The gains come from knowing the value of your company’s network and knowing what to do with it. Research shows that various network resources can generate business development
By now, most people know the importance of having a network and maintaining relations inside and outside the company. But you need to do more than just sending the mandatory Christmas card to your stakeholders. Often, today’s companies can take a more strategic approach by focusing on its stakeholder’s resources and how these can be used to generate business development.p>
Because of this, sometimes it pays to involve some stakeholders more than others, depending on what kind of development is needed. Assistant Professor Martin Hannibal and colleagues have discovered that three types of stakeholders can be distinguished.
Martin Hannibal is assistant professor at the Department for Marketing & Management. His research focuses on subjects such as entrepreneurship, establishing networks and innovative ability.
Martin Hannibal’s profile
Allies, cooperative and neutral stakeholders
The allied stakeholders include the owner, employees and investors who all obviously have an interest in the success of the company. Therefore they are important participants – and the driving force in the development of the company. The allied stakeholders are particularly important when it comes to any form of renewal, ranging from radical innovation to further development.
Cooperative stakeholders, as the term suggests, have close cooperative ties to the company, and often they are crucial to whether you will fail or succeed as a company. Cooperative stakeholders include suppliers, distributors and buyers which can provide access to new customers and markets and spread the knowledge of and strengthen the company’s reputation and brand.
Even though the relations to the neutral stakeholders are more peripheral, they should not be underestimated. Typically, they have a say in matters pertaining to the company. The neutral stakeholders include opinion formers, politicians and business leaders from other business fields. Their opinions are pivotal in order to get acceptance from end-users and business partners, when they from time to time bring focus to matters that are relevant to the company.
Managing the network
Besides knowing your network and its value, it is also important to have your network established before putting it to use. An important note is that it is not the network per se that matters the most. In the end, it is the owner’s abilities to use the existing network and to develop new ones that can mobilise the network and generate development.
06.09.2013
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