case study analysis stakeholder

• Contact sales

Start free trial

Stakeholder Analysis 101 (Example & Template Included)

A stakeholder is anyone who has a vested interest in a project. If your stakeholders aren’t satisfied with the results of a project, you’ve failed. Therefore, in order to successfully complete a project, it’s essential to gain a clear understanding of who your stakeholders are, what their expectations are and what motivates them. This process is called stakeholder analysis.

What Is Stakeholder Analysis?

Stakeholder analysis identifies and prioritizes stakeholders before the project begins. It organizes stakeholders into groups according to how much they participate in the project, what their interest level is and how much influence they have. Once these people are identified and organized, then you must figure out the best way to involve each stakeholder in the project, including the best channels for communication based on their needs.

Get your free

Stakeholder Analysis Template

Use this free Stakeholder Analysis Template for Excel to manage your projects better.

Communication is key to stakeholder analysis because stakeholders must buy into and approve the project, and this can only be done with timely information and visibility into the project. The former puts the project in context while the latter builds trust. All this leads to the project being in strategic alignment with stakeholders and the overall business goals of the company.

Why Is Stakeholder Analysis Important?

Stakeholder analysis is a way to get help from key project players. Once you determine who these key stakeholders are, then you can bring them into the project kickoff meeting to help align the project with strategic objectives. Their experience helps a project avoid pitfalls and getting their help builds stronger relationships. They can also help with conflict resolution during the project execution.

Stakeholders are also crucial for delivering the resources you need to get the project done right. When there is good communication between a stakeholder and a project manager, then the stakeholder can help deliver the people, tools and other resources necessary to get the project done.

The process of going through stakeholder analysis is also a way to build a relationship of trust with stakeholders. Once you have a line of communication open with stakeholders, develop a good rapport and show transparency in the project, you encourage trust. These elements should be considered in your stakeholder management plan .

Project management software helps keep the lines of communication open between project managers and stakeholders. ProjectManager is award-winning project management software that has customizable reports that are easy to share with stakeholders to keep them updated. After you do the stakeholder analysis, use filtered status reports or portfolio reports to manage stakeholder expectations. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

Stakeholder Analysis Steps

Stakeholder analysis uses a technique called stakeholder mapping. Before starting, you first must decide on the focus of the project. This will determine who is most important in terms of stakeholders. Once that is determined, then you can download our free stakeholder map template and follow these steps.

1. List the Stakeholders

As noted above, stakeholders come in all shapes and sizes. While it’s important to narrow the focus that comes in later. At this point, you want to list everyone who is a stakeholder , no matter the level of their significance to the project. As you list your stakeholders, keep in mind that they fall into two main categories: those who are affected by the project and those who contribute to it.

For example, the project manager and the team are contributors to the project, while the end-user is someone who is affected by it. It’s possible that stakeholders fall into both categories. The better this list is, the less likely you’ll be delayed or sidetracked during the project.

2. Analyze Stakeholders

What are the roles and expectations of all those stakeholders that you have listed above? Some stakeholders are going to have more importance to the project and their expectations will have more of an impact than others. This is where you make those determinations.

You can discern this by using an influence-interest matrix, which is a box broken into four sections. You should place your stakeholders in one of the four boxes based on their interest and influence levels.

The top of the box is broken into two sections: keep informed and manage closely. The lower half of the box is also broken into two sections: minimal contact and keep satisfied. Anyone placed to the right of the box has more influence, while anyone placed near the top of the box has more interest. If a stakeholder is placed in the top right, then they have a lot of interest and influence, making them important players in the project.

3. Prioritize Stakeholders

Once you have a thorough list, you can begin prioritizing them by importance to the project. Decide who among them has the most influence on the project plan and is affected by it. You can use the influence-interest matrix again to help with prioritizing stakeholders.

Don’t forget that the status of your stakeholders is not static, they can change throughout the course of the project. Stakeholder analysis is not a one-time thing but is a process that should continue throughout the project.

4. Engage Stakeholders

Finally, with the information created in your stakeholder map, you figure out how to engage your stakeholders. This is the process by which you win over stakeholders, and get their understanding and support to help fuel the project, putting it on the right course. This leads to a communication plan that outlines the channel and frequency of communications between you and each stakeholder. You can use our communication plan template to get started.

ProjectManager has dozens of free project management templates for Excel and Word that can help manage projects throughout their life cycle. Use our free stakeholder analysis template for Excel to capture all the pertinent information you need to manage stakeholders’ expectations.

Stakeholder Analysis Example

To better understand what stakeholder analysis is look at a stakeholder analysis example. We’ll keep it simple, say hiring a contractor to build a playhouse for your child.

First, you want to list all the stakeholders, which includes the owner, you, and your child, but also the contractor you’ve hired for the project. Now, analyze those stakeholders. You have a high influence on the project and make the decisions, while your child has a medium influence as you want to build something the child will like. The contractor isn’t a decision-maker but has a high influence on the execution of the project.

Prioritize these stakeholders, such as you as owner will have the highest priority, the contractor next and the child last. In terms of engagement, you and the contractor will likely want to have daily discussions on the progress of the project. The child is probably only interested in the final delivery.

Stakeholder Analysis Tools

To excel at stakeholder analysis, you’ll need the proper tools. They will help you identify, prioritize and communicate with your stakeholders. Here are some that we recommend.

Stakeholder Map or Power/Interest Grid

A stakeholder map is a matrix that helps to categorize stakeholders. It helps with the analysis and management of stakeholders by mapping them to a grip that shows their power and interest in the project.

Stakeholder Knowledge Base Chart

This stakeholder analysis tool maps stakeholders based on their knowledge of the project and their attitude toward the project. It’s a box divided into four quadrants: aware/opposition, aware/support, ignorant, opposition and ignorant/support.

Stakeholder Salience Model

This model is used to define how much priority and attention a project manager should give to competing stakeholder claims. It does this by measuring each stakeholder’s power, legitimacy and urgency.

Stakeholder Onion Diagram

This analytical tool is used to figure out who are the stakeholders in the project and how each of the stakeholders’ roles interacts with the project . Like an onion, there’s a process or product at the center that’s surrounded by layers of stakeholders.

RACI Matrix

RACI is an acronym that stands for responsible, accountable, consulted and informed. This matrix then will define each stakeholder as one of those four letters in terms of activities or decision-making.

How ProjectManager Helps With Stakeholder Management

Once you’ve identified and analyzed your stakeholders, you’re going to have to work with them. That’s where ProjectManager comes in. Our award-winning project management software has all the tools you need to manage your projects and keep your stakeholders engaged.

Naturally, stakeholders have an interest in the project. But, that doesn’t mean you have to give them every detail. Sometimes it’s the big picture that counts. ProjectManager has a real-time dashboard that paints the project in broad strokes, such as task progress, costs and project variance. These colorful graphs and charts make it easy to see where the project is right now.

Unlimited File Storage

Projects make paperwork. Stakeholders like those business cases and want to have access to them. ProjectManager has unlimited file storage, so add as many project-related documents and images as you like. Everything is in one place and easy to find. Keep stakeholders happy.

ProjectManager is online project management software that helps project managers manage their projects, teams and stakeholders. With planning, tracking and reporting tools, managers and teams are prepared for every project phase.  See how ProjectManager can support you and your stakeholders with this free 30-day trial.

Deliver your projects on time and on budget

Start planning your projects.

How to perform a stakeholder analysis

Reading time: about 7 min

You’ve crunched the numbers. You’ve built out your case for a new project or technology investment. You’ve got all the resources to make it happen.

But you’re still missing a step—and arguably the most important one: stakeholder approval and buy-in.

Stakeholders are built into every organization to help ensure that messaging is accurate, work stays on track, or new initiatives are aligned toward shared business goals. While their intentions are good, stakeholders can often be viewed as a roadblock to progress.

That’s why it’s so important to understand the stakeholder analysis process and make sure your goals will actually garner support. Here, we’ll dive into how to perform a stakeholder analysis to identify and get buy-in from key stakeholders at your organization.

Who is a stakeholder—and why do they matter?

Projects are a collaborative effort that impact and intersect with multiple people, teams, organizations, and clients. Anyone who is affected by the outcome of your project, or is actively involved in the project, is referred to as a stakeholder.

This includes any people or groups that influence and are impacted by your project’s outcome, such as

• Project manager
• Team members
• Senior management

Stakeholders can include a wide range of people with varied—and often conflicting—interests that you will need to manage. Keeping stakeholders happy, informed, and on-board is essential to moving your project forward. That’s why understanding who your stakeholders are and what their level of investment and influence is on the project is critical to your success.

What is a stakeholder analysis?

Stakeholder buy-in and approval is just as much about communication, education, and visibility as it is about strategic alignment. Stakeholders must be able to quickly and easily understand where a new project or investment fits into the larger business picture.

A stakeholder analysis template, also known as a power interest grid, can help you in four key ways:

• Gathering crucial input: You don’t know what you don’t know. Often, key stakeholders deliver valuable insight that can help keep your project on track and successful.
• Gaining more resources: If your stakeholder has a full understanding of what it will take to get your project off the ground, they may be able to help you secure the people, tools, and resources you need to make you successful.
• Building trust: By consistently engaging and involving stakeholders in your process, you’re building trust that may make them quick to support upcoming projects.
• Planning ahead: Consistent feedback from key stakeholders helps you anticipate feedback and requirements on future projects to gain buy-in more quickly.  

Performing a stakeholder analysis involves these three steps.

Step 1: Identify your stakeholders

Brainstorm who your stakeholders are. List all of the people who are affected by your work or who have a vested interest in its success or failure. Some of these relationships may include investors, advisors, teammates, or even family.

There are two main groups of stakeholders: internal stakeholders and external stakeholders.

Internal stakeholders are individuals or groups within your business, such as team members or leadership.

External stakeholders are individuals or groups outside the business, including end users, customers, and investors.

You will need to identify and assess both types of stakeholders in your analysis.

Step 2: Prioritize your stakeholders

Next, prioritize your stakeholders by assessing their level of influence and level of interest. The stakeholder grid is the leading tool in visually assessing key stakeholders.

The position that you allocate to a stakeholder on the grid shows you the actions to take with them:

• High power, highly interested people: Fully engage these people, and make the greatest efforts to satisfy them.
• High power, less interested people: Keep these stakeholders satisfied, but not so much that they become bored with your message.
• Low power, highly interested people: Adequately inform these people, and talk to them to ensure that no major issues arise. People in this category can often be very helpful with the details of your project in a supportive role.
• Low power, less interested people: Again, monitor these people, but don’t bore them with excessive communication.

Step 3: Understand your key stakeholders

Now that stakeholders have been identified and prioritized, you need to understand how they feel about your project. Some good questions to ask include:

• Do they have a financial or emotional interest in the outcome of your work? Is it positive or negative?
• What motivates them the most?
• Which of your project information is relevant to them, and what is the best way to relay that information?
• What is their current opinion of your work? Is that opinion based on accurate information?
• Who influences their opinion, and are those influencers also your stakeholders?
• If they’re not likely to be supportive of your project, what can you do to win their support?
• If you can’t win their support, what can you do to manage their opposition?

Once you've prioritized your stakeholders and consider their attitude toward your project, you should also consider creating a project management communication plan . A communication matrix will let everyone involved know how often they need to loop stakeholders in.

The most common stakeholders

Below is a list of common stakeholders and some examples of associated communication strategies.

Your direct manager/supervisor

High power, high interest

Your boss’s reputation is tied to the productivity of the people they lead. Your boss also likely has the power to advance or shut down your project(s). This means that you should manage this relationship closely, communicating frequently and requesting and implementing feedback.

Shareholders/investors

High power, medium interest

Shareholders and investors usually hold stake in multiple entities, diluting their unique interest in your project/undertaking. As such, to leverage their investment in your work, you should communicate frequently with them, consult and involve them, with a goal of increasing their interest over time. This is obviously dependent on the type of investment role that exists, and whether your project is the sole investment or part of a portfolio of investments.

High power, probably low interest

The government controls the laws and regulations that could shut down your business or project. Health code inspectors and IRS auditors are examples of government officials that classify as stakeholders. Because government entities monitor everything/everyone, their interest in your individual business/endeavor is likely low. As such, your goal should be to keep them satisfied, communicating regularly, consulting and involving them in order to prevent them from posing a risk to your project.

Senior executives

High power, low interest

Your company’s senior executives make the biggest decision, giving them high influence but limited bandwidth to focus on your project specifically. This means your strategy should be to keep them satisfied. Communicate when necessary, consulting and seeking feedback, to increase their interest in you and your work.

Your co-workers

Medium power, medium interest

Co-workers carry a range of influence, but mostly their influence will be in their ability to leverage additional resources for your project, including the support of other co-workers and your superiors. That means you want to keep them satisfied and informed. Update them on your project, and be willing to leverage their interest into a supporter role.

The tools you need to keep stakeholders informed

No matter the level of technical knowledge around your project, visuals like a stakeholder diagram are a great way to communicate your project to your key stakeholders and obtain buy-in. Further, it’s useful to know not only what to communicate, but how often to communicate.

Lucidchart offers numerous templates to help you keep stakeholders updated on new and in-progress projects.

About Lucidchart

Lucidchart, a cloud-based intelligent diagramming application, is a core component of Lucid Software's Visual Collaboration Suite. This intuitive, cloud-based solution empowers teams to collaborate in real-time to build flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, customer journey maps, and more. Lucidchart propels teams forward to build the future faster. Lucid is proud to serve top businesses around the world, including customers such as Google, GE, and NBC Universal, and 99% of the Fortune 500. Lucid partners with industry leaders, including Google, Atlassian, and Microsoft. Since its founding, Lucid has received numerous awards for its products, business, and workplace culture. For more information, visit lucidchart.com.

Related articles

Before you start any project, learn how to identify and gain the support of the right people through a stakeholder map and analysis.

How to create a project management communication plan

Learn how to create a communication plan for project management and how this documentation can benefit your team and stakeholders. This article includes best practices and communication plan templates!

Bring your bright ideas to life.

or continue with

By registering, you agree to our Terms of Service and you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Privacy Policy .

Stakeholder Analysis: Approaches, Examples, Templates, and Tools

• 11 min read
• Published: 24 Mar, 2023
• No comments Share

If you’re a big BBQ fan, maybe the sound of the word “stakeholders” gets you thinking about a juicy, dry-rub ribeye. Well, sorry to disappoint you, but we won’t be talking about an s-t-e-a-k today. Instead, we’ll discuss the role of stakeholders (people, not cuts of beef!) in product management and look at how to analyze their potential impact on your project.

Not THAT stakeholder

But first things first, let’s clear up the terms and define  who the stakeholders in the project (or product) management are .

What is stakeholder and stakeholder management?

A stakeholder in project/product management is basically anyone who is affected by or who can affect the project/product. Some stakeholders are actively involved in the project, while others just monitor the progress or are only interested in the outcome. In other words, we can say that stakeholders are anyone working on the project, controlling it, approving it, paying for it, assisting it, or using its results. We can differentiate various stakeholder categories depending on diverse criteria, for example:

• internal (belonging to the same organization as a marketing team or the C-suite) or external (outside of the organization like third-party data providers or consultants);
• those who can affect product development (e.g., investors) or those who are affected by the product (e.g., end customers);
• individuals (e.g., a product manager), companies (e.g., competitors, governments), or groups (e.g., team members, industry influencers); and so on.

Some external and internal stakeholders types

Since stakeholders are of direct relevance to how your project goes or how your product is developed, it’s obvious that to achieve your objectives, you have to somehow build and maintain effective relationships with them. That’s called stakeholder management. In other words, stakeholder management is the process of identifying, analyzing, and engaging with various groups and individuals who have an interest in the project. These activities are mostly conducted by a product or project manager – or a business analyst . Handling relationships with stakeholders is one of the key aspects of product management and is equally important for projects and organizations of any size. Why? For example, you can have the best product idea ever, but if you don’t get buy-in from your sponsors (say, you didn’t communicate potential benefits well enough), you might simply not have sufficient resources to bring it to life! Or, if you don’t align the project objectives across different stakeholder groups, you risk having all sorts of conflicts during product development which can slow it down significantly – just because of a lack of communication or an improper approach. So stakeholder management is an essential, ongoing process during the entire product lifecycle . And one of its main components is stakeholder analysis – which finally brings us to our main topic of discussion.

What is stakeholder analysis and why is it important?

Stakeholder analysis in project/product management is the process of identifying stakeholders, scrutinizing them, categorizing them, and evaluating their needs and requirements. Some sources don’t include the identification part and describe it as a separate, preparatory stage, but for the sake of getting a complete picture, we’ll discuss it as well. The primary goals of stakeholder analysis are

• to identify and align all stakeholders,
• to define the needs and expectations of each stakeholder,
• to assess the impact of various stakeholders on your project, and
• to categorize stakeholders into groups for further management activities.

As Dmytro Hurkovskyi, a business analyst at AltexSoft, shares, “ Stakeholder analysis is very rarely formalized. All project managers and business analysts have to interact with stakeholders and manage them, but they seldom do the full-fledged analysis – unless issues arise.” We recommend performing a stakeholder analysis before or during the early stages of your project as it will give you an understanding of further interaction strategies. Moreover, it’s not the once-and-for-all thing. Consider conducting stakeholder analysis at each new stage of your project or at sensible intervals to see if anything changed and adjust your stakeholder management strategies if needed. Analyzing stakeholders will help you understand how to

• communicate with various stakeholder groups depending on their position, interests, and impact level;
• engage stakeholders and gain their support;
• address stakeholder-related conflicts/issues that can hinder or otherwise harm the project; and last but not least,
• balance the interests of different stakeholders – since, as you might know from your professional experience, they often contradict each other.

Conducting a comprehensive stakeholder analysis will allow you to know your stakeholders in and out, learn their expectations, predict their reactions, and find optimal ways to approach them to gain the best results for your project. On top of that, Dmytro Hurkovskyi confesses, “ We often lack efficient communication from our stakeholders’ side. We sometimes wish they also performed a stakeholder analysis to optimize our interactions.” So stakeholder analysis can prove to be a helpful practice for any company. Now that we see its benefits, let’s talk about how to perform it.

How to do a stakeholder analysis?

A stakeholder analysis includes several key stages. As we mentioned earlier, first you have to find out who your stakeholders are. So the initial stage is identification.

Identify: Make a list of all stakeholders

To identify stakeholders, look around for anyone you interact with on the project, who might have an interest in the outcome, or who can influence what you do in any possible way. Some ideas for coming up with a complete list are

• brainstorming with your team,
• asking other teams/departments who their stakeholders are,
• checking historical data from previous projects, and
• exploring the market and competing companies for similar projects.

As you do all that, you might end up with a lot of irrelevant listings but worry not. Just cross out all the unnecessary points when you have the final list of stakeholders. It’s still probably going to be long and frightening but further categorization will help, believe us.

Assess: Collect information

Just go ahead and open that stakeholder chocolate box. Source: Twitter

Here are some questions you might want to ask.

• What are your expectations for this project?
• What does project success look like to you?
• How does the project's success benefit you?
• What is your desired/ideal level of engagement in the project?
• What project information would you like to receive?
• Do you have any concerns about the project?
• Are there any stakeholders that you believe are in conflict with your interests?

A sample stakeholder analysis table

Categorize: Create a stakeholder analysis matrix or use the Salience model

Power-interest matrix

As you can see, you’ll have 4 main stakeholder groups (the exact distribution greatly depends on the project, so we can only provide an example).

• High influence and high interest – this category will probably include your investors or sponsors, your key partners, and so on. Make sure you actively collaborate with them on a regular basis.
• High influence and low interest – you might want to place the regulatory entities and board members in this quadrant. As this group is capable of impacting your project, it’s important to keep them informed and satisfied with the progress. However, be careful not to turn them off by over-communicating (remember the low interest part which means they don’t need too many details).
• Low influence and high interest – these might be, for example, your team members. They might have great ideas for the project but keep in mind that they aren’t the ones who have a significant impact. Establish a regular communication schedule to keep them in the loop and take advantage of their passion for the project and overall commitment to the company's success.
• Low influence and low interest – these are secondary stakeholders like end customers. You don’t have to communicate with them closely but be sure to check on them once in a while to see if their interests or attitudes change. Plus, remember they can become a significant force if they act together (hello, social media!).

Stakeholder Knowledge Base Chart

The Salience model

• Discretionary stakeholders – those who have legitimate claims but little urgency or power;
• Dormant stakeholders – those who have power but no legitimacy or urgency. They rarely become heavily involved but make sure to keep them informed;
• Demanding stakeholders – those with little power or legitimacy but wanting everything to be done immediately. They often require the most attention and can also influence other stakeholders;
• Dominant stakeholders – they have both formal power and legitimacy, but little urgency so they tend to have certain expectations that must be met;
• Dangerous stakeholders – those who have power and urgency but are not really pertinent to the project. They can cause issues so they have to be carefully managed;
• Dependent stakeholders – they have urgent and legitimate stakes in the project but little power, so keep an eye on them as they can exploit other groups to gain control;
• Definitive stakeholders – they have it all: power, legitimacy, and urgency which makes them the most important group to be managed closely; and
• Non-stakeholders.

RACI gives clarity and enhances coordination but can be a bit time-consuming. Source: Quora

Again, as we said, change is pretty much inevitable (except from a vending machine) so you might need to reassess your stakeholders periodically.

Prioritize: Make an engagement plan

A sample communication plan. Source: Tractivity

Being a project manager ain’t easy. Source: Medium

Well, stakeholder analysis is tough, no doubt. Let us try to make it a bit easier for you.

Stakeholder analysis templates and checklist

Documenting the results of your stakeholder analysis will help you stay on track with your findings. But working on those stakeholder analysis deliverables can take ages. Templates allow you to save time and avoid reinventing the wheel. So here are some handy links you can check out and take advantage of.

