Discover Which Stakeholders are Most Important to a Business and learn how to effectively engage with them to drive success and growth.
Stakeholders are one of the important parts of an organization that has an active and passive role to carry out its goals. Stakeholders themselves can be found anywhere, especially in a business activity so that every company cannot be separated from the existence of the most important figures.With the presence of stakeholders in business activities, it will be necessary to provide assistance to develop a goal of the company. However, not all stakeholders will have a positive impact on a company.
Which Stakeholders are Most Important To A Business?
Customer
Customers need products to meet their needs. They can be individual customers, business customers, or other organizations. They buy products for final consumption or for further processing.
Customers are key stakeholders along with employees, shareholders, governments and suppliers. They bring money into the company by purchasing products, which the company can then use to pay suppliers, employees and creditors. So, without them, the company cannot make money.
Investors and Creditors
They play a very important role in business, as they can help the financial status of the company. For this reason, a company must have both.
As stakeholders, investors are a group of people who invest their capital to support the company’s operations. If you are a person who buys shares in a company, then you are classified by stakeholders in society.
Stocks are a form of capital that plays an important role for a company to continue. Furthermore, investors who have deposited very large capital also have authority regarding the modernization of the financial condition and condition of the company.
Suppliers
Suppliers sell inputs to the firm. These can be raw materials, capital goods, semi-finished goods and goods and services for day-to-day operations. They can affect the firm’s operations through the price, quality and delivery schedule of inputs.
On the other hand, they want companies to pay on time, as agreed. They also like companies to order more frequently and in large volumes. In addition, they also try to maintain a long-term good relationship with the company to secure future demand.
Furthermore, suppliers affect the company’s profits. If they have strong bargaining power, they can negotiate terms that are favorable to them, which can be detrimental to the company.
For example, a supplier sells low-quality inputs at a higher price. The company may be forced to buy them because of its weak bargaining power and may not have alternative suppliers.
Owner
Owners or shareholders may refer to founders if they were involved in starting the company in the first place and still retain ownership. In other cases, they may not be founders because they acquired ownership through an acquisition and were not involved in establishing the business from the start.
When a company lists its shares on a stock exchange, stock investors are also shareholders, although their holdings are often relatively small compared to the total shares outstanding. They can be individuals or institutions. So, for example, when you buy shares in a company, you are a shareholder.
Shareholders provide risk capital to the company. If they are founders, they take on the risk of starting a business, expecting to make a profit in return. They may also have to put up their own money as start-up capital for the business.
Community
A community is included in stakeholders , because they have an interest in the company that is directly related to the emergence of employment, health, economic development, and safety. The existence of a company will have a significant impact on the community around the company.
In order to create a good relationship with the community, a company needs to carry out various activities that will involve a particular community.
Creditors
Creditors refer to parties who provide loans to a company. They can be banks or bond investors. They are willing to lend money if the company can pay the principal plus interest on time.
On the other hand, if the company fails to pay, they may file for bankruptcy against the company in court. Therefore, the company needs sufficient cash flow available to pay the debt.
On the other hand, companies need loans to operate and grow their businesses. Some loans are for working capital and to finance day-to-day operations. Others are for investment capital to support business expansion.
Employees or Staff
Without human resources, the company itself will not be able to operate properly. Employees are said to be stakeholders because they have an important role in contributing directly to the production process.
Labour Union
Trade unions may support companies in accessing the required qualified labor more easily. Their members may be a productive workforce.
In contrast, unions want their members to be compensated according to their contributions to the company. Unions exist to strengthen workers’ bargaining position when negotiating with companies, for example regarding wages. They protect workers’ interests, negotiate job security, protect workers from unfair dismissal, and provide members with legal support and services.
Consumers
If there are no consumers, then a business will not be able to run. Consumers are said to be stakeholders because they have a major role that must be considered in ensuring the life of a company.
The relationship of a company with stakeholders will always experience dynamic changes over time. There are several experts who have observed changes or shifts in the form that was originally Inactive, to Reactive then to Proactive and will become Interactive. The following is an explanation of the relationship pattern.