Organisations and stakeholders
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| organisation/ˌɔːɡənaɪˈzeɪʃn/ | A group of people working together towards shared goals, with roles and a structure. |
| stakeholder/ˈsteɪkhəʊldə/ | A person or group with an interest in, or affected by, an organisation's activities. |
| veto/ˈviːtəʊ/ | A stakeholder power to block a decision outright. |
| prediction/prɪˈdɪkʃn/ | A stated expectation about the future, checkable against what happens. |
Who gets a say on Sunday opening?
- Nimbus Bakery, a small two-shop bakery (our running example), wants to open on Sundays. The owner is keen, regular customers are delighted, the staff are worried about their weekends, and the shop lease limits opening hours.
- Everyone has a view, but not every view counts in the same way. This lesson shows how to sort the people around a decision before you act.
What an organisation is for
- An organisation 组织 is people and resources coordinated towards a goal. Nimbus could buy every task from outside, but agreeing a new contract each time costs time and money.
- So a firm does the repeated, core work itself and buys the rest. Nimbus bakes its own bread every day, buys flour from a mill, and pays an accountant once a year.
Which task should Nimbus most clearly buy from outside rather than do itself?
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Accounts are needed once a year and call for expertise Nimbus does not use daily, so a contract is cheaper. Baking and serving are repeated, core work.
Stakeholders: everyone the decision touches
- A stakeholder 利益相关者 is anyone who affects the firm or is affected by it. Internal stakeholders are inside it: the owner and the staff.
- External stakeholders are outside it: customers, suppliers, the landlord, the local council and the neighbours.
Which of these are stakeholders of Nimbus Bakery? Select all that apply.
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Staff and the mill are affected by Nimbus's choices, and the council affects what Nimbus may do. A baker with no link neither affects Nimbus nor is affected by it.
Each one wants something different
- The owner wants profit and growth; staff want fair pay and free weekends; customers want fresh bread at a fair price; the landlord wants the rent paid and the lease kept.
- These interests often pull against each other. Sunday opening helps customers and perhaps the owner, but it costs the staff their day off.
Customers have low power over Nimbus, because each one buys only a few loaves.
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One customer is small, but customers together decide the sales. If they switch to a rival, Nimbus fails, so their combined power is high.
Map power against interest
- Interest asks how much a stakeholder cares about what the firm does. Power asks how much they can change it. Put each stakeholder on a grid with both.
- Each corner has a plan: high power and high interest, manage closely; high power, low interest, keep satisfied; low power, high interest, keep informed; low on both, monitor.
Place each stakeholder on the grid
Sort the people around a Sunday-opening decision into the four corners of the power-interest grid. The corner tells you how to deal with them.
Match each stakeholder to the plan its corner of the grid suggests.
Difficulty 2/5 · 140 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
Power says how much they can change the plan; interest says how much they care. Together they set how much attention each one needs.
A veto or a prediction?
- An objection from someone with power over the decision is a veto 否决: you cannot go ahead without them. The lease clause on opening hours is a veto.
- An objection from someone without that power is a prediction 预测 about the future, such as "Sunday sales won't cover the wages". Do not obey it or ignore it: test it with numbers.
- Staff say Sunday sales won't cover the extra costs. Check it.
- Costs: 3 staff × 7 hours × £12 = £252 in wages, plus £60 for energy, so £312 a day.
- Each item sold adds £2.60 after ingredients. At 180 items: 180 × £2.60 = £468, so Sunday adds £468 − £312 = £156.
- The prediction is wrong if 180 items is right. Below 120 items (£312 ÷ £2.60) Sunday loses money, so 180 is the assumption to check.
Which objection to Sunday opening is a veto rather than a prediction?
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The landlord has power over this decision through the lease, so it must be cleared first. The other three are claims about the future to test with evidence.
A Sunday costs Nimbus £312 in extra wages and energy. Each item sold adds £2.60 after ingredients. How many items must it sell on a Sunday just to cover those costs?
Difficulty 2/5 · 140 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
$312 \div 2.60 = 120$ items. The staff prediction is right if Sunday sells fewer than 120 and wrong if it sells more, so the sales estimate is what to test.
Engage in the right order
- Clear the vetoes first. Ask the landlord about the lease and check any council licence before you plan the details; otherwise the work may be wasted.
- Then design the plan around the interests: a volunteer Sunday rota with extra pay answers the staff's worry, and a trial month tests the sales figure.
Put the steps for the Sunday decision in a sensible order.
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A veto can end the idea, so check it first. Then map, test, design around the interests, and let a trial show whether the assumption holds.
Marks that slip away
- Listing stakeholders without interests. A name on a list says nothing; state what each one wants.
- Mixing up power and interest. Customers care a lot and have real power together, because they can switch to a rival.
- Treating every objection the same. A veto must be cleared; a prediction must be tested.
- Fixed positions. The grid is a snapshot; a decision can move a stakeholder to a new corner.
You've got it
- An organisation coordinates people and resources towards a goal; it does its core, repeated work itself and buys the rest.
- Stakeholders affect or are affected by the firm. Map each one by power and interest: manage closely, keep satisfied, keep informed, monitor.
- Clear vetoes first, then test predictions with numbers.