• TemplateLAB is a great source of diverse stakeholder analysis templates .
• Smartsheet is another collection of downloadable stakeholder analysis templates in various formats.
• ProjectManager designed a stakeholder analysis template , stakeholder map template , and communication plan template .
• Tools4dev provides a well-built stakeholder analysis matrix template .
• Tractivity offers a consolidated version of stakeholder analysis table .

Another useful thing is the stakeholder analysis checklist by ProductPlan you can download for free and use as a roadmap in your uphill battle.

Stakeholder analysis tools

You can definitely perform your stakeholder analysis with pen and paper or play around with those colorful sticky notes to make the process seem more cheerful. You can go with good old Excel spreadsheets or templates we suggested above. You can also configure a visual collaboration platform like Miro for this purpose or store all records in your CRM. The choice is wide – and up to you. But you should know that today there are a number of specialized software products designed to facilitate and automate your stakeholder management activities – including stakeholder analysis. Some of the providers of such focused tools are

• Tractivity (comes with an easy-to-use mapping tool, a survey builder, and a robust engagement platform);
• Simply Stakeholders (includes task management and an AI-driven sentiment analysis feature);
• Syrenis (offers robust planning and engagement support); and
• Borealis (has neat reporting capabilities).

These solutions can help you keep all the stakeholder-related data in one system, conduct sentiment analysis, engage your team members, and view the dynamics throughout the project lifecycle. You’ll also be able to create all the essential stakeholder management deliverables, record your interactions, and build reports for the managers.

Common stakeholder analysis pitfalls

Summing up, we want to highlight a few common stakeholder analysis pitfalls and ways to avoid them. Being late with stakeholders analysis . As we said, it’s better to start analyzing your stakeholders as early as possible so that you can build the optimal communication strategy from the very beginning of the project (think of somewhere around the product discovery stage). Besides, stakeholders can add an idea or two to your requirements list that has to be formed before you start the actual product development. Not including important stakeholders in the list . You want to keep all your most important and impactful stakeholders informed and satisfied so do thorough research as you form the list. Brainstorming sessions are a common way to approach this task. Misinterpreting stakeholder needs or motivations . The success of your entire stakeholder analysis depends on your ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. We can’t know exactly what other people think, but do your best to see things from their perspective and understand their real attitude toward your project. Crafting accurate interview questions is helpful too, just remember that answers can sometimes be insincere, so you still have to reconsider them yourself. Conducting stakeholder analysis only once . As we’ve mentioned, nothing is static, so a good practice is reassessing your stakeholders once in a while, especially if your project is a long-lasting one. Stakeholders are a crucial factor in your project's success so you shouldn’t underestimate the importance of engaging them and nurturing your relationships. With proper analysis done on time, you can build an efficient interaction strategy and turn your stakeholders into the most avid supporters.

What Is A Stakeholder Analysis? Everything You Need To Know

Updated: May 31, 2024, 8:07pm

A stakeholder analysis is a project management tool used to identify the project’s stakeholders, issues they care about and how they will be impacted by the project. Creating a stakeholder analysis will outline the essential people you need to communicate with about the progress and scope of the project, the topics you need to keep them informed about as the project progresses and how often you should speak to each stakeholder. In this article, we cover what is a stakeholder analysis, how to conduct one and why it’s important.

Featured Partners

From $8 monthly per user

Zoom, LinkedIn, Adobe, Salesforce and more

On monday.com's Website

Yes, for unlimited members

$7 per month

Slack, Microsoft Outlook, HubSpot, Salesforce, Timely, Google Drive and more

On ClickUp's Website

$9.80 per user per month

Salesforce, Adobe, Miro, Netsuite, Quickbooks, SAP

On Wrike's Website

Yes, for one user and two editors

$9 per user per month

Google Drive, Slack, Tableau, Miro, Zapier and more

On Smartsheet's Website

What Is a Stakeholder Analysis?

The stakeholder analysis is conducted at the beginning of a project to better understand the need of each stakeholder and their primary requirements. A stakeholder includes any person or group the project will impact, including investors, advisors, sponsors, team members and current or future customers.

Purpose of a Stakeholder Analysis

The purpose of a stakeholder analysis is to outline the key stakeholders and their needs at the start of the project. It is important to have a clear understanding of each stakeholder and what they expect, especially because stakeholders’ needs and expectations may collide with each other or with the project’s core requirements.

How To Do a Stakeholder Analysis?

Conducting a stakeholder analysis starts with gathering enough information to understand each stakeholder’s needs, according to Chris Mattmann , Chief Technology and Innovation Officer (CTIO) at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Typically, the designers on the team would interview each of the stakeholders to understand their processes, needs, limitations and interests.

To illustrate this, Mattmann outlined a hypothetical project to measure and create a map of the water in the western United States. This would involve many different systems and teams, such as people to conduct field experiments, and equipment like airplanes, towers and satellites. To conduct the stakeholder analysis, the design team would interview each stakeholder, whether that be the sponsors, the data providers, the IT team or the project developers.

After collecting this raw data from interviews, the team would review the information from these discussions and start interpreting it. This is when the team might lay out a lot of sticky notes on the wall and start grouping them by requirement or, alternatively, use a software tool to outline the raw data. Essentially, the idea is to identify trends and possible points of conflict between the information each stakeholder shared in the interview.

“Part of stakeholder analysis is to do the interviews, design work, brainstorming, and then to map the results of that against your core requirements defined by the sponsors of the project and see if we can build them,” Mattmann explained. Once you compare the different feedback from stakeholders, you may find it doesn’t match up to the core requirements of the project. This might mean readjusting the project scope or reevaluating the direction of the project, but a stakeholder analysis will allow you to figure this out before the project begins.

How To Conduct a Stakeholder Map

A stakeholder map will allow you to visually interpret how often you need to stay in contact with each stakeholder, how closely you should manage them and how to keep them satisfied and/or informed. To create a stakeholder map, you would define a few important dimensions, then build quadrants for the dimensions you want to optimize and group the stakeholder in that map, Mattmann explained.

For example, you might choose to categorize the stakeholders by importance and influence. A chart might look something like this:

Once you determine where each stakeholder falls on the table, you’ll be able to determine how you communicate with each stakeholder.

“You want your most important stakeholders to be the most interested in your project,” Mattmann explained. That may mean keeping daily communication with them. “You don’t ever want to let their interest wane because they’re the most important people,” he said.

On the other hand, it may not be as high of a priority to communicate regularly with the stakeholders who have less influence or are going to be less impacted by the project. For these stakeholders, “you might not care if their interest in the project is low because they’re not the most important stakeholders and they’re not going to add a ton of value based on their influence,” Mattmann added.

For example, in the initial example of the map to measure the water levels in the western U.S., a stakeholder analysis might outline how to communicate with the project’s data providers. “What we should do is keep them informed, but we don’t have to have day-to-day contact with them,” Mattmann explained. “That way, we’re managing our stakeholders not because they’re the most influential—they’re not the ones that are giving us the most money—but they do have a lot of interest in getting their data out there,” he added.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the advantages of a stakeholder analysis.

The stakeholder analysis will tell you what each stakeholder needs and expects from the project, as well as the important people you need to communicate with, the topics you need to keep them informed about as the project progresses and how often you should speak to each stakeholder.

What is the main purpose of a stakeholder analysis?

The purpose of a stakeholder analysis is to outline the key stakeholders and their needs for the project. It is important to have a clear understanding of each stakeholder and what they are expecting from the project from the start.

What is an example of a stakeholder?

A stakeholder includes any person or group who will be impacted by the project. This could include investors, advisors, sponsors, team members and current or future customers.

When is the best time to perform a stakeholder analysis?

An ideal time to conduct a stakeholder analysis is during the early phase of your project as this will give you a better understanding of where things stand with your project currently and where you need to improve in the present and the future. This analysis should be conducted on a regular interval, such as when your project enters a new phase, as it will show how your stakeholders are evolving as the project progresses and where improvements can still be made. It allows you to update your stakeholder strategies as needed.

• Best Project Management Software
• Best Construction Project Management Software
• Best Project Portfolio Management Software
• Best Gantt Chart Software
• Best Task Management Software
• Best Free Project Management Software
• Best Enterprise Project Management Software
• Best Kanban Software
• Best Scrum Software
• Best Agile Project Management Software
• Asana Review
• Trello Review
• monday.com Review
• Smartsheet Review
• Wrike Review
• Todoist Review
• Basecamp Review
• Confluence Review
• Airtable Review
• ClickUp Review
• Motion App Review
• Monday vs. Asana
• Clickup vs. Asana
• Asana vs. Trello
• Asana vs. Jira
• Trello vs. Jira
• Monday vs. Trello
• Clickup vs. Trello
• Asana vs. Wrike
• What Is Project Management
• Project Management Methodologies
• 10 Essential Project Management Skills
• SMART Goals: Ultimate Guide
• What is a Gantt Chart?
• What is a Kanban Board?
• What is a RACI Chart?
• What is Gap Analysis?
• Work Breakdown Structure Guide
• Agile vs. Waterfall Methodology
• What Is An OKR?

What Is SNMP? Simple Network Management Protocol Explained

What Is A Single-Member LLC? Definition, Pros And Cons

What Is Penetration Testing? Definition & Best Practices

What Is Network Access Control (NAC)?

What Is Network Segmentation?

How To Start A Business In Louisiana (2024 Guide)

Leeron is a New York-based writer with experience covering technology and politics. Her work has appeared in publications such as Quartz, the Village Voice, Gothamist, and Slate.

Cassie is a deputy editor collaborating with teams around the world while living in the beautiful hills of Kentucky. Focusing on bringing growth to small businesses, she is passionate about economic development and has held positions on the boards of directors of two non-profit organizations seeking to revitalize her former railroad town. Prior to joining the team at Forbes Advisor, Cassie was a content operations manager and copywriting manager.

• Product overview
• All features
• Latest feature release
• App integrations

CAPABILITIES

• project icon Project management
• Project views
• Custom fields
• Status updates
• goal icon Goals and reporting
• Reporting dashboards
• asana-intelligence icon Asana AI
• workflow icon Workflows and automation
• portfolio icon Resource management
• Capacity planning
• Time tracking
• my-task icon Admin and security
• Admin console
• Permissions
• list icon Personal
• premium icon Starter
• briefcase icon Advanced
• Goal management
• Organizational planning
• Project intake
• Resource planning
• Product launches
• View all uses arrow-right icon

Featured Reads

• Work management resources Discover best practices, watch webinars, get insights
• Customer stories See how the world's best organizations drive work innovation with Asana
• Help Center Get lots of tips, tricks, and advice to get the most from Asana
• Asana Academy Sign up for interactive courses and webinars to learn Asana
• Developers Learn more about building apps on the Asana platform
• Community programs Connect with and learn from Asana customers around the world
• Events Find out about upcoming events near you
• Partners Learn more about our partner programs
• Asana for nonprofits Get more information on our nonprofit discount program, and apply.
• Project plans
• Team goals & objectives
• Team continuity
• Meeting agenda
• View all templates arrow-right icon
• Project management |
• How to conduct a stakeholder analysis ( ...

How to conduct a stakeholder analysis (+ free template)

Think of your project as an Oscar-nominated movie. You won, and you have to go up and give your big speech. Who do you thank?

In project management, those people would be your project stakeholders—people who have a stake in your project and have helped you get there in some way. Project stakeholders can vary from the people doing the work to the people approving the work to the people you’re doing the work for, but they’re all important.

Believe it or not, identifying project stakeholders can be harder than preparing your Oscars acceptance speech. That’s where a stakeholder analysis map can come in. By creating a stakeholder analysis map, you can easily identify and manage project stakeholders. In this article, we’ll walk you through how to create a stakeholder analysis map and increase your project’s impact. Here’s how.

What is stakeholder analysis?

Stakeholder analysis is a strategic process that involves identifying and assessing individuals, groups, or organizations that have a vested interest in a project's outcome. These stakeholders can influence or be influenced by the project's success or failure.

By conducting a stakeholder analysis, project managers can better understand the needs, expectations, and potential impact of various stakeholders, allowing them to develop targeted engagement strategies.

This process benefits the project team, the organization, and the stakeholders themselves by fostering collaboration, minimizing risks, and ensuring the project aligns with stakeholder expectations.

Importance of stakeholder analysis

Conducting a stakeholder analysis is essential for the success of any project, regardless of its size or complexity. By investing time and effort in understanding the stakeholder landscape, project managers can navigate the often-complex web of relationships, interests, and influences that surround a project. This understanding enables them to anticipate and address potential challenges, build strong alliances, and secure the necessary support and resources to achieve project goals.

Moreover, a well-executed stakeholder analysis helps to establish clear lines of communication, facilitates effective decision-making, and promotes transparency and accountability throughout the project lifecycle. In essence, stakeholder analysis lays the foundation for a more collaborative, responsive, and successful project management approach.

Benefits of stakeholder analysis

Clearly understanding your project stakeholders can help you gain buy-in and execute your project more effectively. In addition, a stakeholder analysis can help you:

Gain more support and resources

Increase project visibility, especially to executive stakeholders

Prevent costly roadblocks later in the project cycle

Communicate through the right channels at the right time

Share the right level of information with your stakeholders

By conducting a thorough stakeholder analysis in the early stages of project planning, you set yourself up to reap these benefits throughout the project lifecycle.

Identifying and categorizing project stakeholders

In a broad sense, almost everyone can be affected by your project's outcome. But in project management , your project stakeholders are the people who are involved—in some capacity—in your project’s decision-making process. These might be important stakeholders who approve the project’s deliverables, or they might be the team members doing the work to get from point A to point B. Since they will be the ones affected the most by your decisions, members of your target audience are also project stakeholders.

Basically, you can identify project stakeholders by asking yourself one simple question: “Will the work I’m doing affect that person?” If the answer is yes, they’re likely a project stakeholder.

It’s important to note that not everyone who will be affected by your project has a say in how it goes. Key stakeholders , like the ones we’ll discuss in this article, are those who have a say in the outcome of a project. Knowing who your key stakeholders are can help you improve stakeholder relationships and gain buy-in from the people who matter most.

Internal vs external stakeholders

Broadly, there are two types of project stakeholders: internal stakeholders and external stakeholders. Internal stakeholders are probably who you think of when you think of stakeholders. They include anyone who works in your company—from your direct reports to executive leadership—who are invested in your project. On the other hand, external stakeholders are anyone outside of your organization. These might be customers, an agency or contractor, users, investors, suppliers, or other external contributors.

Types of internal stakeholders

Project manager

Project team members

Project portfolio manager and/or program manager

Project sponsor , if you have one

Executive leaders

Other cross-functional internal teams

Types of external stakeholders

Contractors

Subcontractors

Stakeholder mapping techniques

A stakeholder mapping is a way to identify your project stakeholders and the impact they might have on the project based on two key aspects: stakeholder impact and stakeholder interest. A stakeholder map can help you understand which stakeholders have a high or low impact on your project and which stakeholders have a high or low interest in your work. That way, you can effectively communicate with all of your project stakeholders in the way that works best for them.

Stakeholder analysis matrix

The stakeholder analysis matrix is a powerful tool that helps categorize stakeholders based on their level of influence and interest in the project. This matrix typically consists of four quadrants:

High power, high interest: These are the key players who require close management and regular engagement. They have the power to significantly impact the project and are highly interested in its outcome. Collaborating closely with these stakeholders is crucial for project success.

High power, low interest: These stakeholders have significant influence but may not be as actively involved in the project. It's essential to keep them satisfied and informed of key developments to maintain their support and prevent potential obstacles.

Low power, high interest: While these stakeholders may not have the authority to make decisions, they have a strong interest in the project's outcome. Keeping them informed, addressing their concerns, and leveraging their enthusiasm can help build a positive project environment.

Low power, low interest: Although these stakeholders may not be directly involved in the project, it's still important to monitor their attitudes and keep them informed of relevant updates. Their influence and interest may change over time, so regularly reassessing their position in the matrix is important.

How to conduct a stakeholder analysis in 4 steps

Identifying and managing your project stakeholders is a great way to set yourself up for a successful project. When your key project stakeholders are bought in, they lend support that can be critical during the project lifecycle. Alternatively, without supportive stakeholders, you could find yourself having to set stakeholder expectations mid-project, which can lead to changes and unnecessary project risks. To avoid that, here are the four steps you need to take to create an effective stakeholder analysis map.

Step 1: Identify all relevant stakeholders

Before you can manage stakeholder expectations, you first need to know who your project stakeholders are. Make sure to account for both internal and external stakeholders. To figure out who your project stakeholders are, ask yourself:

Who cares about this project?

Who will this project have an impact on?

Who can influence this project?

Who can approve/reject this project?

If you need help tracking your stakeholders, consider creating a RACI chart or stakeholder register to track who everyone is, why they matter, and what their impact on the project will be. Before you move on to step two, do one last sanity check. Ask yourself:

Are there any other internal stakeholders I should be aware of, like resource managers or project portfolio managers?

Have I included all key project leaders and managers?

Are there any external stakeholders that I'm forgetting about who might have an impact on the project's outcome?

Step 2: Analyze stakeholder influence-interest levels

High stakeholder engagement can really take your project to the next level. The best way to ensure high engagement is to create a clear stakeholder map that outlines each stakeholder’s influence-interest level. This grid—sometimes called a power-interest grid or an interest matrix—is the best way to visualize your four main stakeholder groups.

The four main stakeholder groups are:

High influence and high interest. These are likely your project approvers and sponsors. Externally, these may also be key partners or customers. Make sure you check with these stakeholders regularly and ensure your expectations are aligned. During the course of the project, be sure to actively collaborate with these project stakeholders—you can think of them as the key players in your stakeholder team.

High influence and low interest. These people can block or support your project, but they probably aren’t interested in doing so. They might be distant cross-functional partners or executive leadership at your company. Make sure these stakeholders are aware of your project basics and ask your high power and high interest stakeholders to help you manage the relationship if need be. Keep in mind that, even if they have low interest, their work might be impacted by your work, and you don’t want that fact to come as an unexpected surprise. During the course of the project, keep these project stakeholders informed at a high level to ensure they’re satisfied with the project’s progress.

Low influence and high interest. You likely don’t need approval from this group of stakeholders, especially on early project details. It’s more important to loop these stakeholders in during Step 4. During the course of the project, keep these project stakeholders informed.

Low influence and low interest. These are secondary stakeholders. Depending on the size and complexity of your work, you might want to loop them in semi-regularly on project status reports , or not loop them in at all until the end. However, during the course of the project, make sure you’re checking in with these stakeholders in case they do want to become more involved.

Mapping out your different stakeholders in this way provides a roadmap for stakeholder engagement moving forward. You can prioritize communication and buy-in efforts based on where each stakeholder falls.

Step 3: Understand stakeholder needs

The reality is, some stakeholders may disagree with certain elements of the project. As the project manager, it’s your responsibility to understand their needs and perspectives and come up with a solution that doesn’t negatively impact the success of the project. It’s not your job to do everything your project stakeholders ask—but it is your job to listen and understand their needs.

Sometimes, what feels like a “difficult stakeholder” is just someone who has different priorities than you. Maybe your work is even disrupting some of their work. If you try to see things from their perspective, you have a better chance of finding a solution and turning the situation into a win-win scenario.

When in doubt, put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Ask yourself:

What do they need?

What level of communication do they want?

What’s the most effective communication strategy?

Are there any influences or influencers for these stakeholders?

How can you accurately identify stakeholders’ interests?

How can you accurately identify stakeholders' interests? Consider holding a brainstorming session with your project team to get their input and make sure no key stakeholder needs are overlooked.

Step 4: Develop a stakeholder communication plan

Once you’ve identified your stakeholders and thought about their needs, make sure you invite them to your project planning sessions and kickoff meeting, if you have one. Key stakeholders should also sign off on your project charter , project plan , project objectives , and project scope .

As your project gets underway, make sure to update any relevant stakeholders on changes and progress. In addition to increasing visibility, documenting your processes early reduces the risk of any miscommunication down the road.

Though you should aim to invite a variety of different stakeholders, always make sure you’re prioritizing key stakeholders. You don’t need approval on everything from everyone. When in doubt, go back to your stakeholder analysis map to identify who needs to be looped in.

You may meet with some stakeholders—your high-power and high-interest stakeholders, for example—frequently to discuss the project and deal with any unanticipated challenges. But to keep the rest of your stakeholders in the loop, send out regular project status updates with recently completed milestones, any blockers, and next steps. We recommend sending an update every two weeks, or more frequently if you’re managing a complex initiative.

Using a work management tool can help streamline stakeholder communication. With a central platform to track tasks, share updates, and store documentation, you ensure all stakeholders, from the most important stakeholders to potential stakeholders, have visibility into the project's progress.

This is especially helpful for keeping those low-interest stakeholders with a low level of influence informed without having to coordinate multiple meetings or send one-off emails.

Look for a tool that enables you to set granular privacy settings, so you can easily control who sees what information based on their level of interest and vested interest in the project's success.

Stakeholder analysis example

To illustrate the stakeholder analysis process, let's consider a software development project:

Identify stakeholders: The first step is to identify all individuals, groups, or organizations that have a stake in the project. In this example, stakeholders may include the project manager, development team, QA team, end-users, senior management, and external vendors.

Categorize stakeholders: Once identified, stakeholders are categorized based on their power and interest levels using the stakeholder analysis matrix or power/interest grid. For instance:

High power, high interest: Project manager, senior management

High power, low interest: External vendors

Low power, high interest: Development team, QA team, end-users

Low power, low interest: Other departments within the organization

Develop communication strategies: Based on the stakeholder categorization, the project manager creates targeted communication strategies for each group. For example:

Project manager and senior management: Schedule regular progress updates and involve them in key decision-making processes.

External vendors: Provide periodic status reports and manage contracts effectively.

Development and QA teams: Conduct daily stand-ups, facilitate technical discussions, and organize feedback sessions to keep them engaged and informed.

