Citation
Tuffley, A. (2010), "Stakeholder Relationship Management", International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 546-547. https://doi.org/10.1108/17538371011056147
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Stakeholder Relationship Management is a timely and practical guide to the challenging task of managing stakeholder relations in organisations. It offers a wealth of insights into this thorny issue, doing so in a highly readable way.
The book flows logically in ten chapters divided into three broad sections: framework, guidebook and implementation. The chapters can be read in sequence, or individual chapters can be singled out to help solve specific problems such as how to map stakeholders or measure their attitudes.
Section 1: framework introduces the reader to the Stakeholder Circle methodology and theoretical framework. It clearly explains why stakeholders matter and who can be stakeholders. The section is well‐illustrated with a case study of London's Heathrow Airport's T5 project which has given me a different perspective on this high‐profile project even though I have previously travelled through Terminal 5 and experienced some difficulties.
Section 2: guideline is a comprehensive five‐step guide that enables practitioners to identify, prioritise, visualise, engage and monitor stakeholders. If the reader follows through to the end of this section they will have a good understanding with which to move forwards. This is supported by the templates and tools contained on the CD.
Section 3: implementation is a detailed description of the Stakeholder Relationship Maturity Model. This deals with the challenges of introducing any new methodology into an organisation. It explores the key attributes of standard processes, centralised support, KPIs, organisation‐wide implementation, developing baselines and proactive reporting.
Over the past 15 years as a researcher and industry transition consultant I have become well‐acquainted with various models including the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and the International Standard for Process Assessment ISO/IEC 15504 (SPICE). While these models discuss sponsor and stakeholder engagement and management, they do not address the how component of this complex issue. I recommend Dr Bourne's book as a valuable addition to the field by describing in practical terms both what to do and how to do it.