This question has two parts; be sure to answer each one. First, what are stakeholders, and why is it important for managers to understand this concept? Second, describe the stakeholders at a nonprofit organization, Just Say No Way, whose employees travel to grammar schools to talk with students about the dangers of drugs.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Stakeholders are the people whose interests are affected by an organization's activities. Internal stakeholders consist of employees, owners, and the board of directors. Managers must take all of these stakeholders into account as they make decisions and operate the business.

The employees are those who work for the organization. The staff of Just Say No Way may include a marketing person who does community outreach, a scheduler who makes appointments at local schools, a support or administrative staff, a director or CEO, and the speakers who travel from school to school.

The owners of an organization consist of all those who can claim it as their legal property. The owners of Just Say No Way can claim it as their property. Because the company does not manufacture a product (rather, it provides a service to local schools, neighborhoods, children, and parents), it will not have an inventory of products that it owns, but it likely will own office equipment, computers, and perhaps even cars that the speakers drive as they travel from school to school.

The board of directors are very important in setting the organization's overall strategic goals and in approving the major decisions and salaries of top management. Because Just Say No Way is a nonprofit organization, its board is called the board of trustees or the board of regents. The trustees of Just Say No Way will determine how best to use the donations that fund the organization (for example, how it might expand its program into other states or how it might offer talks on new topics, such as the dangers of using steroids or how to recognize and stop in-person or online bullying).