End-users: Involve them in user acceptance testing, gather their feedback, and provide necessary training to ensure they are prepared for the project's outcome.

By tailoring communication and engagement strategies to each stakeholder group, the project manager can effectively manage expectations, build trust, and ensure the project stays on track.

Avoid common stakeholder analysis pitfalls

There is no perfect solution to stakeholder communication. But here are the most common pitfalls and how you can avoid them:

Lack of stakeholder boundaries

Problem: Overeager project stakeholders are causing scope creep .

Solution: Implement a change control process.

Sometimes, overeager project stakeholders can have a negative impact. You’ve spent a lot of time planning your project and figuring out your deliverables —but if too many stakeholders have ideas for new deliverables, updated timelines, or adjusted budgets, your project could quickly veer off course.

The best way to establish boundaries with your stakeholders is to implement a change control process. By creating a process for proposing, reviewing, and accepting changes to your project’s scope, you can ensure your project is dynamic and up-to-date without worrying about scope creep. There are four elements to a change control process:

Project stakeholders submit a change request.

Key stakeholders review the request.

Approve, reject, or defer the change.

Adjust the project scope or objectives accordingly.

Failing to prioritize key project stakeholders

Problem: During the initial stakeholder identification phase, you forgot about a stakeholder who has a high interest in this initiative.

Solution: Involve your project team during the stakeholder identification phase.

Inevitably, you might forget about a cross-functional stakeholder, or think of a stakeholder but forget to add them to your stakeholder list or calculate their influence-interest level. These types of mistakes happen, but you want to avoid them as much as possible, especially for stakeholders who have high influence or interest.

The best way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to involve your project team during the stakeholder identification process. Consider holding a team brainstorming session to identify and categorize each stakeholder so no one gets left off the list. If you’re still not sure, run the list by your manager or project sponsor to make sure you aren’t missing anyone who should be included. When in doubt, ask!

Bringing stakeholders in too late

Problem: You already kicked off your project and then started your stakeholder analysis.

Solution: Next time, create a stakeholder analysis map up front.

This one is an obvious one, but it’s worth including. If you do forget a stakeholder, use that as a learning opportunity for your next project. For example, if you forgot to do your stakeholder analysis map until after the project kickoff , make a note to yourself to do it the other way around the next time.

The key to managing stakeholders is clarity

To ensure your project goes off without a hitch, you need to make sure your stakeholders’ expectations match your project deliverables—in other words, you need to increase and encourage clarity across your project.

The best way to do that is with a work management tool like Asana . Work management tools help you coordinate people and work across all levels of your organization. To learn more, read our introduction to work management .

FAQ: Stakeholder analysis

What is a project stakeholder?

Project stakeholders are the people who can impact or be impacted by the project you’re working on. Stakeholders can come from every level of the organization, from individual contributors to senior executives—but if they’re involved in your project, they’re important. Even if they aren't directly involved in a project's day-to-day operations, your stakeholders might still have an impact on its outcome.

Who are stakeholders in a project?

Stakeholders in a project are individuals, groups, or organizations that have a vested interest in the project's outcome and can influence or be influenced by its success or failure. The types of stakeholders can vary depending on the project but typically include the project manager, project team members, project sponsor, senior management, end-users, customers, suppliers, and external partners.

What is stakeholder management?

Stakeholder management is the process of communicating with your project stakeholders. With stakeholder management, you can ensure you’re sharing the right level of information with your stakeholders at the right time—whether that’s task-level updates, regular project status reports, or larger program overviews.

A big part of project stakeholder management is creating a communication plan . As part of your communication plan, clarify which channel—email, messaging, or work management platform—stakeholders should use and when, how frequently different details should be communicated, and who is responsible for each of the different channels.

What are the best strategies for managing unrealistic stakeholder expectations?

To manage unrealistic stakeholder expectations, project managers should first clearly define the project scope, objectives, and deliverables to ensure everyone is on the same page. Regular communication and transparency are crucial to keeping stakeholders informed of progress, potential challenges, and any changes in the project.

When facing unrealistic expectations, project managers should engage in open and honest dialogue with stakeholders, explaining the reasons behind the limitations and proposing alternative solutions that align with the project's goals and resources.

Involving stakeholders in the decision-making process and seeking their input can also help to build trust and foster a more collaborative approach to managing expectations.

Related resources

Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Adaptive Project Management and Reporting

How Asana drives impactful product launches in 3 steps

Waterfall, Agile, Kanban, and Scrum: What’s the difference?

New site openings: How to reduce costs and delays

Stakeholder Analysis Case Study: Selection of New York City for Amazon “HQ2”

• Living reference work entry
• Latest version View entry history
• First Online: 01 December 2021
• Cite this living reference work entry

• Jason Voiovich 5  

26 Accesses

1 Altmetric

This case study applies the rapid analysis framework (RAF) for stakeholder analysis to the situation surrounding Amazon’s selection of New York City (specifically, Long Island City in the Queens borough) as one of two sites for a second corporate headquarters. Building on foundational work from Freeman as well as Johnson and Scholes (Exploring corporate strategy, Prentice Hall, London, 1999), the RAF model differs from these two better known models by helping managers visualize the inherent conflict between a diverse group of rival stakeholders: Amazon management, New York City leadership, New York State leadership, US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (aka, AO-C), workers’ groups/unions, local business leaders, local residents, Amazon customers, and community activists. Additionally, unlike previous models that illustrate stakeholders in static positions on a matrix or continuum, the RAF focuses on a stakeholders’ movement between positions, thereby increasing the ability of managers to plan and take actions rather than simply identifying and cataloging stakeholder groups. In this case, the RAF shows how groups opposed to the plan were able to outmaneuver Amazon and other New York leaders, forcing the company to retract its selection. From this case study, practitioners will be able to generalize effective strategies and tactics to other adversarial stakeholder management situations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Schattschneider, Elmer E. (1892–1971)

Managing Stakeholders for the Sake of Business and Society

Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach . Boston: Pitman.

Google Scholar  

Frooman, J. (1999). Stakeholder influence strategies. Academy of Management Review, 24 (2), 191–205.

Article   Google Scholar  

Goodman, J. D. (2019, February 14). Amazon pulls out of planned New York City Headquarters . Retrieved May 06, 2019, from https://​www.​nytimes.​com/​2019/​02/​14/​nyregion/​amazon-hq2-queens.​html

Johnson, G., & Scholes, K. (1999). Exploring corporate strategy (5th ed.). London: Prentice Hall.

Leighton, G. (2011). Rapid analysis framework for stakeholder analysis . Lecture presented at M.A. in Strategic Communication, JOUR 8202 in Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.

Further Reading

Bourne, L. (2016). Stakeholder relationship management: A maturity model for organizational implementation . New York: Routledge.

Book   Google Scholar  

Bryson, J. M. (2004). What to do when stakeholders matter. Public Management Review, 6 (1), 21–53.

Caputo, F., & Evangelista, F. (2018). The role of information sharing and communication strategies for improving stakeholder engagement. In Business models for strategic innovation (pp. 51–69). New York: Routledge.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Voiovich Group LLC, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Jason Voiovich

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

Business Research Institute, University of Chester, Chester, UK

Phil Harris

Universita della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland

Alberto Bitonti

Aurora WDC, Madison, WI, USA

Craig S. Fleisher

Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark

Anne Skorkjær Binderkrantz

Section Editor information

Aurora WDC and Medical College of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

Craig Fleisher

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Cite this entry.

Voiovich, J. (2022). Stakeholder Analysis Case Study: Selection of New York City for Amazon “HQ2”. In: Harris, P., Bitonti, A., Fleisher, C.S., Binderkrantz, A.S. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Interest Groups, Lobbying and Public Affairs . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13895-0_8-2

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13895-0_8-2

Received : 09 September 2021

Accepted : 10 September 2021

Published : 01 December 2021

Publisher Name : Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-030-13895-0

Online ISBN : 978-3-030-13895-0

eBook Packages : Springer Reference Political Science and International Studies Reference Module Humanities and Social Sciences Reference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13895-0_8-2

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13895-0_8-1

• Find a journal
• Track your research

Rated 4.5 of 5 | Office Timeline 5482 reviews

Stakeholder analysis 101: a project manager’s guide

Uncover stakeholder analysis basics for project success. Enhance your approach with free templates.

Tim Stumbles

Jan 17, 2024

20 min read

When you’re so busy managing projects, it can be tempting to get caught up in the day-to-day tasks and treat stakeholder analysis as an afterthought. But this oversight can have serious consequences for the success of your project.

Imagine you find yourself at your favorite coffee spot, ordering a caramel latte. The latte tastes good, but once again, there’s no trace of caramel. Lisa, the barista, caught up in multitasking, has missed this detail for the second time. How would you feel? Ignored, frustrated? The thought of trying another café may be crossing your mind. Truth is, if Lisa continues to miss important details in customer requests, the coffee shop risks losing its customers.

Our knack for managing interactions has great impact on the success of our actions. Whether it’s paying attention to details and accurately fulfilling an order, or deciphering unspoken cues in a team meeting, or smoothly handling social dynamics at a family gathering, the ability to understand and react to people’s signals plays a behind-the-scenes role in the things we do.

Now, shift this perspective to project management: just as daily interactions are shaped by our ability to understand and manage people, the success of a project depends to a great extent on the project manager’s ability to comprehend, analyze, and respond to the stakeholders involved – be they customers, suppliers, shareholders, end users, or the project team.

Let’s find out how and why good connections between people involved in a project – the stakeholders – can be the corner stone for project success. We’ll cover practical steps, real examples, and useful tools to help you understand stakeholders better and make the most of your stakeholder engagement efforts. To help you get started, we’ve also included a free PowerPoint template for stakeholder analysis that you can download and customize within minutes.

Who are the stakeholders?

In the coffee shop scenario, you’re a loyal customer, thus, a critical stakeholder ; your preferences shape the coffee shop’s success. Simultaneously, Lisa, as frontline staff, is another key stakeholder—the way she fulfills orders affects both customer satisfaction and the business’s bottom line.

“A stakeholder is an individual, group, or organization who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project.” ( A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – The Project Management Institute )

We can include, as well, those with the potential to influence the work or those with an interest in it . Examples range from employees, shareholders, customers, and suppliers to local community members, other businesses, governing officials, environmental groups, and beyond.

The tricky part when managing the stakeholders, whether actively involved or just impacted by the project, is that they may have conflicting expectations that can influence the project outcomes. The key is to create premises for conducting regular stakeholder engagement sessions to align expectations .

Conducting a thorough stakeholder analysis and establishing transparent communication channels can significantly enhance collaboration , even when expectations and requirements diverge. Additionally, we can include as benefits adopting a flexible approach, defining roles accurately, and implementing a conflict resolution mechanism that works.

What is stakeholder analysis?

Stakeholder analysis is a process that involves identifying, analyzing, and prioritizing individuals, groups, or organizations that may be affected by or have an impact on the project, whose concerns need consideration during the planning and execution of a project. It implies methodically collecting and assessing qualitative data.

If important stakeholders aren’t acknowledged and managed properly, plans can encounter recurring problems. In the coffee shop scenario above, the latte oversight is a breakdown in stakeholder analysis; the coffee shop management failed to identify and prioritize stakeholder relationships. What the coffee shop might need to address these issues is a ‘refreshment’ of their employee training and a reevaluation of their processes.

Poor stakeholder management is a major reason for project failures. “By not effectively identifying and managing the hidden and oftentimes conflicting agendas of project stakeholders early in the project management process, many projects are doomed to experience costly failures […]” ( A Case Study of Project and Stakeholder Management Failures – J. S. Sutterfield, Shawnta S. Friday-Stroud, S. L. Shivers-Blackwell).

Stakeholder analysis is the first tool that project managers use in the process of stakeholder management to help them map and understand stakeholders right from the start of the project, or, even better, before the project starts.

Stakeholder analysis within the stakeholder management context

Stakeholder management is a broad process that includes identifying, analyzing, planning, and engaging with stakeholders throughout the lifecycle of a project. The goal is to effectively understand the stakeholders and address their needs and concerns , securing their positive and supportive influence.

Effective stakeholder management starts with effective stakeholder analysis. Stakeholder analysis is mostly used in the incipient phases of the project to correctly identify the stakeholders, gather information about them, assess their interests and expectations, and prioritize their importance in the context of a particular project, decision, or organizational activity.

This allows for better communication and stakeholder engagement planning , that, in turn, creates stronger relationships with the stakeholders.

Stakeholder analysis across the project life cycle

Identifying and understanding stakeholders’ expectations is decisive for their involvement and support, with impact on the successful execution of the project.

During the life of a project, stakeholder management is an ongoing process. The groundwork for stakeholder management starts before the project begins and requires constant revisiting, spanning multiple phases of the project life cycle. Stakeholder analysis is typically conducted during the initiation and planning phases, yet it doesn’t neatly fit into a distinct phase.

These are the key stages that typically shape the structure of a project and the actions that are usually taken to manage and analyze stakeholders at each stage:

1. Project initiation

During the project initiation phase, the focus lies on broadly defining the project, identifying key stakeholders, clarifying project scope, objectives, and deliverables. In this phase a thorough feasibility analysis will be conducted.

Stakeholder analysis

During the project initiation stage, stakeholders are identified based on their potential impact, interest or influence on the project. Then, a thorough analysis is conducted to assess the interests, expectations, and potential impact of each identified stakeholder.

2. Project planning

In the project planning stage, the emphasis is on creating a detailed project plan, defining roles and responsibilities, developing a schedule and timeline. This is also the stage to allocate resources, establish a budget, and craft a comprehensive risk management plan by identifying potential risks. Additionally, this phase involves setting up effective communication and reporting processes.

Stakeholder analysis and management

During the planning phase of a project, stakeholders are prioritized according to their influence, interest, and impact on the project. A comprehensive stakeholder engagement plan is created. This plan will outline strategies for effective interaction throughout the project. Additionally, a communication plan is drafted to establish what channels and methods will be used to inform and engage stakeholders.

3. Project execution

During the project execution phase, the project plan is set into motion, involving the coordination of people and resources to execute the plan. This stage includes directing team members, managing project tasks, and ensuring effective communication among team members and stakeholders.

Stakeholder management

During project execution, there is active involvement with stakeholders in accordance with the communication plan. Any concerns or issues raised by stakeholders are addressed throughout the project execution phase.

4. Monitoring and controlling

At this stage, the focus is on tracking, reviewing, and regulating the progress and performance of the project. This involves monitoring project variables such as cost, scope, quality, and timeline. Additionally, corrective actions are implemented as needed, and adjustments to the project scope, schedule, or resources are made as needed.

During the monitoring phase, ongoing analysis of stakeholders’ interests, influence, or impact on the project is conducted allowing for reassessment. Stakeholder engagement strategies and communication plans are adjusted as needed based on changing circumstances.

During the closing phase, the project concludes by finalizing all activities and completing remaining deliverables. The process involves obtaining customer or stakeholder acceptance, handing over project deliverables, releasing project resources, and conducting a comprehensive project review or post-mortem. Furthermore, this phase includes documenting valuable lessons learned for future reference.

At project closing, efforts include gathering stakeholder feedback on project outcomes to assess satisfaction and communicating the closure to stakeholders. There’s also the transitioning of any relevant responsibilities from the project team to other individuals or groups to ensure continued integration of project outcomes into ongoing operations and prevent disruptions.

6. Project review

At project review, the overall success of the project is evaluated. This involves assessing both successful aspects and areas for improvement. Additionally, the phase includes capturing valuable lessons learned to be applied in future projects and addressing any remaining administrative tasks for closure.

During project post-implementation review, the insights gained from stakeholder engagement are included into the overall ‘lessons learned’ documentation. Stakeholder feedback is used to improve stakeholder management practices for future projects.

To simplify, the stakeholder engagement cycle evolves throughout the project stages going through five key steps:

• Identifying stakeholders

Begin by identifying who your stakeholders are.

• Analyzing and documenting

Analyze their wants, needs, document them, and determine the best of communication.

• Planning – strategizing and prioritizing

Develop a plan for how you will engage with the stakeholders.

• Implementing

Take action and implement your plan.

• Reviewing strategies

Review the stakeholder management strategies and the outcomes of your actions. In this step, you can reconsider your stakeholder assessment, identify new stakeholders or additional steps as needed, and make adjustments to your initial plan.

While progressing through project phases, stakeholder analysis is mainly performed during project initiation , and again at some point during planning (to categorize stakeholders) and monitoring (to reassess or adjust the initial assessment if necessary).

Steps to perform a stakeholder analysis

We’ve seen the important, sometimes ignored, role of stakeholder analysis within stakeholder management, we’ve explored where and how stakeholder analysis and management fit into project dynamics. Now, let’s find out what steps are involved in conducting a thorough stakeholder analysis :

Step 1: Identifying key stakeholders

A study analyzing how stakeholders influence the success or failure of projects states that “‘legitimate and valid’ stakeholders need to be identified and their power and influence mapped so that their potential impact on projects can be better understood. Appropriate strategies can then be formulated and enacted to maximise a stakeholder’s positive influence and minimise any negative influence. This becomes a key risk-management issue for project managers . Failure to appreciate this has led to countless project failures […]” ( Visualising and mapping stakeholder influence – Lynda Bourne and Derek H.T. Walker )

Stakeholders (individuals, groups, or organizations) can impact, be affected by, or perceive themselves affected by project decisions. When starting a project, identifying key stakeholders (project sponsors, beneficiaries, financial supporters, users, regulators, implementers, and solution supporters) and knowing their needs and potential project effects should be one of the preliminary steps.

To identify and evaluate your stakeholders, consider those directly involved within your business (internal stakeholders, such as team members and leadership) and those external to it (such as end users, customers, investors). Include here people or groups with a direct interest in the success or failure of your work, ranging from collaborators to government agencies. Start with a brainstorming session, considering all stakeholders initially, and refine later. Classifying and understanding them can be tricky.

Techniques for identifying stakeholders

Identifying stakeholders is the initial step in stakeholder analysis. It lays the groundwork for effective communication and engagement. There are several techniques that offer insights into those who may impact or be impacted by the project. Let’s explore three key approaches:

• Stakeholder registers

This technique implies creating a comprehensive list that identifies individuals, groups, or entities who may be affected by or have an impact on the project. Using existing project documentation and organizational resources, stakeholder registers compile a structured list of individuals, groups, or entities associated with the project.

Use : This technique relies on existing project documentation, organizational resources, and historical records to compile a structured register or list of individuals, groups, or entities associated with the project. It serves as a foundational tool for stakeholder management.

• Brainstorming sessions

Brainstorming sessions during open discussions gather input from project team members and relevant stakeholders to identify potential participants in the project.

Use: This technique generates a diverse list of stakeholders through open discussions and capitalizes on the collective knowledge of the team. It is particularly useful in uncovering less obvious stakeholders and considering various perspectives.

• Stakeholder surveys

This technique involves reaching out to potential stakeholders through questionnaires or interviews to gather information about their interests, concerns, and expectations regarding the project.

Use: This technique provides a means of obtaining input from stakeholders, especially those who may not be readily identified through other methods. Surveys offer insights into stakeholder needs and preferences.

Step 2: Categorizing stakeholders

To successfully categorize stakeholders, you need to have a clear understanding of the project’s goals, and to correctly identify stakeholders and their relationships. It involves identifying, assessing, and grouping the identified stakeholders, considering factors such as the stakeholders’ level of influence and interest, direct or indirect impact, and their position within or outside the organization.

Stakeholders can be categorized as:

• Primary stakeholders (or key stakeholders): individuals or groups directly impacted by the project outcomes. They have a significant and immediate interest in the project’s success.
• project team members,
• Secondary stakeholders (or non-key stakeholders): individuals or groups who have an indirect interest in the project and are not directly affected by its outcomes. However, their support or influence can still impact the project.
• government agencies,
• community groups.

Another classification is based on the distinction that stakeholders can either be internally or externally connected to an organization:

• Internal stakeholders are directly involved in a project or hold a particular interest in the operations and success of an organization due to factors such as employment, ownership, or investment.

Internal stakeholders include:

• employees/team members,
• management and execs,
• board of directors,
• trade unions,
• volunteers,
• internal committees or teams.
• External stakeholders are indirectly impacted by the business’s actions and results.

External stakeholders include:

• competitors,
• investors and shareholders,
• government and regulatory bodies,
• community and local residents,
• special interest groups.

Step 3: Prioritizing stakeholders

The process of prioritizing stakeholders involves identifying and focusing efforts on individuals or groups who have the most significant impact on a project’s success. The process is simple but requires consideration of a few conditions:

• Identifying influence

The first condition that needs to be met in order to be able to correctly prioritize stakeholders is to understand who has the power to influence the project positively or negatively.

For example, executives, regulatory authorities, or key decision-makers exert substantial influence.

• Assessing interest

The second step is to determine the level of interest, concern or enthusiasm stakeholders have regarding the project’s outcomes.

For example, end-users, project team members, or those directly affected by the project may have high interest.

• Balancing priorities

Then, after steps 1 and 2, priorities can be set. How? Equilibrium should be achieved between the influence a stakeholder holds and their level of interest in the project.

For example, a stakeholder with significant power but low interest may require different engagement strategies than one with both high power and high interest. A stakeholder with high power and high interest is typically a key player, requiring focused engagement efforts. On the other hand, those with high power but low interest may need to be kept satisfied. Those with high interest but low power should be kept informed.

Tools to assist PMs in stakeholder prioritization

Let’s see what tools can help a project manager to prioritize stakeholders:

1. Power-Interest Grid

The Power/Influence-interest grid is a tool that places stakeholders on a grid based on their power and interest levels. Stakeholders with high power and high interest are considered key players and should be managed closely. Those with high power but low interest may need to be kept satisfied, while those with high interest but low power should be kept informed. Low-power, low-interest stakeholders generally require minimal effort.

