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Practices
John R. Sardelli-jsardelli350@g.rwu.edu
The five case studies presented share the commonality of examining whether
stakeholders were engaged using best practices. Overall, it is evident that of the five, only GAP
and Endangered World Wildlife Trust (EWT) evolved meaningful stakeholder engagement plans
that had any measure of success. The other examples, Tampa Bay Town Hall Meeting, Race,
Politics, and Low-Income Housing, and Liquor Tax Reform in Thailand demonstrated clear
examples of what not to do if one wants to have successful stakeholder relationships. The most
significant lesson learned came from GAPs case study where their stakeholder engagement and
relations strategy revealed that the process takes time to evolve and many trial and error
experiences should be expected. It also resonated that GAPs most successful engagement plan
manifested once the company realized that they could not continue to do it alone in managing
crisis situations in their industry (Smith, Ansett, & Erez, 2011). As all leaders must learn that
shared success is the best success, the same is true of stakeholder relations and GAPs case was
the only one that represented this statement to its fullest. Companies and individual must always
partner for success with internal and external stakeholders. Yet sometimes the best achievements
are had when partnerships are forged with competitor companies as shown by GAP and Levi-
Strauss joining forces to address child labor and pollution in the manufacture of their clothing
Three of the case studies provide a roadmap for how to not engage stakeholders. The
biggest example of poor stakeholder management leading to mistrust, racism, and blatant
politicking can be found in the Race, Politics, and Low-Income Housing study about Old Towns
efforts to keep its medical school at the expense of displacing the poorest people in the township
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John R. Sardelli-jsardelli350@g.rwu.edu
(Reinke, 2008). The elected commission gave no power to its mayor, had a Town Council
divided along racial lines that caused disruption to voting and accusations of racism, and featured
the story of underhanded machinations the town administrator, Ford Thompson, took to try and
make a deal to expand the medical school (Reinke, 2008). Thompson took the poor approach of
only inviting Whites to sit on the panel and never had public discussions or even notified the
residents of the soon-to-be-razed project of plans to displace them (Reinke, 2008). He paid no
heed to the media scandal that erupted when the medical school president had clandestine
meetings about merging with a larger university in a different township. Outright racism blew
the entire secret plan open in the media and set up a firestorm of controversy (Reinke, 2008).
Had Thompson taken the time to be more public in explaining the true merits of the reason for
expansion and that there were plans to move project residents elsewhere, much of the problem
could have been avoided as he would gained trust and shown transparency in planning. By
focusing only on what the medical school needed, Thompson missed an opportunity to gain
widespread support and goodwill. The entire project was undermined by secrecy, lack of
transparency in activities, and an overall lack of communication and trust. While Thompson
may have felt that he was acting in the best interest of the town, his lack of stakeholder
engagement created an unnecessary situation that put the entire project, race relations, and his
Some of the same issues were on display at the Tampa Town Hall Meeting on Health
Care. Representative Betty Reed had her own agenda for the meeting and planned for things to
be more community based, however, as it became clear there was strong potential for protests
related to the national health care debate, she did not engage her constituents in discussion, she
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Practices
John R. Sardelli-jsardelli350@g.rwu.edu
simply discussed the matter with the head of her local Democratic Party (Varley, 2011). The
complete lack of stakeholder engagement and ignoring external stakeholders who were invested
in the disruption of the event laid the foundation for a disastrous meeting (Varley, 2011).
