggest of its kind, ends a three year legal battle.
Joseph Hurst-Croft, executive director of the Stakeholder Democracy Network, which works with communities in the Niger Delta. "This is one spill. It is a big one. But if they are liable for one spill what are they liable for over the years? If I was a shareholder I would be factoring in future liabilities," he said.
Read the full article at FT.com.

ING took care and time over merger implementation

Tao Yue and Mignon van Halderen, July 8, 2013 5:19 pm, Case Studies, Financial Times

An example of good practice in stakeholder management from ING

In April 2007 the board of ING Group decided to merge its two autonomous subsidiaries, Postbank and ING Bank. People in the Netherlands all knew Postbank. They were emotionally attached to its blue lion logo, which symbolised Dutch national values such as reliability and value for money.

External Communication: The Tango team spread its marketing messages over a year to allow time to build understanding among customers. As different customers had different questions, Tango reached them in different ways, such as using surveys to understand their needs, sending welcome packages and personalised letters, and calling them in person.
Read the full article

10 of the worst examples of management-speak

Steven Poole, April 25, 2013 14:01 BST, theguardian

Stakeholder makes it to number 8 in Steven Poole's list.
This term, plump with cheaply bought respect, seems to have infected corporate-speak from New Labour politics, where "stakeholders" were not wooden-spike-wielding vampire hunters but people with an interest
Read the full article

Edinburgh faces £1m tram payout to injured cyclists

David McCann, November 22, 2012 12:13, The Scotsman

Edinburgh council have failed to listen to the concerns of their stakeholders, specifically cyclists who report multiple injuries caused by the tram lines.
Chris Field, chair of the Cyclists Defence Fund, said: “Local cycle campaigners had repeatedly voiced concerns about the hazards of Edinburgh’s tram scheme. It is now all too clear that they were right – over 80 cyclists have been injured on Edinburgh’s main street and the trams haven’t even started running yet.
Figures were compiled after cycling safety consultant John Franklin submitted Freedom of Information requests to Lothian and Borders Police and the city council.
Read the full article

Cameron hits out at 'bureaucratic rubbish' holding back UK economy

Andrew Sparrow, political correspondent, Sunday 18 November 2012 19.01 EST, Guardian

UK PM tells CBI that Whitehall decision-making must become more pro-business and lashes out at judicial reviews halting infrastructure projects
"Government can still be far too slow at getting stuff done," he will say. "Consultations, impact assessments, audits, reviews, stakeholder management, securing professional buy-in, complying with EU procurement rules, assessing sector feedback, this is not how we became one of the most powerful, prosperous nations on earth. It's not how you get things done. So I am determined to change this."
Read the full article at Guardian.com. Obviously at stakeholdermap.com we don't agree with the UK Prime Minster regarding stakeholder management! Other news stories on this page give good reasons why. Stakeholder Management is all about 'getting stuff done'.