This method simplifies the prioritization process by providing a visual representation of stakeholder significance , helping project managers tailor their engagement strategies accordingly.

2. Salience Model

The stakeholder salience framework was developed in 1997 by Mitchell, Agle, Wood in the paper Toward a Theory of Stakeholder Identification and Salience: Defining the Principle of Who and What Really Counts . Mitchell, Agle and Wood (1997) to help managers identify and prioritize stakeholders through the assessment of three attributes: power, legitimacy and urgency.

The paper explains: “The low salience classes (areas 1, 2, and 3), which we term “latent” stakeholders, are identified by their possession or attributed possession of only one of the attributes. The moderately salient stakeholders (areas 4, 5, and 6) are identified by their possession or attributed possession of two of the attributes, and because they are stakeholders who “expect something,” we call them “expectant” stakeholders. The combination of all three attributes (including the dynamic relations among them) is the defining feature of highly salient stakeholders (area 7).”

The Salience Model is a stakeholder prioritization approach that combines three key dimensions (power, urgency, and legitimacy) to determine the prominence of stakeholders. This model helps identify and prioritize stakeholders based on their significance to a project, taking into account their authority, immediacy of interest, and perceived appropriateness of their involvement. Stakeholders with a high degree of salience, influenced by these dimensions, are considered top priorities in terms of engagement and management during the project lifecycle.

The Salience Model categorizes stakeholders based on their attributes in three dimensions: power, urgency, and legitimacy :

• Latent stakeholders possess only one of the three attributes. They have a “passive” stance in the project. Limited resources may lead managers to ignore these stakeholders, who, in turn, are unlikely to acknowledge the project. Thus, stakeholder salience is low when managers perceive only one attribute among power, legitimacy, and urgency.
• Dormant stakeholders , possessing power without legitimacy or urgency, remain inactive. Examples include those with coercive, utilitarian, or symbolic power. Despite limited interaction, their potential to gain urgency or legitimacy warrants attention. Managers should be aware, as dormant stakeholders may become salient if acquiring a second attribute, as seen in cases like ex-employees using legal actions or public discourse to exert latent power.
• Discretionary stakeholders , marked by legitimacy but lacking power and urgent claims, are of interest only in corporate social responsibility programs, likely recipients of discretionary corporate social responsibility. (philanthropy programs, nonprofit organizations). Unlike stakeholders with power or urgent claims, there is no pressure for managers to actively engage with discretionary stakeholders.
• Demanding stakeholders , characterized solely by urgency, lack power and legitimacy. They can be irritating but not dangerous, requiring minimal attention. Without acquiring power or legitimacy, stakeholders cannot elevate their urgent claims beyond a latent status.
• Expectant stakeholders , possessing two out of the three attributes (power, legitimacy, and urgency), represent a qualitatively different level of salience (moderate salience). Unlike stakeholders with only one attribute, those with two attributes are seen as “expecting something.” This attribute combination prompts an active stance and increased responsiveness from the company. It indicates a higher level of engagement between managers and these stakeholders.
• Dominant stakeholders possess both power and legitimacy and form the influential “dominant coalition” in the firm. These are the stakeholders that matter to a project manager, who needs a strategy to actively engage and manage them. Examples include representation on corporate boards, investor relations offices. While dominant stakeholders receive significant attention, they don’t constitute the entirety of stakeholders with whom managers should engage.
• Dependent stakeholders lack power but hold urgent legitimate claims. They rely on others or the firm’s managers for the power needed to enforce their will. They depend on powerful stakeholders for advocacy and guardianship and can form coalitions to achieve power.
• Dangerous stakeholders, characterized by urgency and power without legitimacy, pose a literal threat to the firm, potentially resorting to coercion and violence. Coercive tactics, such as strikes, employee sabotage, and terrorism, exemplify their behavior. While uncomfortable with granting legitimacy to such actions, it is important to identify these stakeholders for risk mitigation and preparedness. Acknowledging them is a necessity to address potential dangers to stakeholder-manager relationships and overall safety. Identifying dangerous stakeholders supports the counteraction of such practices to maintain civility.
• Definitive stakeholders are marked by the presence of all three attributes (power, legitimacy, and urgency), and hold high salience. This occurs when a stakeholder with power and legitimacy expresses urgent claims, leading managers to prioritize their concerns. Commonly, a dominant stakeholder can move into the “definitive” category. Recognition and action based on an accurate perception of power, legitimacy, and urgency are essential. Expectant stakeholders can become definitive by acquiring the missing attribute.

3. Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix

This matrix is used to assess the current level of engagement with various stakeholders. It helps in categorizing stakeholders based on their current engagement levels. According to A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® GUIDE) (Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, 2017) the engagement levels of the stakeholders can be classified as follows:

• Unaware : Stakeholders who are not aware of the project and its potential impacts.
• Resistant : Stakeholders who are aware of the project and its potential impacts but resist changes that may result from the project’s work or outcomes. They tend to be unsupportive.
• Neutral : Stakeholders who are aware of the project but express neither support nor opposition.
• Supportive : Stakeholders who are aware of the project and potential impacts and express support for the work and its outcomes.
• Leading : Stakeholders who are not only aware of the project and its potential impacts but are actively engaged in ensuring the project’s success.

The matrix facilitates a comparison between the current engagement levels of stakeholders and the desired levels necessary for successful project delivery. The matrix helps project teams identify gaps in engagement and adjust strategies to move stakeholders toward a more supportive and involved state.

While the Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix can be part of a stakeholder management plan, it specifically focuses on assessing and categorizing the current level of engagement rather than the comprehensive identification and analysis of stakeholders that is typical of a stakeholder analysis.

In practical terms, these tools can complement each other within a comprehensive stakeholder management framework. Stakeholder analysis helps you understand who your stakeholders are, their interests, and their potential impact on the project, while the Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix helps in evaluating and improving the current state of engagement with those stakeholders.

Step 4: Understanding stakeholders’ roles and expectations

The last step in performing a stakeholder analysis involves comprehending stakeholders’ expectations and defining the specific roles that stakeholders play in the project. This step goes beyond identification and prioritization, as it aims to gain a deeper understanding of how each stakeholder contributes to, and is impacted by, or expects from, the project. This way, project managers can tailor engagement strategies and communication to meet the needs of each stakeholder group.

This step is one of the trickiest parts of a project. Sometimes, we have to help the customers understand what they really want. Every project involves various people inside and outside the team. These people may change, or their interests in the project may vary as the project progresses. Even when we think we have the requirements figured out, they are prone to change.

Nontechnical requirements that are highly important tend to be forgotten, like making sure every team member knows the project goals and their role, or that the financial sponsors feel like their money is being well spent, or that the end-user wants the final product to work the way they think it should. Failing to meet any of these requirements can lead to significant issues during the project.

How do we understand these requirements? We do so by identifying and aligning our project needs with the communicated and uncommunicated expectations of all parties involved. Not only do stakeholders have an interest in the project, but they can also influence its outcome. For the success of the project, it’s important not only to identify all stakeholders but to understand their expectations and plan for changing requirements. Stakeholder analysis serves as a valuable tool in managing these aspects.

After identifying and prioritizing stakeholders, assess their feelings about the project. To do this, ask key questions such as their financial or emotional interest, motivation, relevant project information, current opinion, influencers, and potential support or opposition. This step often requires direct engagement through interviews, surveys, or focus groups.

Tips and tricks for understanding stakeholders

Here are some tips that might help you get started with the process of understanding stakeholders:

• Establish regular communication channels to keep stakeholders informed about project developments. This not only ensures transparency and builds strong relationships, giving you the opportunity to get to know stakeholders a lot better, but it also allows you to gauge reactions and adjust strategies accordingly.
• Conduct interviews and workshops to clarify roles and expectations.
• Use surveys and feedback mechanisms to gather structured information from stakeholders. This provides a quantitative understanding of their preferences, needs, and concerns.
• Actively listen to stakeholders during interviews, meetings, or any communication. Pay attention to their concerns, interests, and expectations.
• Map relationships. Visualize stakeholder relationships and identify points of contact and authority to clearly define and analyze their roles. Understand how their roles may evolve throughout the project lifecycle. Assess the impact of their expectations and their influence on the project. Pro tip: In addition to the methods described above that you can use when mapping roles and relationships, you may want to examine in detail the project documents for formal role definitions and dependencies.
• Approach stakeholders with empathy. Last, but not least, try to put yourself in their shoes to understand their perspective. Consider their challenges, motivations, and goals. This empathetic approach can help more than you would think in adjusting your strategies to meet their needs.

Based on this understanding, you can develop a communication plan that will produce meaningful results. Remember to also include a communication matrix to help keep stakeholders informed at appropriate intervals.

Examples of stakeholder analysis from various industries

Because real-world examples can teach us more than theory alone, let's see how stakeholder analysis can be applied across industries. This will show once more how it can offer us useful and actionable insights. We'll also look into what stakeholder analysis can help achieve in each example. Let's begin!

A retail company conducts a stakeholder analysis to understand the expectations of its employees, customers, and suppliers.

Stakeholder analysis role and benefits:

• Stakeholder analysis serves to identify key influencers. In the retail sector, these include suppliers, customers, regulatory bodies.
• Retail businesses can capitalize on emerging market trends to sustain growth. Also, stakeholder analysis helps them make informed decisions and align their strategies with evolving customer expectations.
• A focused stakeholder analysis can help retail companies manage operational and reputational risks by avoiding drawbacks such as reputation damage, supply chain disruptions, or regulatory non-compliance issues.

Construction

For construction firms , a targeted stakeholder analysis is useful to help align strategies with client and community expectations, and make informed decisions in complex regulatory environments.

• The analysis helps identify the interests and concerns of the local community and government authorities, and also the influential parties that are invested in the project, such as clients, subcontractors, regulatory authorities, and local communities.
• manage project risks in a proactive way,
• avoid project delays and community conflicts,
• avoid potential conflicts,
• ensure regulatory compliance.

A technology company conducts a stakeholder analysis to understand the needs and preferences of investors and consumers.

• In the technology sector, the influential parties include customers, technology partners, regulatory bodies, and the developer community.
• This analysis helps manage strategic partnerships and align product development strategies with customer needs to enhance customer satisfaction.
• It helps tech companies to be one step ahead of the competition in the dynamic tech industry, where capitalizing on emerging trends is tightly linked to ensuring agility and competitiveness and making the correct decisions to keep up with the rapidly evolving market. These efforts are directly linked to an enhanced ability to create innovative products and increase market share.
• Also, by conducting a thorough stakeholder analysis, technology companies find it easier to adhere to industry standards and maintain regulatory compliance.

In the pharmaceutical industry , companies conduct stakeholder analysis to understand the needs and expectations of patients, enhancing a patient-centric approach. Other key players besides patients include healthcare providers, research collaborators, and regulatory bodies.

• This analysis enables pharmaceutical companies to align research and development strategies with healthcare needs, supporting the development of patient-centered products. They can make informed decisions for product development and market access.
• Also, a thorough stakeholder analysis helps pharmaceutical firms maintain compliance with industry regulations to avoid setbacks in the complex landscape of healthcare regulations.

Key benefits for project managers

Conducting a stakeholder analysis can yield significant benefits for project managers by providing a clear understanding of stakeholders’ interests, expectations, and influence . This helps them engage stakeholders effectively, in other words, it helps keep the stakeholders happy by aligning strategies with their needs and expectations, and it also keeps potential drawbacks at bay.

Among the key benefits that project managers derive from stakeholder analysis:

Better planning, better decisions

By understanding the interests, expectations, and influence of stakeholders, project managers can make more informed decisions and plan more effectively. This improvement not only impacts stakeholder engagement strategies but also influences resource allocation, which is often challenging for project managers. Thus, project efforts can be better aligned with the priorities of key players , ensuring a better-coordinated project execution.

Better communication and stakeholder engagement

Stakeholder analysis helps project managers adjust communication strategies right from the beginning of the project, making it fit for the needs of different stakeholders. This improves engagement and collaboration, and also helps avoid or minimize potential conflicts in time. Building positive relationships with stakeholders leads to their increased support and commitment .

Risk management and conflict resolution

Identifying potential challenges and concerns early allows project managers to avoid or reduce risks and prevent issues from escalating. Understanding potential conflicts and differing interests means that project managers can, in time, develop strategies for conflict resolution , minimizing disruptions to the project. Overall, the insights gained from stakeholder analysis enable project managers to adjust their strategies in response to shifting stakeholder dynamics and evolving project requirements.

This flexibility and adaptability, sustained by a continuous understanding of stakeholder perspectives, enables, in turn, a more responsive approach to project management. Last, but not least, continuously incorporating stakeholder feedback helps in all project management processes by ensuring that they align closely with the expectations and needs of key stakeholders.

Best practices for continuous stakeholder management

As we’ve seen, stakeholder management spans throughout the project’s duration. This continuous process is a strategic necessity. Why? Because regularly engaging with the stakeholders not only helps understanding their evolving needs, concerns, and expectations, but it also lays the foundation on which healthy relationships can be built and maintained.

These are some best practices for continuous stakeholder management are:

1. Adapt to changing stakeholder dynamics.

Sometimes, stakeholders’ power, legitimacy, and urgency may undergo changes. The solution to this problem is to remain flexible and responsive. How? By continuously analyzing and trying to anticipate shifts in stakeholder priorities and concerns. Thus, you can adjust engagement strategies accordingly to align with the evolving expectations and needs of stakeholders. This dynamic approach ensures that your project remains adaptable to changing circumstances and responsive to the ever-evolving landscape of stakeholder dynamics.

2. Prioritize stakeholder engagement.

To prioritize stakeholder engagement, a project manager needs to find and focus on the most important moments for communication and collaboration in a project. The first step is to identify key touchpoints in the project where involving stakeholders matters the most. Also, engagement strategies need to be adjusted according to the specific needs of different stakeholder groups. Aligning strategies with priorities ensures that efforts are concentrated where they can have the most significant impact.

3. Stay proactive in issue resolution.

Stay ahead of challenges and closely monitor stakeholder concerns and sentiments. How? By proactively anticipating potential issues and devising strategies to address them before they escalate. This foresighted approach ensures that you can tackle challenges head-on, maintaining a proactive stance.

4. Keep communication open.

Build trust by prioritizing open and honest communication with stakeholders. How? By clearly articulating the organization’s goals, decisions, and plans. Also, regular not only maintain transparency but also demonstrate a commitment to keeping them involved and informed on relevant changes that may affect them. This approach sets a foundation of trust and collaboration.

5. Incorporate stakeholder feedback into your strategies.

Stakeholder feedback opens a dialogue between project managers and those directly impacted by the project. Asking for feedback from all the stakeholders involved in your project is not just about hearing opinions, it’s about gaining a deeper understanding of their expectations and concerns. It’s a two-way street where stakeholders share their insights, and project managers, in turn, refine their strategies based on this feedback. This dynamic process not only aligns project activities with stakeholder expectations, but also builds a foundation of trust and collaboration.

6. Regularly review stakeholder analysis.

Continuously assessing stakeholder attributes, such as power, legitimacy, and urgency, helps maintain accuracy in project management. Staying well-informed about changes in the business environment allows for the agile adjustment of stakeholder profiles. This ongoing process ensures that stakeholder information remains up-to-date and aligned with the evolving dynamics and shifting circumstances of the project. To summarize, keeping a close eye on how well your stakeholder engagement strategies are doing ensures your strategies match up with the project objectives and helps identify areas for improvement.

Free downloadable PowerPoint template for stakeholder analysis

When engaging with stakeholders, communication is key. While meeting in person and using their preferred language is optimal, being creative with alternative methods is also effective. Visual tools like presentations, posters, and reports surpass the efficiency of email alone. Diversifying communication approaches increases the likelihood of stakeholder understanding.

We understand the importance of having visually appealing presentation materials. To support your efforts in enhancing stakeholder engagement, we’re delighted to offer you a free downloadable PowerPoint template, made with the Office Timeline PowerPoint add-in .

Our PowerPoint template is designed as a stakeholder analysis tool, combining the functionality of a product roadmap with the power-interest grid stakeholder analysis matrix. With fully customizable slides, integrated visual elements, a cohesive color palette, and multiple data presentation options it ensures tailored, engaging, and efficient communication for diverse stakeholders.

Customizing fields and colors to align with your organization’s workflow is made simple with this template directly within PowerPoint. For complex customizations, automation features and multiple integration, get our free 14-day trial . You’ll have access to all the full, advanced functionalities of the add-in including sub-swimlanes, multiple timescales, and dependencies and critical path.

Download the template, customize it in PowerPoint to fit your project, then save and share with stakeholders through your preferred communication channel.

To wrap up our exploration of stakeholder analysis, it’s worth highlighting the actionable takeaways that contribute to successful stakeholder management: the approach needed for a thorough stakeholder analysis relies on the identification, analysis, understanding, prioritization, and active engagement of the project stakeholders.

While presenting stakeholder analysis as binding for decision-making, risk mitigation, and resource allocation, our intent is to encourage its thoughtful application and recognition of its significance, rather than overstate its role.

We trust this article not only provides you with valuable insight but that it also enhances your stakeholder engagement efforts through the seamless integration of our template into your project management practices, making it easier for you to effectively manage and communicate with the stakeholders .

Frequently asked questions about stakeholder analysis

Let’s quickly go through some of the most frequently asked questions about stakeholder analysis, management, and engagement.

Is stakeholder analysis a project management tool?

Stakeholder analysis can be considered a project management tool, and more than that, it is a range of tools and techniques that help identify, understand and analyze the stakeholders and their value, influence, interests, needs and expectations within the project environment.

What is the importance of stakeholder analysis?

The role of the stakeholder analysis is to identify the project stakeholders and the impact they may have on the project. It helps understand different angles, perspectives, opinions and interests that the stakeholders have.

How do you draw a stakeholder analysis?

A stakeholder analysis matrix is a tool that visually analyzes stakeholders by mapping them on two axes (X – interest, Y – influence). It identifies each variable as high or low, based on their impact or significance. Steps to draw a stakeholder analysis matrix: 1.  Identify stakeholders : list individuals or groups involved in or impacted by the project. 2. Categorize stakeholders by their level of interest in the project and their influence over it: • High Interest, High Influence • High Interest, Low Influence • Low Interest, High Influence • Low Interest, Low Influence 3. Create a matrix : draw a matrix with quadrants representing different stakeholder categories. 4. Plot stakeholders : place stakeholders in relevant matrix quadrants based on their interest and influence. 5. Prioritize and analyze : focus on stakeholders in the “High Interest, High Influence” quadrant as they are most critical.

What are the five 5 levels of stakeholders’ engagement?

The five levels of stakeholder engagement are: 1.  Unaware : Lacks awareness of the project and its impacts. 2.  Resistant : Aware but resistant to changes, tends to be unsupportive. 3.  Neutral : Aware but expresses neither support nor opposition. 4.  Supportive : Aware and expresses support for the project and its outcomes. 5.  Leading : Actively engaged in ensuring the project’s success. This classification is used to assess the engagement level of each stakeholder with the help of the Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix. The purpose is to adjust the level of communications necessary to effectively engage the stakeholder.

What are the five pillars of stakeholders’ analysis?

Stakeholder analysis typically involves considering the following pillars: • Stakeholder identification : Recognizing and listing all potential stakeholders. • Stakeholder prioritization : Evaluating and ranking stakeholders based on their influence, interest, or impact on the project. • Understanding stakeholders : Gaining insights into the needs, expectations, and concerns of each stakeholder. After this step, we go beyond stakeholder analysis, entering the wider area of stakeholder management, that implies: • Engagement of stakeholders – that is developing strategies to involve and communicate with stakeholders throughout the project, and • Implementing the strategies and plans to address and respond to stakeholder needs, ensuring their impact is considered in decision-making.

What are the 4 steps of stakeholder analysis?

The four key steps of stakeholder analysis typically include: 1.  Identification : Recognizing and compiling a list of all potential stakeholders. 2. Assessment/Prioritization : Evaluating and prioritizing stakeholders based on criteria such as influence, interest, or impact on the project. 3.  Understanding : Gaining insights into the needs, expectations, and concerns of each stakeholder. 4.  Engagement/Management : Developing and implementing strategies to involve, communicate with, and manage stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle. This final step goes beyond stakeholder analysis towards the wider area of stakeholder management.

What are the four Ps of stakeholders?

The four Ps of stakeholders can be represented as: • Power : The level of influence a stakeholder has over the project. • Perspective : The unique viewpoints, needs, and expectations stakeholders bring. • Position : The formal or informal role a stakeholder holds in the project or organization. • Priority : The importance or urgency assigned to each stakeholder in terms of project impact.

What are the 4 key stakeholder groups?

The four key stakeholder groups can be categorized as follows, considering primary and secondary distinctions: • Internal stakeholders : Individuals or groups within the organization, such as employees, managers, or shareholders. • External stakeholders : Individuals or groups outside the organization, including customers, suppliers, and the local community. • Primary stakeholders : Those most directly affected by the project or organization’s actions, such as customers/clients. • Secondary stakeholders : Those indirectly affected, including project team members and other entities not in direct contact with the organization’s products or services.

What are the 4 styles of managing stakeholders?

The four styles of managing stakeholders can be categorized as: • Unaware style – Project managers have limited awareness or recognition of stakeholders, resulting in minimal engagement or communication. • Resistant style – Project managers acknowledge stakeholders but exhibit resistance or opposition to their influence or needs. • Neutral style – Project managers maintain a neutral stance and provide basic communication and engagement but do not actively seek input or involvement. • Engaged style – Project managers actively involve and communicate with stakeholders, seeking their input and addressing their needs throughout the project.

What is a good stakeholder analysis?

A good stakeholder analysis is thorough, prioritizes stakeholders based on influence, and supports a deep understanding of their needs. It involves proactive engagement strategies and continuous monitoring for effective project management.

