Shell in the Niger Delta Case Study

752 Words4 Pages
Shell in the Niger Delta - Study Questions Topic 1 Johnson’s ‘Building an Ethical Organisation’ Topic 1 Case Study Question What lessons are there for you from the case study and the application of the Mitchell et al model (and others like it) in how you might make decisions on treating stakeholders in your own professional life? Theory Mitchell et al, developed a typology of stakeholders built on the attributes of power, legitimacy, and urgency. • Stakeholder typology determines the ‘salience’ of its stakeholders and management uses this typology to evaluate levels of power, legitimacy and urgency attributes for stockholder management and determine which stakeholders may exert pressure in their relationships with the firm (Fallon, 2012, p.41) • Consisting of seven different typology; dormant, discretionary, demanding, dominate, dangerous, dependent, definite stakeholders (Fallon, 2012, p.41) (Mitchell et al, 1997, pp. -), those stakeholders with greater ‘salience’ require a higher level of management attention. Benefits • The model helps manage engagement with stakeholders to best meet business objectives. • Potential for managers to improve on or add to a current practice. (Mitchell et al, 1997). • Potential for managers to “determine legitimacy which adds moral implication of their actions with respect to each stakeholder” (Mitchell et al, 1997, p. 880). • Potential improved effectiveness of managers to deal with multiple stakeholders’ interest (Mitchell et al, 1997, p. 880). Criticisms • The power attribute does not consider the interest or impact of vulnerable stakeholders (environment, local communities, sustainability). • Making power a morally relevant criteria creates justice issues around how people are treated (Clifton & Amran 2010). • It favors the interests of those with the most power. • When used as a management
Open Document