Further, once the meeting was underway, not directly engaging with the overflow crowd that
could not come into the event and cutting the meeting short because of the unruliness of
attendees sent a message that there was no interest in listening to voters (Varley, 2011). Worse,
the aftermath of Reed not directly engaging her constituents for more than a year just reinforces
that message and demonstrates she still lacks the awareness of how to directly connect with
The final case study that falls into unsuccessful stakeholder engagement is related to
Thailands Liquor Tax Reform (Techajareonvikul, 2006). This case again shows no stakeholder
engagement and reveals that the government has conflicts of interest in even seeking to regulate
tax reform on liquors as many elected officials are actually in the liquor manufacturing or liquor
import business (Techajareonvikul, 2006). Further, with the government seeking to revise the
tax structure to increase tariffs while they run simultaneous campaigns to cut down on citizens
drinking and improve their health, the tariff seems self-defeating, especially when it is revealed
that declining revenues for liquor and cigarettes has already begun occurring (Techajareonvikul,
2006). The report also makes note of redundancies in office duties that could be streamlined and
used to free up money for the infrastructure projects the country needs to fund. While it is noted
that the public has a widespread awareness of why the government is seeking to raise the tax on
liquor, the case study also notes that there has not been stakeholder engagement with the public,
or seemingly with the liquor industry on this issue or how to raise funds for infrastructure needs.
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John R. Sardelli-jsardelli350@g.rwu.edu
By not engaging with stakeholders, lawmakers are missing an opportunity to actively engage in
an idea exchange that could lead to significant improvements in fiscal responsibility and better
In every one of these cases, these officials should look to the success GAP has had by
hiring Stakeholder Managers (also known as boundary spanners) and engaging directly with
stakeholders, even in difficult situations (Smith, Ansett, & Erez, 2011). In the worst possible
situations, a smart company or government will have properly developed and managed their
stakeholder relationships to achieve maximum success. Stakeholder relations are most clearly
defined in a time of crisis when businesses can be redeemed or destroyed based on stakeholder
perceptions.
The final two case studies focus on EWT and GAP and both illustrate the benefits of
developing long-term, positive stakeholder relationships while also showing that the process
takes time to be properly developed and enacted. With Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), the
organization experienced a long period where it over-extended itself and was run more by
volunteers and other organizations dictating what EWT needed to do on their behalf (Price,
2010). When faced with declining revenues, branding confusion, and associations with
questionable organizations, leadership recognized that in order to survive, avoid scandal, and
prosper, EWT needed to look inward and get back to its core mission and values (Price, 2010).
To do this they undertook a four-step process that focused on stakeholder engagement of the
board of trustees and staff only (Price, 2010). While the resulting plan helped to reestablish
EWTs identity and signaled a return to their core mission and values, they did make a misstep
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John R. Sardelli-jsardelli350@g.rwu.edu
by not engaging broader stakeholder groups that could be vital to their planning and emerging
role as a go-to leader in connecting organizations, volunteers, and governmental agencies for
important conservation needs in South Africa (Price, 2010). While EWT has taken a huge step
in the right direction, there is still a long way to go to build a true stakeholder engagement
strategy and plan that encompasses all stakeholders for every eventuality.
The last case study that provided a true blueprint of how to build and manage stakeholder
relationships is GAP. The case study highlighted GAP had many difficulties in getting to their
ultimate stakeholder communication plan (Smith, Ansett, & Erez, 2011). In fact, it took them
decades to finally get it right (Smith, Ansett, & Erez, 2011). GAP demonstrates that there is no
magic bullet to manage stakeholder relationships but it does take effort. It takes time, engaging
unexpected partners, and accepting that a single company cannot police an entire industry.
While GAP has weathered serious scandals relating to toxic pollution, polluted rivers, and child
labor, they have survived by consistently showing that they are committed to engaging critics,
supporters, and competitors to help solve the problems. They have won over critics by being
transparent and building trust (Smith, Ansett, & Erez, 2011). Trust and transparency are the
most critical elements to building an effective stakeholder plan and all of the case study subjects
References
Techajareonvikul, A. (2006). Liquor tax reform in thailand: Competing interests and objectives.
Newell, C. (2009). Managing local government: Cases in effectiveness. (3rd ed., pp. 89-93).
Washington: ICMA.
Price, G. (2010). Stakeholder management and the endangered wildlife trust. Richard Ivey
Smith, N., Ansett, S. & Erez, L. (2011, Summer). How gap inc. engaged with its stakeholders.
Varley, P. (2011). A tampa "town hall" forum goes awry: Anatomy of a public meeting fiasco.