What is the basic stakeholder analysis technique?

The basic stakeholder analysis technique includes identifying stakeholders, prioritizing them based on criteria, understanding their needs, and developing strategies for active engagement and management.

How do you create a stakeholder matrix?

To create a stakeholder matrix, follow these steps: 1. Identify stakeholders : List all potential stakeholders associated with the project. 2.  Select evaluation criteria : Choose criteria such as power, interest, or impact for assessment. 3.  Assess stakeholders : Evaluate and assign scores to stakeholders based on the selected criteria. 4.  Prioritize stakeholders : Rank stakeholders according to their scores to determine priority. 5.  Create matrix : Represent stakeholders on a matrix with axes corresponding to the selected criteria. 6. Communicate findings : Share the matrix with the project team to inform decision-making and stakeholder management strategies.

What is a stakeholder analysis chart?

A stakeholder analysis chart is a visual representation that maps out the key stakeholders involved in a project, typically displaying their level of influence, interest, or other relevant attributes. It helps project managers assess and prioritize stakeholders based on their impact on the project.

What is the first step in stakeholder analysis?

The first step in stakeholder analysis is identifying the key stakeholders.

How do you identify stakeholders? What is the most common method of identifying stakeholders?

Stakeholders are commonly identified through methods such as workshops, document reviews, and surveys/interviews involving key project members. The most prevalent approach involves collaborative efforts, document examination, and direct communication to recognize individuals or groups with a stake in the project.

Tim is Co-Founder & CEO of Office Timeline, a Seattle-based start-up that aims to rid the world of boring, uninspiring meetings.

Tagged With:

Share this article:

Turn project data into professional timelines

Get the advanced features of Office Timeline free for 14 days.

• BA Bootcamp
• Skill Training
• BA Mentoring Support
• Certifications

Enhancing Project Outcomes Through Effective Stakeholder Analysis

Effective stakeholder analysis is a pivotal component of project management that can significantly enhance project outcomes. By understanding the needs and expectations of all stakeholders, professionals can minimize risks like scope creep and ensure increased visibility throughout the project lifecycle. Engaging in comprehensive training such as CBAP training or enrolling in a CBAP Exam Prep Course can equip you with the necessary skills to navigate stakeholder complexities successfully. As you delve into the methodologies and techniques for stakeholder analysis, you'll discover how to prioritize those crucial to your project's success and address any challenges that arise. Keep reading to uncover practical strategies and real-world case studies that illustrate the power of stakeholder analysis in delivering successful project outcomes.

Key Takeaways

• effective stakeholder analysis enhances communication and supports successful project outcomes
• identifying stakeholders' needs allows for tailored engagement strategies and improved collaboration
• adapting project plans based on stakeholder feedback fosters trust and strengthens relationships
• utilizing tools for continuous dialogue ensures stakeholder involvement throughout the project lifecycle
• regular reassessment of stakeholder influence helps prioritize engagement efforts effectively

Understanding Stakeholder Analysis in Project Management

Stakeholder analysis serves as a critical component in the realm of project management, shaping how you navigate relationships and expectations within any project. By defining stakeholders and recognizing their influence, you set clear core objectives that guide your efforts. This methodology not only enhances communication but also identifies potential challenges early in the software development process. As you engage with customers and manage your supply chain, effective stakeholder analysis directly contributes to achieving your project goals, fostering a smoother workflow and more successful outcomes. Understanding these dynamics enables you to craft a more focused approach that aligns with the needs of all parties involved. For more information, you can visit the official site of iiba for resources like cbap training and the CBAP Exam Prep Course .

Defining Stakeholder Analysis and Its Importance

Stakeholder analysis is a strategic method that focuses on identifying and understanding individuals or groups that have a vested interest in your project. This process is critical in project management as it helps your organization hone in on the specific needs and expectations of various stakeholders. By conducting brainstorming sessions, you bring attention to the motivations and concerns of these important parties, which enhances your leadership capabilities and sets the stage for effective collaboration .

Employing stakeholder analysis as a project management tool fosters clearer communication channels and drives alignment throughout the project's lifecycle. Recognizing the significance of each stakeholder allows you to address their needs proactively, ensuring they're engaged and informed. This attention not only mitigates risks but also empowers your team to navigate challenges more effectively, leading to improved project outcomes.

Core Objectives of Stakeholder Analysis in Projects

One of the key objectives of stakeholder analysis in projects is to enhance employment opportunities for individuals involved in the process. By understanding the needs and expectations of different stakeholders, you can foster an environment where their skills and knowledge are effectively utilized. Engaging a consultant can bring additional perspectives that further align these opportunities with broader industry standards, such as those set by the project management institute .

Another objective is to facilitate more informed decision-making processes within your project. Gaining insights into stakeholder priorities allows you to navigate complexities in areas like accounting and resource allocation with greater confidence. This proactive approach to stakeholder engagement ultimately contributes to a more streamlined project management experience, resulting in successful outcomes and satisfied stakeholders.

How Stakeholder Analysis Improves Project Outcomes

Understanding the dynamics of stakeholder analysis allows you to cater your approach based on each stakeholder 's interest and skill set, thereby enhancing the quality of deliverables. By identifying these attributes early, you can tailor your communication frequency and methods, ensuring that stakeholders remain engaged and informed throughout the project lifecycle. This proactive engagement establishes a foundation for collaboration that significantly boosts project effectiveness.

Incorporating stakeholder analysis into your project strategy enables you to align project goals with stakeholders’ expectations more accurately. This alignment not only clarifies the desired outcomes but also leverages the unique skills of each stakeholder , ensuring that their contributions directly enhance overall project success. As a result, your project can achieve its objectives with greater precision and effectiveness, leading to improved outcomes.

Now that you grasp the importance of stakeholder analysis in project management , it’s time to roll up your sleeves. Let’s dive into a practical, step-by-step guide to conducting an effective stakeholder analysis!

Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Stakeholder Analysis

Conducting a stakeholder analysis is vital to enhancing project outcomes and ensuring strong stakeholder engagement . Begin by identifying your project's stakeholders, as understanding who they are forms the foundation of your analysis. Assess their needs and expectations, which will allow you to create a clear policy that guides how you interact with them throughout the project. Next, map stakeholders based on their influence and interest in your product ; this helps prioritize your communication strategies. Finally, transparent communication plans should be established to keep stakeholders engaged. Decide how often you will reach out and through which mediums, including gathering crucial contact information, such as their email addresses, to facilitate effective dialogue. These steps will significantly improve your project’s trajectory, ultimately leading to better results.

Identifying Your Project's Stakeholders

Identifying your project's stakeholders is crucial for setting the scope and ensuring successful outcomes. Start by considering all groups impacted by the project, such as end users who will interact with the final product and vendors supplying necessary resources. Each stakeholder plays a vital role in preventing project failure by providing unique insights and support throughout the development process.

Another important aspect is recognizing the stakeholders at higher organizational levels, including the board of directors , who may influence strategic decisions. Their perspectives can shape not only project goals but also align them with broader organizational objectives. Keeping these key stakeholders informed and engaged will help to foster collaboration and enhance overall project effectiveness.

Assessing Stakeholder Needs and Expectations

To assess stakeholder needs and expectations effectively, consider the cultural factors that influence their perspectives. Understanding this complexity will help you tailor your resource allocations and ensure that your project aligns with their interests. Observing how culture impacts stakeholder behavior can offer significant insights, allowing for more meaningful engagement throughout the project lifecycle.

Utilizing tools such as Gantt charts can support your efforts in visualizing stakeholder contributions and tracking their evolving needs. This approach fosters continuous dialogue, ensuring that all parties feel valued and acknowledged. By maintaining open lines of communication, you can create a collaborative environment that drives project success and satisfies stakeholder expectations:

• Identify key stakeholders.
• Evaluate cultural influences on stakeholders.
• Recognize the complexity of each stakeholder 's needs.
• Utilize Gantt charts to visualize engagement.
• Maintain ongoing communication to adapt to changing expectations.

Mapping Stakeholders Based on Influence and Interest

Mapping stakeholders based on their influence and interest is a strategic method in project management that is directly linked to effective risk management . By identifying which stakeholders have the most power and interest , you can prioritize your engagement efforts, ensuring that key individuals are informed and involved in critical decision-making. This focus on collaboration creates a supportive environment where concerns are addressed promptly, enhancing the overall effectiveness of the project.

This process aligns with best practices in stakeholder analysis, enabling you to develop tailored communication strategies. When you understand stakeholders' varying levels of influence, you can provide timely answers to FAQs, ensuring that all parties are aligned with the project’s goals. Such clarity fosters trust and commitment, which are essential for successful project execution.

Establish Communication Plans for Stakeholder Engagement

Establishing effective communication plans is crucial in engaging your project stakeholders. By defining clear terms of service for communication, you set expectations for interactions, ensuring that conversations remain constructive and focused. Utilizing frameworks like Scrum can help structure these discussions, allowing you to regularly check in with stakeholders and keep them informed about progress and changes to the project charter .

As you create these communication plans, consider the diverse needs of your stakeholders to tailor your approach accordingly. Regular updates and open channels for feedback will foster a sense of inclusion, making stakeholders feel valued and invested in the project's success. This proactive strategy not only encourages ongoing engagement but also mitigates potential issues, ultimately enhancing project outcomes.

With a solid understanding of your stakeholders, the next pivotal step is prioritizing them effectively. Doing this will set the foundation for your project’s success and ensure that you focus your efforts on the most influential players.

Prioritizing Stakeholders for Project Success

Understanding how to prioritize stakeholders is essential for effective stakeholder management and enhancing project outcomes. You will benefit from categorizing stakeholders using a prioritization matrix, which allows you to assess their influence and interest in the project. This enables you to identify high-priority shareholders whose motivations and expectations must be closely aligned with your project's objectives. From there, developing tailored strategies for managing these stakeholders becomes crucial, ensuring their input is valued and integrated into your decision-making. Furthermore, adjusting your project plans based on stakeholder priorities and documented feedback helps maintain alignment with their needs, especially in construction projects where dynamic changes are commonplace. This proactive approach ultimately fosters stronger relationships and improves the overall success of your initiatives.

Categorizing Stakeholders Using a Prioritization Matrix

To effectively categorize stakeholders using a prioritization matrix, you should assess their influence against their interest in the project. As a project management professional, you recognize that placing emphasis on high-impact stakeholders can mitigate risks significantly. This classification not only enhances your communication channels but also allows you to develop targeted strategies that align with the overall objectives of the corporation .

By employing this systematic approach, you ensure that your focus is on stakeholders whose needs and expectations are most critical to project success. This prioritization empowers you to build strong relationships and fosters a collaborative environment that directly contributes to achieving project goals. As a result, your ability to navigate complex dynamics will enhance the effectiveness of your stakeholder management strategy .

Strategies for Managing High-Priority Stakeholders

To effectively manage high-priority stakeholders, establish clear and open lines of communication to foster trust and transparency . Regularly update them regarding project milestones and any potential changes to the contract , ensuring they feel informed and involved in decision-making processes. This proactive approach not only keeps them aligned with project objectives but also reassures them of their importance throughout the project's lifecycle.

Additionally, consider personalized engagement strategies that cater to the unique interests of high-priority stakeholders. Taking the time to understand their specific concerns and expectations related to the contract will allow you to address any issues promptly while strengthening your relationship. Such tailored interactions will enhance their commitment to the project and contribute significantly to achieving successful outcomes.

Adjusting Project Plans Based on Stakeholder Priorities

Adjusting your project plans according to stakeholder priorities is essential for maintaining alignment and achieving successful outcomes. When you identify the key interests and expectations of stakeholders, you can modify your strategies, timelines, and resource allocations to better meet their needs. This responsiveness not only builds trust but also fosters a sense of collaboration among all parties involved.

As you implement changes to your project plans, ensure that you communicate these adjustments clearly to relevant stakeholders. By keeping everyone informed about how their feedback has influenced decisions, you enhance transparency and reinforce their investment in the project’s success. This ongoing dialogue is vital for cultivating strong relationships and navigating any potential challenges that may arise throughout the project lifecycle.

Successfully prioritizing stakeholders sets the stage for impactful collaboration . Let’s uncover techniques that can enhance engagement with your key stakeholders and drive your projects forward.

Techniques to Enhance Engagement With Key Stakeholders

Engaging key stakeholders effectively often hinges on implementing robust communication strategies and utilizing appropriate tools. Fostering stakeholder buy-in begins with clear messaging that resonates with their interests and expectations. By employing platforms designed for continuous dialogue, you can maintain open channels that keep stakeholders informed and involved. These tools not only facilitate regular updates but also create opportunities for feedback, allowing you to monitor and adapt to stakeholder sentiments dynamically. Addressing their input in real-time strengthens relationships and enhances their commitment to the project, ultimately driving better outcomes.

Effective Communication Strategies for Stakeholder Buy-In

Establishing effective communication strategies starts with understanding the specific needs and preferences of your stakeholders. Tailor your messages to resonate with their interests and ensure clarity in all communications, whether through emails, meetings, or presentations. By being open and transparent, you can build trust and foster collaboration , encouraging stakeholders to invest more in the project’s success.

Actively seeking feedback is another key aspect of gaining stakeholder buy-in. Invite stakeholders to share their thoughts and concerns regularly, ensuring they feel heard and valued. This approach not only strengthens your relationship with them but also allows you to adapt your strategies based on their input, ultimately leading to more successful project outcomes.

Tools and Platforms for Continuous Stakeholder Engagement

Leveraging the right tools and platforms for continuous stakeholder engagement enables you to maintain an ongoing connection with all parties involved in the project. Consider using project management software that can centralize communication and documentation, allowing stakeholders to access essential information in real-time. This proactive approach fosters transparency and encourages active participation, strengthening the relationship throughout the project lifecycle.

Another effective strategy includes utilizing collaboration platforms that facilitate discussion and feedback. By creating dedicated channels for stakeholders to share insights or raise concerns, you can cultivate a highly interactive environment. Keeping discussions organized allows you to address stakeholders' needs promptly while aligning their expectations with project goals. Here’s how various tools can contribute to your project's success:

Monitoring and Adapting to Stakeholder Feedback

To effectively monitor and adapt to stakeholder feedback, establish systematic methods for collecting input throughout the project lifecycle. Use regular checkpoints to gather opinions and suggestions, enabling you to respond promptly to any concerns raised. This ongoing dialogue not only reinforces stakeholder trust but also ensures that the project remains aligned with their expectations.

Creating a culture of feedback encourages stakeholders to share their views openly, allowing you to make real-time adjustments that enhance project effectiveness. By integrating their insights regularly, you cultivate stronger partnerships that contribute to better project outcomes:

Engaging stakeholders is just the beginning; recognizing and addressing potential hurdles is crucial for effective analysis. Let’s tackle the common challenges that can arise during this process and explore strategies to overcome them.

Overcoming Challenges in Stakeholder Analysis

Navigating the intricacies of stakeholder analysis can often present challenges that disrupt the flow of your project. You may encounter common pitfalls, such as overlooking key stakeholders or misjudging their influence, which can undermine your efforts. Engaging with difficult stakeholders poses its own set of hurdles, requiring you to employ tailored strategies for effective collaboration . Additionally, as project scale and complexity increase, adjusting your stakeholder analysis tactics becomes essential to maintain clarity and alignment. Addressing these challenges proactively not only strengthens your overall stakeholder engagement but also enhances your project's potential for success.

Identifying and Addressing Common Stakeholder Analysis Pitfalls

One common pitfall in stakeholder analysis is failing to identify all relevant stakeholders, which can lead to significant oversights in planning and execution. You should proactively engage in discussions that encourage input from diverse sources, ensuring you capture the perspectives of both primary and secondary stakeholders who may impact your project's success. This thorough approach enhances your understanding of the landscape, preventing any oversights that could derail progress.

Another challenge involves misjudging the influence of stakeholders, which may result in prioritizing the wrong individuals for engagement. You must actively evaluate the dynamics within your project environment, paying close attention to shifts in power and interest that could affect stakeholder roles. By regularly reassessing these relationships, you maintain a clear focus on those whose support is vital for achieving project objectives, ultimately fostering a more productive collaboration .

Strategies for Engaging Difficult Stakeholders

Engaging difficult stakeholders requires active listening and empathy. Make an effort to understand their concerns and motivations by asking open-ended questions and giving them space to express their views. By acknowledging their perspectives, you can build rapport and create a collaborative atmosphere, paving the way for more productive discussions.

Tailor your communication style to their preferences to foster a sense of inclusivity. Regular check-ins and updates can demonstrate your commitment to their involvement, easing any apprehensions they may have. Creating opportunities for joint problem-solving allows you to address their issues directly, transforming potential conflict into collaborative solutions.

Adjusting Stakeholder Analysis Tactics for Project Scale and Complexity

As a project's scale and complexity increase, it’s crucial to adapt your stakeholder analysis tactics to maintain effectiveness. You might need to implement more structured engagement strategies, particularly when dealing with a larger number of stakeholders or when interests are more diverse. This could involve segmenting stakeholders based on specific criteria or creating dedicated communication channels for different groups to ensure clarity in messaging.

Moreover, using advanced tools and techniques can enhance your stakeholder analysis process. For instance, employing software that integrates stakeholder feedback can efficiently capture and analyze data, allowing you to respond dynamically to the evolving landscape of stakeholder interests. By regularly revisiting and adjusting your approach, you maintain their engagement and support, which significantly contributes to overall project success:

Ready to see these concepts in action? Let's dive into real-world case studies that highlight successful stakeholder analysis outcomes.

Case Studies: Successful Stakeholder Analysis in Practice

Understanding effective stakeholder analysis methods can significantly impact project outcomes. By examining real-world examples where organizations successfully implemented stakeholder analysis, you can gain valuable insights into best practices and strategies that led to thriving projects. In contrast, reviewing common missteps can provide important lessons that inform your future analyses and help you avoid similar pitfalls. Additionally, recognizing how stakeholder analysis has guided project adjustments showcases its role as a dynamic tool that not only identifies risks but also drives improvements throughout the project lifecycle. These practical insights and experiences will equip you with the knowledge to leverage stakeholder analysis for greater success.

Real-World Examples of Effective Stakeholder Analysis

Consider the case of a major infrastructure project where the project management team utilized stakeholder analysis to identify critical community influencers. By engaging these stakeholders early in the planning process, you could address community concerns about environmental impacts, leading to enhanced local support for the project. This proactive engagement not only mitigated potential opposition but also fostered collaborative relationships that positively influenced project timelines and outcomes.

Another noteworthy example involves a software development company that implemented stakeholder analysis to refine its product feature set. You engaged both internal and external stakeholders, gathering insights on user needs and market trends. By continuously adapting the project based on their feedback, you effectively aligned product features with user expectations, resulting in a successful launch and increased customer satisfaction.

Lessons Learned From Stakeholder Analysis Missteps

One significant lesson learned from stakeholder analysis missteps is the importance of comprehensive identification. When you overlook certain stakeholders, particularly those with unexpected influence, it can derail a project’s progress. Ensuring a thorough stakeholder mapping process not only enhances understanding but also fosters a more inclusive environment where all relevant voices are heard.

Another vital takeaway revolves around the need for genuine engagement. Failure to actively involve stakeholders leads to a disconnect between their expectations and the project's direction. By maintaining open lines of communication and genuinely seeking input, you can build stronger relationships that contribute positively to project outcomes, avoiding pitfalls that arise from assumptions or lack of collaboration .

How Stakeholder Analysis Guided Project Adjustments for Success

Throughout your project management journey, stakeholder analysis serves as a foundation for making informed adjustments that align with evolving project needs. By actively engaging stakeholders and gathering their feedback, you can identify areas for improvement, allowing you to refine project strategies that resonate with their expectations. This process transforms potential challenges into opportunities for growth, enabling your project to adapt seamlessly to changing circumstances.

Moreover, utilizing stakeholder analysis empowers you to create a feedback loop that not only informs immediate project modifications but also strengthens long-term relationships. By addressing stakeholder concerns and keeping them informed, you reinforce their commitment to the project, ultimately driving better engagement and enhancing overall project success. This proactive approach not only positions you as a responsive leader but also cultivates a collaborative atmosphere that fosters innovation and improvement within your project framework.

Enhancing project outcomes through effective stakeholder analysis methods is vital for successful project management . By identifying key stakeholders and understanding their needs, you can tailor your strategies to foster collaboration and trust. Regular communication and engagement ensure stakeholders feel valued, leading to improved project effectiveness. Ultimately, these methods not only align project goals with stakeholder expectations but also drive overall project success.

You May Also Like

These Related Stories

A Practitioners' Guide to Manage Projects Effectively

Applying Agile Principles to Transition Projects | Adaptive US

Key BA deliverables | Free SW specifications Template

Get email notifications, no comments yet.

Let us know what you think

To read this content please select one of the options below:

Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, stakeholder management in open innovation projects: a multiple case study analysis.

European Journal of Innovation Management

ISSN : 1460-1060

Article publication date: 16 September 2020

Issue publication date: 12 October 2021

In recent years, companies have started to open up their Research and Development (R&D) and their innovation activities to external partners. They aim to access new resources and capabilities and to gain shorter time-to-markets. However, as several studies have shown, it can be difficult to manage collaborative (open) innovation projects to achieve desired outcomes. Starting from this premise, the paper investigates how project stakeholder management is different in open innovation projects from traditional R&D projects.

Design/methodology/approach

The study has a qualitative nature and is based on the interpretative paradigm with an inductive orientation. The paper leverages interviews with experts involved in open innovation projects conducted in two Science and Technology Parks between Sweden and Italy.

The analysis shows how companies manage multiple stakeholders in open innovation projects and the peculiarities project stakeholder management faces in these projects when compared with traditional R&D projects. The paper shows how the relationships with external partners in open innovation projects are regulated by informal identification and analysis frameworks, which reduce the tensions deriving from these multiple collaborations. In addition, it underlines a set of good practices, and project management aspects for developing effective absorptive capacity of know-how, resources, and capabilities from external stakeholders in open innovation projects.

Originality/value

The paper analyzes for the first time how companies manage multiple stakeholders in open innovation projects in a different way from traditional R&D projects. Furthermore, the paper introduces a shift in the focus of the analysis: it focuses on the level of the project conducted through multiple collaborations instead of on the level of the firms involved in the project. Finally, the paper integrates open innovation research with project management research.

• Stakeholder management
• Project management
• Open innovation
• Open innovation projects

Acknowledgements

The authors want to thank Anna Ystrom for her support in data collecting and in the first phase of research

Urbinati, A. , Landoni, P. , Cococcioni, F. and De Giudici, L. (2021), "Stakeholder management in open innovation projects: a multiple case study analysis", European Journal of Innovation Management , Vol. 24 No. 5, pp. 1595-1624. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-03-2020-0076

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles

All feedback is valuable.

Please share your general feedback

Report an issue or find answers to frequently asked questions

Contact Customer Support

Search form

• Table of Contents
• Troubleshooting Guide
• A Model for Getting Started
• Justice Action Toolkit
• Best Change Processes
• Databases of Best Practices
• Online Courses
• Ask an Advisor
• Subscribe to eNewsletter
• Community Stories
• YouTube Channel
• About the Tool Box
• How to Use the Tool Box
• Privacy Statement
• Workstation/Check Box Sign-In
• Online Training Courses
• Capacity Building Training
• Training Curriculum - Order Now
• Community Check Box Evaluation System
• Build Your Toolbox
• Facilitation of Community Processes
• Community Health Assessment and Planning
• Section 8. Identifying and Analyzing Stakeholders and Their Interests

Chapter 7 Sections

• Section 1. Developing a Plan for Increasing Participation in Community Action
• Section 2. Promoting Participation Among Diverse Groups
• Section 3. Methods of Contacting Potential Participants
• Section 4. Writing Letters to Potential Participants
• Section 5. Making Personal Contact with Potential Participants
• Section 6. Involving Key Influentials in the Initiative
• Section 7. Engaging People Most Affected by the Problem

• Main Section

What do we mean by stakeholders and their interests?

Why identify and analyze stakeholders and their interests, who are potential stakeholders, when should you identify stakeholders, how do you identify and analyze stakeholders and their interests.

The Community Tool Box is a big fan of participatory process.  That means involving as many as possible of those who are affected by or have an interest in any project, initiative, intervention, or effort.  We believe strongly that, in most cases, involving all of these folks will lead to a better process, greater community support and buy-in, more ideas on the table, a better understanding of the community context, and, ultimately, a more effective effort.  In order to conduct a participatory process and gain all the advantages it brings, you have to figure out who the stakeholders are, which of them need to be involved at what level, and what issues they may bring with them.  The same is equally true whether you’re building support for a new or ongoing effort, even if the process that led up to it wasn’t strictly participatory.

Stakeholders are those who may be affected by or have an effect on an effort.  They may also include people who have a strong interest in the effort for academic, philosophical, or political reasons, even though they and their families, friends, and associates are not directly affected by it.

One way to characterize stakeholders is by their relationship to the effort in question.

• Primary stakeholders are the people or groups that stand to be directly affected, either positively or negatively, by an effort or the actions of an agency, institution, or organization.  In some cases, there are primary stakeholders on both sides of the equation: a regulation that benefits one group may have a negative effect on another.  A rent control policy, for example, benefits tenants, but may hurt landlords.
• Secondary stakeholders are people or groups that are indirectly affected, either positively or negatively, by an effort or the actions of an agency, institution, or organization.  A program to reduce domestic violence, for instance, could have a positive effect on emergency room personnel by reducing the number of cases they see.  It might require more training for police to help them handle domestic violence calls in a different way.  Both of these groups would be secondary stakeholders.
• Key stakeholders , who might belong to either or neither of the first two groups, are those who can have a positive or negative effect on an effort, or who are important within or to an organization, agency, or institution engaged in an effort.  The director of an organization might be an obvious key stakeholder, but so might the line staff – those who work directly with participants – who carry out the work of the effort.  If they don’t believe in what they’re doing or don’t do it well, it might as well not have begun.  Other examples of key stakeholders might be funders, elected or appointed government officials, heads of businesses, or clergy and other community figures who wield a significant amount of influence.

While an interest in an effort or organization could be just that – intellectually, academically, philosophically, or politically motivated attention – stakeholders are generally said to have an interest in an effort or organization based on whether they can affect or be affected by it.  The more they stand to benefit or lose by it, the stronger their interest is likely to be.  The more heavily involved they are in the effort or organization, the stronger their interest as well.

Stakeholders’ interests can be many and varied. A few of the more common:

• Economics . An employment training program might improve economic prospects for low-income people, for example.  Zoning regulations may also have economic consequences for various groups.
• Social change . An effort to improve racial harmony could alter the social climate for members of both the racial or ethnic minority and the majority.
• Work . Involving workers in decision-making can enhance work life and make people more satisfied with their jobs.
• Time . Flexible work hours, relief programs for caregivers, parental leave, and other efforts that provide people with time for leisure or taking care of the business of life can relieve stress and increase productivity.
• Environment . Protection of open space, conservation of resources, attention to climate change, and other environmental efforts can add to everyday life.  These can also be seen as harmful to business and private ownership.
• Physical health . Free or sliding-scale medical facilities and other similar programs provide a clear benefit for low-income people and can improve community health.
• Safety and security . Neighborhood watch or patrol programs, better policing in high-crime neighborhoods, work safety initiatives – all of these and many other efforts can improve safety for specific populations or for the community as a whole.
• Mental health . Community mental health centers and adult day care can be extremely important not only to people with mental health issues, but also to their families and to the community as a whole.

As we’ll discuss in more depth further on, both the nature and the intensity of stakeholder interests are important to understand.

The most important reason for identifying and understanding stakeholders is that it allows you to recruit them as part of the effort.  The Community Tool Box believes that, in most cases, a participatory effort that involves representation of as many stakeholders as possible has a number of important advantages:

• It puts more ideas on the table than would be the case if the development and implementation of the effort were confined to a single organization or to a small group of like-minded people.
• It includes varied perspectives from all sectors and elements of the community affected , thus giving a clearer picture of the community context and potential pitfalls and assets.
• It gains buy-in and support for the effort from all stakeholders by making them an integral part of its development, planning, implementation, and evaluation.  It becomes their effort, and they’ll do their best to make it work.
• It’s fair to everyone . All stakeholders can have a say in the development of an effort that may seriously affect them.
• It saves you from being blindsided by concerns you didn’t know about . If everyone has a seat at the table, concerns can be aired and resolved before they become stumbling blocks.  Even if they can’t be resolved, they won’t come as surprises that derail the effort just when you thought everything was going well.
• It strengthens your position if there’s opposition . Having all stakeholders on board makes a huge difference in terms of political and moral clout.
• It creates bridging social capital for the community . Social capital is the web of acquaintances, friendships, family ties, favors, obligations, and other social currency that can be used to cement relationships and strengthen community.  Bridging social capital, which creates connections among diverse groups that might not otherwise interact, is perhaps the most valuable kind. It makes possible a community without barriers of class or economics, where people from all walks of life can know and value one another.  A participatory process, often including everyone from welfare recipients to bank officers and physicians, can help to create just this sort of situation.
• It increases the credibility of your organization . Involving and attending to the concerns of all stakeholders establishes your organization as fair, ethical, and transparent, and makes it more likely that others will work with you in other circumstances.
• It increases the chances for the success of your effort . For all of the above reasons, identifying stakeholders and responding to their concerns makes it far more likely that your effort will have both the community support it needs and the appropriate focus to be effective.

As we discussed, there are primary and secondary stakeholders, as well as key stakeholders who may or may not fall into one of the other two categories.  Let’s examine possible stakeholders using that framework.

Primary stakeholders

Beneficiaries or targets of the effort

Beneficiaries are those who stand to gain something – services, skills, money, goods, social connection, etc. – as a direct result of the effort.  Targets are those who may or may not stand to gain personally, or whose actions represent a benefit to a particular (usually disadvantaged) population or to the community as a whole.

Some examples are:

• A particular population – a racial or ethnic group, a socio-economic group, residents of a housing project, etc.
• Residents of a particular geographic area – a neighborhood, a town, a rural area.
• People experiencing or at risk for a particular problem or condition – homelessness, lack of basic skills, unemployment, diabetes.
• People involved or participants in a particular organization or institution – students at a school, youth involved in the justice system, welfare recipients.
• People whose behavior the effort aims to change – delinquent youth, smokers, people who engage in unsafe sex, people who don’t exercise.
• Policy makers and agencies that are the targets of advocacy efforts.

Secondary Stakeholders

Those directly involved with or responsible for beneficiaries or targets of the effort

These might include individuals and organizations that live with, are close to, or care for the people in question, and those that offer services directly to them. Among these you might find:

• Parents, spouses, siblings, children, other family members, significant others, friends.
• Schools and their employees – teachers, counselors, aides, etc.
• Doctors and other medical professionals, particularly primary care providers.
• Social workers and psychotherapists.
• Health and human service organizations and their line staff – youth workers, welfare case workers, etc.
• Community volunteers in various capacities, from drivers to volunteer instructors in training programs to those who staff food pantries and soup kitchens.

Those whose jobs or lives might be affected by the process or results of the effort

Some of these individuals and groups overlap with those in the previous category.

• Police and other law or regulation enforcement agencies.  New approaches to violence prevention, dealing with drug abuse or domestic violence, or other similar changes may require training and the practice of new skills on the part of members of these agencies.
• Emergency room personnel, teachers, and others who are legally bound to report possible child abuse and neglect or other similar situations.
• Landlords. Landlords’ legal rights and responsibilities may be altered by laws brought about by campaigns to stop discrimination in housing or to strengthen tenants’ rights.
• Contractors and developers. Open-space laws, zoning regulations, and other requirements, as well as incentives, may affect how, where, and what contractors and developers choose to build.
• Employers. A workplace safety initiative or strengthened workplace safety regulations, health insurance requirements, and other mandates may affect employers’ costs. Those that hire and make a commitment to workers from at-risk populations may also have to institute worker assistance programs (personal and drug/alcohol counseling, for example, as well as basic skills and other training).
• Ordinary community members whose lives, jobs, or routines might be affected by an effort or policy change, such as the location of a homeless shelter in the neighborhood or changes in zoning regulations.

Key stakeholders

Government officials and policy makers

These are the people who can devise, pass, and enforce laws and regulations that may either fulfill the goals of your effort or directly cancel them out.

• Legislators. Federal and state or provincial representatives, senators, members of parliament, etc. who introduce and pass laws and generally control public budgets at the federal and state or provincial levels.
• Governors, mayors, city/town councilors, selectmen, etc. The executives that carry out laws, administer budgets, and generally run the show can contribute greatly to the success – or failure – of an effort.
• Local board members.  Boards of health, planning, zoning, etc., through their power to issue permits and regulations, can be crucial allies and dangerous opponents.
• State/federal agencies.  Government agencies often devise and issue regulations and reporting requirements, and can sometimes make or break an effort by how they choose to regulate and how vigorously they enforce their regulations.
• Policy makers.  These people or groups often have no official power – they may be “advisers” to those with real power – but their opinions and ideas are often followed closely.  If they’re on your side, that’s a big plus.

Those who can influence others

• People in positions that convey influence. Clergy members, doctors, CEOs, and college presidents are all examples of people in this group.
• Community leaders – people that others listen to. These might be people who are respected because of their position of leadership in a particular population, or may be longtime or lifelong residents who have earned the community’s trust over years of integrity and community service.

Those with an interest in the outcome of an effort

Some individuals and groups may not be affected by or involved in an effort, but may nonetheless care enough about it that they are willing to work to influence its outcome.  Many of them may have a following or a natural constituency – business people, for instance – and may therefore have a fair amount of clout.

• Business. The business community usually will recognize its interest in any effort that will provide it with more and better workers, or make it easier and more likely to make a profit.  By the same token, it is likely to oppose efforts that it sees as costing it money or imposing regulations on it.
• Advocates.  Advocates may be active on either or both sides of the issue you’re concerned with.
• Community activists. Organizations and individuals who have a philosophical or political interest in the issue or population that an effort involves may organize to support the effort or to defeat it.
• People with academic or research interests related to a targeted issue or population. Their work may have convinced them of the need for an intervention or initiative, or they may simply be sympathetic to the goals of the effort and understand them better than most.
• Funders.  Funders and potential funders are obvious key stakeholders, in that, in many cases, without their support, the effort won’t be possible.
• Community at large. When widespread community support is needed, the community as a whole may be the key stakeholder.

When should you identify stakeholders and their interests?

Regardless of the purpose of your effort, identifying stakeholders and their interests should be among the first, if not the very first, of the items on your agenda. It’s generally the fairest course you can take, and the one that is most likely to keep your effort out of trouble.

• If you want to involve stakeholders in a participatory process, the reasons are obvious . They should be part of every phase of the work, so that they can both contribute and take ownership.Their knowledge of the community and understanding of its needs can prove invaluable in helping you to avoid mistakes in your approach and in the people you choose to involve.
• If your intent is a participatory action research project, stakeholders should be included in any assessment and pre-planning activities as well as planning and implementation . That way, they’ll understand the research process and project much more clearly, and can add to them.
• If you want your process to be regarded as transparent, stakeholder involvement from the beginning is absolutely necessary . The community will only believe in an open process if it’s truly open.
• If your effort involves changes that will affect people in different ways, it’s important that they be involved early so that any concerns or barriers show up early and can be addressed.
• In situations where there are legal implications, such as the building of a development, involving stakeholders from the beginning is both fair and can help stave off the possibility of lawsuits down the road.

In short, in most cases, the earlier in the process stakeholders can be involved, the better.

The first step in identifying and addressing stakeholder interests is, not surprisingly, identifying the stakeholders. We’ve discussed in general terms the categories that stakeholders might fall into, but the list is different for each community and each effort.  It’s an important part of your job to determine who all your stakeholders are, and to try to involve them in a way that advances your goals.

Once you’ve identified stakeholders, the next task is to understand their interests. Some will have an investment in carrying the effort forward, but others may be equally intent on preventing it from happening or making sure it’s unsuccessful.  Stakeholder analysis (also called stakeholder mapping) will help you decide which stakeholders might have the most influence over the success or failure of your effort, which might be your most important supporters, and which might be your most important opponents.  Once you have that information, you can make plans for dealing with stakeholders with different interests and different levels of influence.

Identifying stakeholders

In identifying stakeholders, it’s important to think beyond the obvious. Beneficiaries, policy makers, etc. are easy to identify, whereas indirect effects – and, as a result, secondary stakeholders – are sometimes harder to see.  A push for new regulations on a particular industry, for instance, might entail greatly increased paperwork or the purchase of new machinery on the part of that industry’s suppliers.  Traffic restrictions to control speeding in residential neighborhoods may affect commuters that use public transportation.  Try to think of as many ways as possible that your effort might bring benefits or problems to people not directly in its path.

Given that, there are a number of ways to identify stakeholders. Often, the use of more than one will yield the best results.

• Brainstorm . Get together with people in your organization, officials, and others already involved in or informed about the effort and start calling out categories and names.  Part of the point of brainstorming is to come out with anything that comes to mind, even if it seems silly.  On reflection, the silly ideas can turn out to be among the best, so be as far-ranging as you can.  After 10 or 15 minutes, stop and discuss each suggestion, perhaps identifying each as a primary, secondary, and/or key stakeholder.
• Collect categories and names from informants in the community (if they’re not available to be part of a brainstorming session), particularly members of a population or residents of a geographic area of concern.
• Consult with organizations that either are or have been involved in similar efforts, or that work with the population or in the area of concern.
• Get more ideas from stakeholders as you identify them.
• If appropriate, advertise .  You can use some combination of the media – often free, through various community service arrangements – community meetings, community and organizational newsletters, social media, targeted emails, announcements by leaders at meetings and religious gatherings, and word of mouth to get the word out.  You may find people who consider themselves stakeholders whom you haven’t thought about.

Discovering and understanding stakeholder interests

As we’ve mentioned several times, stakeholder interests may vary.  Some stakeholders’ interests may be best served by carrying the effort forward, others’ by stopping or weakening it.  Even among stakeholders from the same group, there may be conflicting concerns.  Some of the many ways that stakeholder interests may manifest themselves:

• Potential beneficiaries may be wildly supportive of an effort, seeing it as an opportunity or the pathway to a better life… or they may be ambivalent or resentful toward it.  The effort or intervention may be embarrassing to them (e.g., adult literacy) or may seem burdensome.  They may not understand it, or they may not see the benefit that will come from it.  They may be afraid to try something new, on the assumption that they’ll fail, or will end up worse off than they are.  They may be distrustful of any people or organizations engaged in such an effort, and feel they’re being looked down on.
• Some stakeholders may have economic concerns.  Sometimes these concerns are merely selfish or greedy – as in the case of a corporation with billions in annual profits unwilling to spend a small part of that money to stop its factories from polluting – but in most cases, they are legitimate.

A classic case is that of the conflict between open space preservation and the opportunity to sell land for development. Farmers and other rural residents often have almost no other assets but their land. If, by selling it, they can become instant millionaires and live comfortably in retirement after working very hard for very little all their lives, why should they be expected to pass up that opportunity in favor of open space preservation? In some U.S. states, farmland has been preserved by the state’s paying farmers the development value of their land (or something close) in return for a legal agreement to always keep the land in cultivation or open space. Conservation easements – agreements never to develop the land, no matter how many owners it goes through – sometimes are negotiated on the same basis.

• Economic concerns may also work in favor of an effort. An initiative to build one or more community clinics can provide construction jobs, orders for medical equipment, jobs for medical professionals and paraprofessionals, and economic advantages for the community. It might be backed, therefore, by unions, equipment manufacturers, professional associations, and local government, largely for economic reasons.
• Business people may have concerns about such things as universal health care or regulation. While these may be good for the larger society, they may actually hurt some businesses. Especially for very small business, where a slight change in profits may mean not a drop in share price, but the inability to sustain one’s livelihood, this is a big issue. Businesses may have economic concerns in the opposite direction as well. Violence prevention might bode well for businesses in areas that people are hesitant to frequent because of the threat of violence, and it might also reduce the risk of losses and physical harm to the business owners themselves. Thus their positive interest in an effective violence prevention effort.
• Organizations, agencies, and institutions may have a financial stake in an effort because of funding concerns. Their ability to be funded for conducting activities related to the effort may mean the difference between laying off and keeping staff members, or even between survival and closing the doors.
• Efforts that concern issues that are controversial for cultural reasons, such as abortion and gay marriage, may be enthusiastically supported by some segments of the community and fiercely opposed by others. While such hot-button issues may not be resolvable, it’s important to understand the positions of stakeholders on both sides.
• Ideological as well as cultural differences may also drive stakeholder interests. Those who believe that government shouldn’t be seen as the source of anything but the most basic services that people obviously can’t provide for themselves – the military, roads, police, public education – might oppose government-funded programs to help the poor, maintain public health, or provide other services that others deem necessary for the well-being of the community.
• Legislators and policy makers may be concerned with public perceptions that they’re wasting public money by funding a particular effort. (On the other hand, they can be convinced to spend the money by the perception that an effort is one the public is greatly in favor of, or one that will return more than is being spent.)
• The jobs of organization staff members engaged in carrying out an effort can be drastically changed by the necessity to learn new methods, increases in paperwork, or any number of other requirements. Depending on the situation, they may be more than willing to take on these responsibilities, may have ideas about how they can be made less burdensome, or may resent and dislike them.

Mandates that don’t directly affect various professionals may affect them indirectly. The jobs of police, teachers, therapists, medical personnel, and others can be changed by changes in laws, regulations, or policy. Increased or decreased emphasis on enforcement or treatment for drug-related offenses can place new obligations on police and others, even if they haven’t been involved in deciding on the changes. Reporting requirements for child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, and other types of crimes may affect the work of teachers, doctors, nurses, therapists, and others.

• Family concerns may enter into stakeholder interests as well. Parents in many places can now be reported for child abuse for applying punishments like spankings with a brush or belt that their own parents may have used as a matter of course. Without discussing the rights or wrongs of the issue, it’s important to understand that some people will see this as protecting children and others as interfering with parental rights.

You don’t have to – and in fact shouldn’t – guess what stakeholder interests are. Ask them what’s important to them. If there are stakeholders that aren’t willing to be involved, try to talk to them anyway. If that isn’t possible, try to find out their concerns from others who are likely to know. Most stakeholders will be more than willing to tell you how they feel about a potential or ongoing effort, what their concerns are, and what needs to be done or to change to address those concerns.

Stakeholder analysis/stakeholder mapping

Let’s suppose, then, that you’ve identified all the stakeholders, and that you understand each of their concerns.  Now what?  They all have to understand what you want to do, you have to respond to their concerns in some way – at least by acknowledging them, whether you can satisfy them or not – and you have to find a way to move forward with as much support from stakeholders as you can muster.

Stakeholder analysis (stakeholder mapping) is a way of determining who among stakeholders can have the most positive or negative influence on an effort, who is likely to be most affected by the effort, and how you should work with stakeholders with different levels of interest and influence.

Most methods of stakeholder analysis or mapping divide stakeholders into one of four groups, each occupying one space in a four-space grid:

As you can see, low to high influence over the effort runs along a line from the bottom to the top of the grid, and low to high interest in the effort runs along a line from left to right. Both influence and interest can be either positive or negative, depending on the perspectives of the stakeholders in question. The lines describing them are continuous, meaning that people can have any degree of interest from none to as high as possible, including any of the points in between.

The people we’ve described as “key stakeholders” would generally appear in the upper right quadrant.

The purpose of this kind of diagram is to help you understand what kind of influence each stakeholder has on your organization and/or the process and potential success of the effort. That knowledge in turn can help you decide how to manage stakeholders – how to marshal the help of those that support you, how to involve those who could be helpful, and how to convert – or at least neutralize – those who may start out feeling negative.

An assumption that most proponents of this analysis technique seem to make is that the stakeholders most important to the success of your effort are in the upper right section of the grid, and those least important are in the lower left. The names in parentheses are another way to define the same stakeholder characteristics in terms of how they relate to the effort.

• Promoters have both great interest in the effort and the power to help make it successful (or to derail it).
• Defenders have a vested interest and can voice their support in the community, but have little actual power to influence the effort in any way.
• Latents have no particular interest or involvement in the effort, but have the power to influence it greatly if they become interested.
• Apathetics have little interest and little power, and may not even know the effort exists.

The World Bank, which is responsible for this characterization, couches it in generally positive terms, assuming that those in the upper right will promote the effort. In fact, they could be either promoters or staunch opponents, and the same – with different degrees of power and interest – goes for the other three sections of the grid. In many cases, there will be people in both camps in each quadrant, and among the tasks of the organization(s) conducting the effort are to turn negative influential stakeholders to positive, and to move as many current and potential supporters as possible closer to the top right of the chart.

Interest here means one or both of two things: (1) that the individual, organization, or group is interested intellectually or philosophically in the effort; and/or (2) she or it is affected by it. The level of interest, in this second sense, corresponds to how great the effect is. A welfare recipient who stands to receive increased benefits, child care, and employment training from a back-to-work program, for example, has a greater interest in the effort than someone who simply thinks the program is a good idea, but has no intention of being involved in it in any way.

Influence can be interpreted in several ways:

• An individual or group can wield official power in some way – as a government official or agency, for example.
• As an administrator, board member, or funder, an individual or group has some power over the organization conducting the effort.
• Another possibility is influence as a “community leader” – a college president, hospital CEO, clergy member, bank president, etc. These people are often listened to as a result of their positions in the community, and may hold one or more actual or honorary positions that give them even more influence: chair of the United Way campaign, officer of one or more corporate or non-profit boards, etc.
• Key stakeholders are often connected to large networks, and thus can both reach and sway many community members. Such connections can be through work, family, long generations or years of residency, membership in many clubs and organizations, or former official status.
• Great influence can be exercised by people (or, occasionally, organizations) that are simply respected in the community for their intelligence, integrity, concern for others and the common good, and objectivity.
• Some people and organizations exercise influence through economics. The largest employer in a community can exert considerable control over its workforce, for example, or even over the community as a whole, using a combination of threats and rewards.

Influence and interest can be either internal or external to the organization or the community. Most of the descriptions above pertain to external influence and interest, but they could be internal as well. Organizations and institutions as well as communities have official and unofficial leaders, people in positions that confer power or influence, people with large networks, etc. In addition, those who actually carry out the effort – usually staff people in an organization – can have a great deal of control over whether an effort is conducted as intended, and therefore over its effectiveness.

Stakeholder management

Stakeholder analysis is only useful if it’s used. Stakeholder management is where analysis and practice meet. It allows you to use the analysis to help gain support and buy-in for your effort. Although, as we’ll see, it can be quite helpful in health and community work, the stakeholder analysis model we’re using comes out of business, and is largely meant to help people make sure to get the power on their side for any project they attempt. Community-based and community-focused organizations and institutions may be more likely to have other purposes in mind when the issue of stakeholder management arises.

A big question here is whether the whole concept of stakeholder management is in fact directly opposed to the idea of participatory process, where everyone has a voice. In practice, we all try to manage people constantly, from attempting to convince a skeptical three-year-old that broccoli tastes good to motivating students and employees to do their best. If management turns into manipulation, without any respect for the other person or organization involved, it’s definitely not in the spirit of participation. Persuasion, negotiation, education, and other methods of managing stakeholders that acknowledge their concerns, however, do not violate that spirit, and are often a necessary part of making a participatory process work.

The first step in stakeholder management is to understand clearly where each stakeholder lies in the grid. Someone that has both a major interest in and considerable power over the organization and/or the effort – a funder, for example, or a leader of a population of concern – would go in the upper right-hand corner of the upper right quadrant. Stakeholders with neither power nor interest would go in the lower left-hand corner of the lower left quadrant. Those with a reasonable amount of power and interest would go in the middle of the upper-right quadrant, etc. Eventually, the grid will be filled in with the names of stakeholders occupying various places in each of the quadrants, corresponding to their levels of power and interest.

The next step is to decide who needs the most attention. In general, the business people who use this model would say that you should expend most of your energy on the people who can be most helpful, i.e., those with the most power. Powerful people with the highest interest are most important, followed by those with power and less interest. Those in the lower right quadrant – high interest, less power – come next, with those with low interest and low power coming last.

Another way to look at stakeholder management – and remember that all the people and groups we’re talking about here are stakeholders, those who can affect and are affected by the effort in question – is that the most important stakeholders are those most dramatically affected. Some of those, at least before the effort begins, may be in the lower left quadrant of the grid. They may be too involved in trying to survive – either financially or physically – from day to day to think about an effort to change their situation.

So…your stakeholder management depends on what your purpose is in involving stakeholders. If your purpose is to marshal support for the effort or policy change, then each group – each quadrant of the grid – calls for one kind of attention. If your purpose is primarily participatory, then each quadrant calls for another kind of attention.

Stakeholder management for marshaling support for the effort, especially for advocacy or policy change:

• The promoters – the high influence/high interest folks – are the most important here. They’re the ones who can really make the effort go, and they care about and are invested in the issue. If they’re positive, they need to be cultivated and involved. Find jobs for them (not just tasks) that they’ll enjoy, and that contribute substantively to the effort, so they can feel responsible for part of what’s going on. Pay attention to their opinions, and accede to them where it’s appropriate. If their ideas aren’t acted on, make sure they know why, and why an alternative seems like the better course. As much as possible, make them integral parts of the team.

When people who could be promoters are negative, the major task is to convert them. If you can’t, they become the most powerful opponents of your effort, and could make it impossible to succeed. Thus, they need to be treated as potential allies, and their concerns should be addressed to the extent possible without compromising the effort.

• The latents – high influence/low interest. These are people and organizations largely unaffected by the effort that could potentially be extremely helpful, if they could be convinced that the effort is important either to their own self-interest or to the greater good. You have to approach and inform them, and to keep contact with them over time. Offer them opportunities to weigh in on issues relating to the effort, and demonstrate to them how the effort will have a positive effect on issues and populations they’re concerned with. If you can shift them over to the promoter category, you’ve gained valuable allies.

Once again, there’s the possibility that these folks could be negative and oppositional. If that’s the case, it might be best not to stir a sleeping dragon. If they’re not particularly affected by or concerned about the effort, even if they disapprove of it, the chances are that they’ll simply leave it and you alone, and it might be best that way. If they begin to voice opposition, then your first attempt might be at conversion or neutralization, rather than battle. If that doesn’t work, then you might have to fight.

• The defenders – low influence/high interest. In the business model, since these people and organizations can’t help you much, you can simply keep them informed and not worry too much about involving them further. In health and community building, however, they can often provide the volunteer time and skills that an effort – particularly an advocacy initiative – needs to survive. These are often the foot soldiers who stuff envelopes, make phone calls, and otherwise make an initiative possible. They are also often among those most affected by an effort, and thus have good reason to work hard for or against it, depending on how it affects them.
• The apathetics – those with low interest and low influence. These people and organizations simply don’t care about your effort one way or the other. They may be stakeholders only through their membership in a group or their position in the community; the effort may in fact have little or no impact on them. As a result, they need little or no management. Keep them sporadically informed by newsletter or some similar device, and don’t offend them, and they won’t bother you or get in the way.

While this formulation is no more compelling than other similar ones, it has the advantage of giving a label to each quadrant. We’ll use these labels in the rest of the section for convenience.

Stakeholder management for developing a participatory process or including marginalized populations:

The model of stakeholder management described above isn’t applicable only to business. Organizations must cultivate supporters in support of any effort. Deciding whom to cultivate by analyzing how much they can help is a standard part of health and community service work, as well as of advocacy. If your purpose is primarily to create a participatory process, however, you’ll try to create an effort that takes all perspectives into consideration, hashes out differences, and makes participants its owners. Stakeholder management in that situation means trying to attract representatives of all stakeholders, and treating them all as equals and colleagues, while at the same time leveling the field as much as possible by providing training and support to those who need it.

The four-cell grid is still useful here, but the attention given to those in each quadrant will be different from that in the other model. Here, the largest amount of attention may go to the people in the two lower quadrants, since those with little power often have less experience in such areas as meeting and planning, and less confidence in their ability to engage in them. They’ll definitely need information about what they’re being invited to do, and they might need training, mentoring, and/or other support in doing it.

A successful participatory process may require that the people in the upper right quadrant – the promoters – understand and buy into the process fully. They can then help to bring stakeholders in the other positions on board, and to encourage them to participate in planning, implementing, and evaluating the effort. That means working with the promoters to explain the concept of participation fully and to convince them that pulling all stakeholders in is the best way to accomplish your – and their – goals. They might also serve as mentors or partners to those who are not used to having seats at the table.

Obviously, not all stakeholders in the lower two quadrants are low-income, unused to managing things, or lacking in educational and organizational skills. Some simply don’t see themselves as much affected by the effort. Others may have no influence in this particular situation, though they may have a great deal in other circumstances. Very often, however, those who do lack skills and experience find themselves in those two lower quadrants. When that’s the case, they may need training and other support in order to participate fully. That may be one aspect of stakeholder management, and it may help to move them into positions of more influence and teach them how to exercise it.

The tasks of converting the negative or skeptical still exist in this situation, as does the need to create interest among the latents – those stakeholders who could be helpful, but don’t have a strong investment in the effort. Often, the stories of those who have or will benefit from the effort can be effective motivators for people who might otherwise be indifferent. Such stories are particularly powerful if the listeners know the people involved, but never suspected the difficulties they face.

If the latents become involved, their influence can help to greatly strengthen the effort. The more people, groups, institutions, and organizations with influence that are involved, the greater the chances are for success. The task with latents is to convince them that they are true stakeholders, and that the effort will benefit them either directly or indirectly. If it’s not direct, the benefit in question may be as removed from them as increasing the community’s tax base by making more people employable, or creating a more just community by eliminating discrimination.

Bringing people and organizations into the process and moving them toward the upper right quadrant of the stakeholder grid generally demands that you keep them involved and informed by:

• Treating them with respect
• Providing whatever information, training, mentoring, and/or other support they need to stay involved
• Finding tasks or jobs for them to do that catch their interest and use their talents
• Maintaining their enthusiasm with praise, celebrations, small tokens of appreciation, and continual reminders of the effort’s accomplishments
• Engaging them in decision-making
• Employing them in the conception, planning, implementation, and evaluation of the effort from its beginning
• In the case of those who start with little power or influence, helping them learn how to gain and exercise influence by working together and developing their personal, critical thinking, and political skills

Evaluation of the stakeholder process

As with anything else you do, it’s important to monitor and evaluate how well stakeholders have been identified, understood, and involved in the course of your effort. It’s obviously best to involve stakeholders from the very beginning, but it’s never too late to learn from what you’ve done so that you can improve your work. Evaluation of the stakeholder process should be an integral part of the overall evaluation of the effort, and stakeholders themselves should be involved in developing that evaluation. They can best tell you what did and didn’t work to pull them in and keep them engaged.

Here are some evaluation questions you might consider:

• What could you have done to better identify stakeholders?
• Which strategies worked best to involve different populations and groups?
• How successful were you in keeping people involved?
• Did you provide any training or other support? Was it helpful? How could it have been improved?
• Did your stakeholder analysis and management efforts have the desired effect? Were they helpful?
• Did stakeholder involvement improve the work, effectiveness, and/or political and community support of the effort?

The answers to these and similar questions could both help you improve the current effort and make a big difference the next time – and there will be a next time – you involve stakeholders.

Keeping at it to keep stakeholders involved

That brings us to the final piece of working with stakeholders. As with any other community building activity, you have to keep at it indefinitely, or at least as long as the effort goes on. New stakeholders may need to be brought in as time goes on. Old ones may cease to be actual stakeholders, but may retain an interest in the effort and may therefore continue to be included. You have to maintain stakeholders’ and supporters’ motivation, keep them informed, and/or continue to find meaningful work for them to do if you want to keep them involved and active. Understanding and engaging stakeholders can be tremendously helpful to your effort, but only if it results in their ownership of it and long-term commitment to it. And that depends on your continuing attention.

Stakeholders of an effort are those who have a vested interest in it, either as those who develop and conduct it, or as those whom it affects directly or indirectly. Identifying and involving stakeholders can be a large part of ensuring the effort’s success.  In order to gain stakeholder participation and support, it’s important to understand not only who potential stakeholders are, but the nature of their interest in the effort.  With that understanding, you’ll be able to invite their involvement, address their concerns, and demonstrate how the effort will benefit them.

Managing stakeholders – keeping them involved and supportive – can be made easier by stakeholder analysis, a method of determining their levels of interest in and influence over the effort.  Once you have that information, you can then decide on the appropriate approach for each individual and group.  Depending on your goals for the effort, you may either focus on those with the most interest and influence, or on those who are most affected by the effort.

As with any community building activity, work with stakeholders has to continue for the long term in order to attain the level of participation and support you need for a successful effort.

Online Resources

Mind Tools - Stakeholder Analysis: Winning Support for Your Projects  is a business-oriented method, but can be applied elsewhere as well.

Reference for Business - Stakeholders  is an article on stakeholder perspective from Reference for Business, Encyclopedia of Business, 2nd ed.  Business oriented.

A description of  Stakeholder Analysis  from the Guide to Managing for Quality, a joint effort of Management Sciences for Health and UNICEF.

World Bank - Stakeholders  provides perspective on stakeholder analysis.

Stakeholder Analysis, Project Management templates and advice

• A complete IT software project Stakeholder Analysis
• Complete Construction Project Stakeholder Map
• Example Stakeholder Management Plan
• Stakeholder Engagement Plan
• Stakeholder Analysis & Stakeholder Salience Templates
• Communication & Reporting Plan
• Sample text to copy and paste for your assignment or project

Stakeholder Management Case Studies

Passport delays and lack of communication with stakeholders costs passport agency 13m, heathrow terminal 5 opens but key stakeholders are stuck in traffic, stakeholder case study - software cannot change behaviour – uk offender management system, reinventing the wheel – a private internet for medical records wastes 10 billon – stakeholder case study, 107m raf tornado hangar for mod never used – stakeholder case study, stakeholders sabotage project for regional 999 call centers.

Pardon Our Interruption

As you were browsing something about your browser made us think you were a bot. There are a few reasons this might happen:

• You've disabled JavaScript in your web browser.
• You're a power user moving through this website with super-human speed.
• You've disabled cookies in your web browser.
• A third-party browser plugin, such as Ghostery or NoScript, is preventing JavaScript from running. Additional information is available in this support article .

To regain access, please make sure that cookies and JavaScript are enabled before reloading the page.

Information

• Author Services

Initiatives

You are accessing a machine-readable page. In order to be human-readable, please install an RSS reader.

All articles published by MDPI are made immediately available worldwide under an open access license. No special permission is required to reuse all or part of the article published by MDPI, including figures and tables. For articles published under an open access Creative Common CC BY license, any part of the article may be reused without permission provided that the original article is clearly cited. For more information, please refer to https://www.mdpi.com/openaccess .

Feature papers represent the most advanced research with significant potential for high impact in the field. A Feature Paper should be a substantial original Article that involves several techniques or approaches, provides an outlook for future research directions and describes possible research applications.

Feature papers are submitted upon individual invitation or recommendation by the scientific editors and must receive positive feedback from the reviewers.

Editor’s Choice articles are based on recommendations by the scientific editors of MDPI journals from around the world. Editors select a small number of articles recently published in the journal that they believe will be particularly interesting to readers, or important in the respective research area. The aim is to provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting work published in the various research areas of the journal.

Original Submission Date Received: .

• Active Journals
• Find a Journal
• Proceedings Series
• For Authors
• For Reviewers
• For Editors
• For Librarians
• For Publishers
• For Societies
• For Conference Organizers
• Open Access Policy
• Institutional Open Access Program
• Special Issues Guidelines
• Editorial Process
• Research and Publication Ethics
• Article Processing Charges
• Testimonials
• Preprints.org
• SciProfiles
• Encyclopedia

Article Menu

• Subscribe SciFeed
• Recommended Articles
• Google Scholar
• on Google Scholar
• Table of Contents

Find support for a specific problem in the support section of our website.

Please let us know what you think of our products and services.

Visit our dedicated information section to learn more about MDPI.

JSmol Viewer

Post-occupancy evaluation of the improved old residential neighborhood satisfaction using principal component analysis: the case of wuxi, china.

1. Introduction

1.1. research background, 1.2. post-occupancy evaluation, 2. materials and methods, 2.1. study site, 2.2. sampling, 2.3. data collection, 2.3.1. survey instruments and procedure, 2.3.2. ethical considerations, 2.4. data analysis, 2.5. principal component analysis (pca), 3.1. residents’ socioeconomic characteristics, 3.2. main factors, 4. discussion, 4.1. outdoor recreation, 4.2. transport facilities and small parks, 4.3. public service facilities, 4.4. natural environment condition, 4.5. social and human environment, 4.6. safety and security, 4.7. infrastructure and entrance structures, 4.8. public environment and waste facilities, 4.9. limitation of the study, 5. conclusions, supplementary materials, author contributions, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

• Alonso, J.M.; Andrews, R.; Jorda, V. Do Neighbourhood Renewal Programs Reduce Crime Rates? Evidence from England. J. Urban Econ. 2019 , 110 , 51–69. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Dai, C.; Maruthaveeran, S.; Shahidan, M.F.; Chu, Y. Landscape Preference Evaluation of Old Residential Neighbourhoods: A Case Study in Shi Jiazhuang, Hebei Province, China. Forests 2023 , 14 , 375. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Carmon, N. Three Generations of Urban Renewal Policies: Analysis and Policy Implications. Geoforum 1999 , 30 , 145–158. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Givord, P.; Quantin, S.; Trevien, C. A Long-Term Evaluation of the First Generation of French Urban Enterprise Zones. J. Urban Econ. 2018 , 105 , 149–161. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Müller, A.; Hummel, M.; Smet, K.; Grabner, D.; Litschauer, K.; Imamovic, I.; Özer, F.E.; Kranzl, L. Why Renovation Obligations Can Boost Social Justice and Might Reduce Energy Poverty in a Highly Decarbonised Housing Sector. Energy Policy 2024 , 191 , 114168. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• van Gent, W.P.C.; Musterd, S.; Ostendorf, W. Disentangling Neighbourhood Problems: Area-Based Interventions in Western European Cities. Urban Res. Pract. 2009 , 2 , 53–67. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Guo, B.; Li, Y.; Wang, J. The Improvement Strategy on the Management Status of the Old Residence Community in Chinese Cities: An Empirical Research Based on Social Cognitive Perspective. Cogn. Syst. Res. 2018 , 52 , 556–570. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Jiang, W.; Feng, T.; Timmermans, H.; Li, H. A Gap-Theoretical Path Model of Residential Satisfaction and Intention to Move House Applied to Renovated Historical Blocks in Two Chinese Cities. Cities 2017 , 71 , 19–29. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Dai, C.; Maruthaveeran, S.; Shahidan, M.F.; Chu, Y. Usage of and Barriers to Green Spaces in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods: A Case Study in Shi Jiazhuang, Hebei Province, China. Forests 2023 , 14 , 435. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Yu, Q. Outdoor Space Analysis and Thinking in Old Urban Residential Area Under the Goal of Healthy Settlements ; Atlantis Press: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2020. [ Google Scholar ]
• Wang, S.; Zhang, J.; Wang, F.; Dong, Y. How to Achieve a Balance between Functional Improvement and Heritage Conservation? A Case Study on the Renewal of Old Beijing City. Sustain. Cities Soc. 2023 , 98 , 104790. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Liu, Z.; Ma, L. Residential Experiences and Satisfaction of Public Housing Renters in Beijing, China: A before-after Relocation Assessment. Cities 2021 , 113 , 103148. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Fu, Z.; Dong, P.; Li, S.; Ju, Y.; Liu, H. How Blockchain Renovate the Electric Vehicle Charging Services in the Urban Area? A Case Study of Shanghai, China. J. Clean. Prod. 2021 , 315 , 128172. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Gao, H.; Wang, T.; Gu, S. A Study of Resident Satisfaction and Factors That Influence Old Community Renewal Based on Community Governance in Hangzhou: An Empirical Analysis. Land 2022 , 11 , 1421. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Li, N.; Miao, X.; Geng, W.; Li, Z.; Li, L. Comprehensive Renovation and Optimization Design of Balconies in Old Residential Buildings in Beijing: A Study. Energy Build. 2023 , 295 , 113296. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Zhang, W.; Zhang, X.; Wu, G. The Network Governance of Urban Renewal: A Comparative Analysis of Two Cities in China. Land Use Policy 2021 , 106 , 105448. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Zhao, Y.; An, N.; Chen, H.; Tao, W. Politics of Urban Renewal: An Anatomy of the Conflicting Discourses on the Renovation of China’s Urban Village. Cities 2021 , 111 , 103075. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Liu, Y.; Li, H.; Li, W.; Wang, S. Renovation Priorities for Old Residential Districts Based on Resident Satisfaction: An Application of Asymmetric Impact-Performance Analysis in Xi’an, China. PLoS ONE 2021 , 16 , e0254372. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Dong, Y.; Li, F.; Cao, J.; Dong, W. What Neighborhood Factors Are Critical to Resident Satisfaction with Old Neighborhoods? An Integration of Ground Theory and Impact Asymmetry Analysis. Cities 2023 , 141 , 104460. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• de Magalhães, C. Urban Regeneration. In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences , 2nd ed.; Wright, J.D., Ed.; Elsevier: Oxford, UK, 2015; pp. 919–925. ISBN 978-0-08-097087-5. [ Google Scholar ]
• Mouratidis, K. Neighborhood Characteristics, Neighborhood Satisfaction, and Well-Being: The Links with Neighborhood Deprivation. Land Use Policy 2020 , 99 , 104886. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Lovejoy, K.; Handy, S.; Mokhtarian, P. Neighborhood Satisfaction in Suburban versus Traditional Environments: An Evaluation of Contributing Characteristics in Eight California Neighborhoods. Landsc. Urban Plan. 2010 , 97 , 37–48. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Galster, G.C.; Hesser, G.W. Residential Satisfaction: Compositional and Contextual Correlates. Environ. Behav. 1981 , 13 , 735–758. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Dong, W.; Cao, X.; Wu, X.; Dong, Y. Examining Pedestrian Satisfaction in Gated and Open Communities: An Integration of Gradient Boosting Decision Trees and Impact-Asymmetry Analysis. Landsc. Urban Plan. 2019 , 185 , 246–257. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Temelová, J.; Dvořáková, N. Residential Satisfaction of Elderly in the City Centre: The Case of Revitalizing Neighbourhoods in Prague. Cities 2012 , 29 , 310–317. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Zimring, C.; Reizenstein, J. Post-Occupancy Evaluation. Environment and Behavior 1980 , 2 , 429–450. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Preiser, W.F.E. (Ed.) Building Evaluation ; Springer US: Boston, MA, USA, 1989; ISBN 978-1-4899-3724-7. [ Google Scholar ]
• Bai, X.; Xie, Z.; Dewancker, B.J. Exploring the Factors Affecting User Satisfaction in Poverty Alleviation Relocation Housing for Minorities through Post-Occupancy Evaluation: A Case Study of Pu’er. Sustainability 2022 , 14 , 15167. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Carnemolla, P.; Debono, D.; Hourihan, F.; Hor, S.; Robertson, H.; Travaglia, J. The Influence of the Built Environment in Enacting a Household Model of Residential Aged Care for People Living with a Mental Health Condition: A Qualitative Post-Occupancy Evaluation. Health Place 2021 , 71 , 102624. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• David Jiboye, A. Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Residential Satisfaction in Lagos, Nigeria: Feedback for Residential Improvement. Front. Archit. Res. 2012 , 1 , 236–243. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Ha, M.J. A Study on the POE (Post Occupancy Evaluation) According to the Residential Environment of Mixed-Use Apartment Complexes In Seoul. Int. J. High-Rise Build. 2020 , 9 , 197–212. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Agha-Hossein, M.M.; El-Jouzi, S.; Elmualim, A.A.; Ellis, J.; Williams, M. Post-Occupancy Studies of an Office Environment: Energy Performance and Occupants’ Satisfaction. Build. Environ. 2013 , 69 , 121–130. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Colclough, S.; Hegarty, R.O.; Murray, M.; Lennon, D.; Rieux, E.; Colclough, M.; Kinnane, O. Post Occupancy Evaluation of 12 Retrofit nZEB Dwellings: The Impact of Occupants and High in-Use Interior Temperatures on the Predictive Accuracy of the nZEB Energy Standard. Energy Build. 2022 , 254 , 111563. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Pastore, L.; Andersen, M. Building Energy Certification versus User Satisfaction with the Indoor Environment: Findings from a Multi-Site Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) in Switzerland. Build. Environ. 2019 , 150 , 60–74. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Zhang, Q.; Lee, J.; Jiang, B.; Kim, G. Revitalization of the Waterfront Park Based on Industrial Heritage Using Post-Occupancy Evaluation—A Case Study of Shanghai (China). IJERPH 2022 , 19 , 9107. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Byrne, J.J.; Morrison, G.M. Pre- and Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Resident Motivations for and Experiences of Establishing a Home in a Low-Carbon Development. Sustainability 2019 , 11 , 3970. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• El-Darwish, I.I.; El-Gendy, R.A. Post Occupancy Evaluation of Thermal Comfort in Higher Educational Buildings in a Hot Arid Climate. Alex. Eng. J. 2018 , 57 , 3167–3177. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Ildiri, N.; Bazille, H.; Lou, Y.; Hinkelman, K.; Gray, W.A.; Zuo, W. Impact of WELL Certification on Occupant Satisfaction and Perceived Health, Well-Being, and Productivity: A Multi-Office Pre- versus Post-Occupancy Evaluation. Build. Environ. 2022 , 224 , 109539. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Lei, Q.; Lau, S.S.Y.; Chao, Y.; Qi, Y. Post-Occupancy Evaluation of the Biophilic Design in the Workplace for Health and Wellbeing. Buildings 2022 , 12 , 417. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Preiser, W.; Nasar, J. Assessing Building Performance: Its Evolution from Post-Occupancy Evaluation. Archnet-IJAR Int. J. Archit. Res. 2008 , 2 , 84–99. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Alborz, N.; Berardi, U. A Post Occupancy Evaluation Framework for LEED Certified U.S. Higher Education Residence Halls. Procedia Eng. 2015 , 118 , 19–27. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Hotelling, H. Analysis of a Complex of Statistical Variables into Principal Components. J. Educ. Psychol. 1933 , 24 , 417–441. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Rao, C.R. The Use and Interpretation of Principal Component Analysis in Applied Research. Sankhyā Indian J. Stat. 1964 , 26 , 329–358. [ Google Scholar ]
• Girshick, M.A. Principal Components. J. Am. Stat. Assoc. 1936 , 31 , 519–528. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Dikmen, N.; Elias-Ozkan, S.T. Housing after Disaster: A Post Occupancy Evaluation of a Reconstruction Project. Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct. 2016 , 19 , 167–178. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Kaitilla, S. Post-Occupancy Evaluation in Self-Help Housing Schemes: Tensiti Settlement, Lae, PNG. Cities 1994 , 11 , 312–324. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Mundo-Hernández, J.; Valerdi-Nochebuena, M.C.; Sosa-Oliver, J. Post-Occupancy Evaluation of a Restored Industrial Building: A Contemporary Art and Design Gallery in Mexico. Front. Archit. Res. 2015 , 4 , 330–340. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Patlakas, P.; Musso, M.; Larkham, P. A Digital Curation Model for Post-Occupancy Evaluation Data. Archit. Eng. Des. Manag. 2022 , 18 , 128–148. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Wuxi, China; Charming Wuxi. Available online: http://en.wuxi.gov.cn/ (accessed on 31 August 2024).
• Lamola, A.A.; Yamane, T. Sensitized Photodimerization of Thymine in DNA. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 1967 , 58 , 443–446. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Sun, G.; Hu, Z.; Zhang, J.; Xue, H. Comprehensive Evaluation of Ballastless-Track Sealants Based on Macro–Micro Tests and Principal Component Analysis. Constr. Build. Mater. 2023 , 400 , 132708. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Sterge, N.J. Computational-Statistical Tradeoff in Apporoximate Kernel Principal Component Analysis. Ph.D. Thesis, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA, 2022. [ Google Scholar ]
• Zhong, D. Beyond the Sum Score: A Multidimensional Examination of Allostatic Load Using Principal Component Analysis and Latent Profile Analysis in Previously Institutionalized Youth. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, 2023. [ Google Scholar ]
• Tian, P.; Zhan, G.F.; Nai, L. Comprehensive Evaluation of Asphalt-Mixture Performance Based on Principal Component Analysis. Adv. Mater. Res. 2015 , 1095 , 280–283. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Liu, J.; Kang, H.; Tao, W.; Li, H.; He, D.; Ma, L.; Tang, H.; Wu, S.; Yang, K.; Li, X. A Spatial Distribution—Principal Component Analysis (SD-PCA) Model to Assess Pollution of Heavy Metals in Soil. Sci. Total Environ. 2023 , 859 , 160112. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Iheanacho, O.N. Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Outdoor Spaces of Public Housing Eatates for Housing Satisfaction of Middle Income Residents in Enugu, Nigeria. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria, 2018. [ Google Scholar ]
• Abdul Aziz, F.; Hussain, N.; Ujang, N. The Implication of Slum Relocations into Low-Cost High-Rises: An Analysis through the Infrastructure of Everyday Life. Environ. Behav. Proc. J. 2016 , 1 , 33. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Bristowe, A.; Heckert, M. How the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed Patterns of Green Infrastructure Use: A Scoping Review. Urban For. Urban Green. 2023 , 81 , 127848. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Cohen, D.A.; Williamson, S.; Han, B. Gender Differences in Physical Activity Associated with Urban Neighborhood Parks: Findings from the National Study of Neighborhood Parks. Women’s Health Issues 2021 , 31 , 236–244. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Yue, Y.; Yang, D.; Van Dyck, D. Urban Greenspace and Mental Health in Chinese Older Adults: Associations across Different Greenspace Measures and Mediating Effects of Environmental Perceptions. Health Place 2022 , 76 , 102856. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Zhang, R.; Zhang, C.-Q.; Lai, P.C.; Kwan, M.-P. Park and Neighbourhood Environmental Characteristics Associated with Park-Based Physical Activity among Children in a High-Density City. Urban For. Urban Green. 2022 , 68 , 127479. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Jiang, Y.; Huang, G. Urban Residential Quarter Green Space and Life Satisfaction. Urban For. Urban Green. 2022 , 69 , 127510. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Mouratidis, K. Urban Planning and Quality of Life: A Review of Pathways Linking the Built Environment to Subjective Well-Being. Cities 2021 , 115 , 103229. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Yang, Y.; Peng, C.; Yeung, C.Y.; Ren, C.; Luo, H.; Lu, Y.; Yip, P.S.F.; Webster, C. Moderation Effect of Visible Urban Greenery on the Association between Neighbourhood Deprivation and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Hong Kong. Landsc. Urban Plan. 2023 , 231 , 104660. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Giles-Corti, B.; Broomhall, M.H.; Knuiman, M.; Collins, C.; Douglas, K.; Ng, K.; Lange, A.; Donovan, R.J. Increasing Walking. Am. J. Prev. Med. 2005 , 28 , 169–176. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Whittem, V.; Roetzel, A.; Sadick, A.-M.; Nakai Kidd, A. How Comprehensive Is Post-Occupancy Feedback on School Buildings for Architects? A Conceptual Review Based upon Integral Sustainable Design Principles. Build. Environ. 2022 , 218 , 109109. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Young, D.R.; Hong, B.D.; Lo, T.; Inzhakova, G.; Cohen, D.A.; Sidell, M.A. The Longitudinal Associations of Physical Activity, Time Spent Outdoors in Nature and Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety during COVID-19 Quarantine and Social Distancing in the United States. Prev. Med. 2022 , 154 , 106863. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Carpentier-Postel, S.; Gerber, P.; Guyon, E.; Klein, O. Changes in Residential Satisfaction after Relocation: The Effects of Commuting. A Case Study of Luxembourg Cross-Border Workers. Case Stud. Transp. Policy 2022 , 10 , 1754–1766. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Sun, B.; Liu, J.; Yin, C.; Cao, J. Residential and Workplace Neighborhood Environments and Life Satisfaction: Exploring Chain-Mediation Effects of Activity and Place Satisfaction. J. Transp. Geogr. 2022 , 104 , 103435. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Chan, E.T.H.; Li, T.E. The Effects of Neighbourhood Attachment and Built Environment on Walking and Life Satisfaction: A Case Study of Shenzhen. Cities 2022 , 130 , 103940. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Nolen, J. New Towns for Old: Achievements in Civic Improvement in Some American Small Towns and Neighborhoods ; University of Massachusetts Press: Amherst, MA, USA, 2005; ISBN 978-1-55849-480-0. [ Google Scholar ]
• Wang, P.; Han, L.; Hao, R.; Mei, R. Understanding the Relationship between Small Urban Parks and Mental Health: A Case Study in Shanghai, China. Urban For. Urban Green. 2022 , 78 , 127784. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Park, J.Y.; Ouf, M.M.; Gunay, B.; Peng, Y.; O’Brien, W.; Kjærgaard, M.B.; Nagy, Z. A Critical Review of Field Implementations of Occupant-Centric Building Controls. Build. Environ. 2019 , 165 , 106351. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Li, H.; Ta, N.; Yu, B.; Wu, J. Are the Accessibility and Facility Environment of Parks Associated with Mental Health? A Comparative Analysis Based on Residential Areas and Workplaces. Landsc. Urban Plan. 2023 , 237 , 104807. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Sheikh Khan, D.; Kolarik, J.; Weitzmann, P. Design and Application of Occupant Voting Systems for Collecting Occupant Feedback on Indoor Environmental Quality of Buildings—A Review. Build. Environ. 2020 , 183 , 107192. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Ding, R.; Ujang, N.; bin Hamid, H.; Manan, M.S.A.; Li, R.; Wu, J. Heuristic Urban Transportation Network Design Method, a Multilayer Coevolution Approach. Phys. A Stat. Mech. Its Appl. 2017 , 479 , 71–83. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Harbishettar, V.; Gowda, M.; Tenagi, S.; Chandra, M. Regulation of Long-Term Care Homes for Older Adults in India. Indian J. Psychol. Med. 2021 , 43 , S88–S96. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Salaheldin, M.H. The Development of a Holistic Framework for the Post Occupancy Evaluation of Polyclinics in Saudi Arabia. Master’s Thesis, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 2019. [ Google Scholar ]
• Harrison, M.; Ryan, T.; Gardiner, C.; Jones, A. Psychological and Emotional Needs, Assessment, and Support Post-Stroke: A Multi-Perspective Qualitative Study. Top. Stroke Rehabil. 2017 , 24 , 119–125. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Moeinaddini, M.; Asadi-Shekari, Z.; Aghaabbasi, M.; Saadi, I.; Shah, M.Z.; Cools, M. Applying Non-Parametric Models to Explore Urban Life Satisfaction in European Cities. Cities 2020 , 105 , 102851. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Youssoufi, S.; Houot, H.; Vuidel, G.; Pujol, S.; Mauny, F.; Foltête, J.-C. Combining Visual and Noise Characteristics of a Neighborhood Environment to Model Residential Satisfaction: An Application Using GIS-Based Metrics. Landsc. Urban Plan. 2020 , 204 , 103932. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Fan, L.; Cao, J.; Hu, M.; Yin, C. Exploring the Importance of Neighborhood Characteristics to and Their Nonlinear Effects on Life Satisfaction of Displaced Senior Farmers. Cities 2022 , 124 , 103605. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Mouratidis, K.; Yiannakou, A. What Makes Cities Livable? Determinants of Neighborhood Satisfaction and Neighborhood Happiness in Different Contexts. Land Use Policy 2022 , 112 , 105855. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Rajkumar, E.; Rajan, A.M.; Daniel, M.; Lakshmi, R.; John, R.; George, A.J.; Abraham, J.; Varghese, J. The Psychological Impact of Quarantine Due to COVID-19: A Systematic Review of Risk, Protective Factors and Interventions Using Socio-Ecological Model Framework. Heliyon 2022 , 8 , e09765. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Ma, L.; Ye, R.; Ettema, D.; van Lierop, D. Role of the Neighborhood Environment in Psychological Resilience. Landsc. Urban Plan. 2023 , 235 , 104761. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Moustafa, Y. Design and Neighborhood Sense of Community: An Integrative and Cross-Culturally Valid Theoretical Framework. Archnet-IJAR Int. J. Archit. Res. 2009 , 3 , 1. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Han, J.; Lee, S.; Kwon, Y. Can Social Capital Improve the Quality of Life Satisfaction for Older Adults? Focusing on the 2016 Quality of Life Survey in Gyeonggi Province, Korea. Cities 2022 , 130 , 103853. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Al Mughairi, M.; Beach, T.; Rezgui, Y. Post-Occupancy Evaluation for Enhancing Building Performance and Automation Deployment. J. Build. Eng. 2023 , 77 , 107388. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Tan, T.H.; Lee, W.C. Life Satisfaction and Perceived and Objective Neighborhood Environments in a Green-Accredited Township: Quantile Regression Approach. Cities 2023 , 134 , 104196. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Groshong, L.; Wilhelm Stanis, S.A.; Kaczynski, A.T.; Hipp, J.A. Attitudes About Perceived Park Safety Among Residents in Low-Income and High Minority Kansas City, Missouri, Neighborhoods. Environ. Behav. 2020 , 52 , 639–665. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Tourinho, A.C.C.; Barbosa, S.A.; Göçer, Ö.; Alberto, K.C. Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Outdoor Spaces on the Campus of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Brazil. ARCH 2021 , 15 , 617–633. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Xiao, Y.; Piao, Y.; Pan, C.; Lee, D.; Zhao, B. Using Buffer Analysis to Determine Urban Park Cooling Intensity: Five Estimation Methods for Nanjing, China. Sci. Total Environ. 2023 , 868 , 161463. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Abdul Aziz, F.; Ujang, N.; Abu Bakar, N.A.; Bakar, A.; Faziawati, A. Urban High-Rise Public Housing for Squatter Resettlement: Desa Mentari as a Case Study. New Des. Ideas 2022 , 6 , 159–175. [ Google Scholar ]
• Abdul Aziz, F. The Investigation of the Implications of Squatter Relocations in High-Risk Neighbourhoods in Malaysia, 2012.
• Raap, S.; Knibbe, M.; Horstman, K. Clean Spaces, Community Building, and Urban Stage: The Coproduction of Health and Parks in Low-Income Neighborhoods. J. Urban Health 2022 , 99 , 680–687. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]

Click here to enlarge figure

Share and Cite

Zhao, J.; Abdul Aziz, F.; Cheng, Z.; Ujang, N.; Zhang, H.; Xu, J.; Xiao, Y.; Shi, L. Post-Occupancy Evaluation of the Improved Old Residential Neighborhood Satisfaction Using Principal Component Analysis: The Case of Wuxi, China. ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2024 , 13 , 318. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi13090318

Zhao J, Abdul Aziz F, Cheng Z, Ujang N, Zhang H, Xu J, Xiao Y, Shi L. Post-Occupancy Evaluation of the Improved Old Residential Neighborhood Satisfaction Using Principal Component Analysis: The Case of Wuxi, China. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information . 2024; 13(9):318. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi13090318

Zhao, Jing, Faziawati Abdul Aziz, Ziyi Cheng, Norsidah Ujang, Hui Zhang, Jiajun Xu, Yi Xiao, and Lin Shi. 2024. "Post-Occupancy Evaluation of the Improved Old Residential Neighborhood Satisfaction Using Principal Component Analysis: The Case of Wuxi, China" ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 13, no. 9: 318. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi13090318

Article Metrics

Article access statistics, supplementary material.

ZIP-Document (ZIP, 3117 KiB)

Further Information

Mdpi initiatives, follow mdpi.

Subscribe to receive issue release notifications and newsletters from MDPI journals

Online school threats in New Jersey, Florida result in juveniles being arrested

Authorities in New Jersey and Florida have arrested three juveniles in connection to separate online school threats.

In New Jersey, a threat was posted to social media and said a shooting would occur at five schools, according to local news outlet NBC10 Philadelphia .

As a result, Woodbury Public Schools and the Deptford Township School District announced they would be closed on Monday.

In a letter to the Woodbury School community, Superintendent Andrew Bell said there was no immediate indication that the threat was valid, but that schools were closed out of precaution.

“While we do not believe the threat to be credible, we are exercising extreme caution to ensure the safety of our students, staff, and families. Please be assured that school safety remains our top priority, and we are taking every precaution necessary to maintain a secure environment,” Bell said.

Deptford Township superintendent of schools Kevin Kanauss shared a similar message.

“After carefully reviewing the progress of the investigation with our security team and law enforcement this evening, I have decided to close schools for Monday, September 9, 2024, out of an abundance of caution and for the safety and security of our entire Deptford Spartan Community, Kanauss said.

Police in Glassboro and Woodbury said two juvenile suspects were arrested in connection with the threat.

“Through the collaborative efforts of several agencies involved, two juveniles, one from Woodbury and one from Glassboro, have been located, identified and arrested regarding the threats made to our schools on social media,” the Glassboro Police Department said in a Facebook post. “We want to thank all agencies involved as well as the members of the community who spoke up and provided information to assist us in the quick resolution of this incident.”

GPD said while there was no active threat, additional security will be provided in and around schools in the district.

The Woodbury Police Department shared a similar statement of a juvenile arrested in its city, adding that an investigation remains ongoing.

In Florida, a 14-year-old high school student was arrested for "making written threats to kill or conduct a mass shooting," according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office.

Detectives said the girl posted the threats on Instagram — with one listing several schools that would be targeted.

"Other posts contained additional threats of a school shooting or other violence," the sheriff's office said. "Multiple individuals saw these posts online and reported them to law enforcement."

After authorities made contact with the teen, she reportedly claimed the posts were intended as a joke. She now faces numerous charges, including making written threats to kill/conduct a mass shooting.

The threats in Florida and New Jersey come amid a sensitive time for school safety. Authorities say a 14-year-old shooter opened fire on a Georgia high school last week, killing two students, two teachers, and injuring nine others.

RELATED STORY | Authorities identify 4 victims in Georgia high school shooting

Most Recent

Georgia authorities release video of interviews with school shooting suspect

Judge orders mental health evaluation of Andrew Lester, suspect in Yarl shooting

Polaris space mission will provide the first private space walk

Google faces an antitrust trial after ruling declaring search engine a monopoly

Apple unveils new iPhone 16 lineup with future AI capabilities

15-year-old boy seriously injured in stabbing at New York high school

WATCH LIVE: Court TV is your front row seat to justice.

About Scripps News

Download the Scripps News app.