How much influence should stakeholder interests exert over a for-profit company? Why?

Current trends indicate that for-profit companies are paying close attention to stakeholder interests. How much influence should stakeholder interests exert over a for-profit company? Why?
DQ 2
Stakeholder interests in an organization can be quite varied, and there may be many times when these interests do not coincide. What is the best way for a for-profit organization to manage these conflicting needs? Why?

Stakeholders in For-Profit Corporations
Introduction
Corporations today, more than in any time in recent history, are becoming more cognizant of the needs, desires, and wishes of stakeholders. Developing a strong relationship with stakeholders adds value to the corporation. This does not happen without developing a relationship that moves in both directions. Leaders need to learn the identities of their stakeholders since these individuals and groups are increasingly aware of the effects of corporate decisions on their communities. Communities are also becoming more keenly aware of the effects of corporate decisions on their constituents.
Stakeholder Opinions
Stakeholder opinions drive the success or failure of corporate projects more than any other influence in today’s environment. Thus, it is critical to gather rich and usable data. Developing a keen understanding of internal and external stakeholder drivers should be an integral part of every corporation’s strategic design. Gathering and acting on these opinions is typically driven by midlevel managers. Lawrence and Weber (2010) state that managers make good decisions when they pay attention to the effects of their decisions on stakeholders as well as to stakeholder effects on the corporation. These managers are the ones who know who the identities of the key stakeholders and are in a position to take the most direct actions as a result of their findings. Learning about and exploiting this data provides keen insight into how these stakeholder groups can benefit each other, emphasizes and directs plans made by the corporation, and influences decisions necessary to compete in today’s changing environment.
Drivers for Stakeholder Value
By concentrating on the development of wealth, a corporation typically meets the needs of the stakeholders. While there is no clear evidence that all stakeholders are driven by profit, both dividends and overall success are important factors (Boatright, 2006). Corporations must continuously seek to find balance between the ethical management of the corporation, meeting the needs of their stakeholders, and their overall financial success.
One of the best ways for corporate planners to do this is to become familiar with the needs and driving influences of their stakeholders. However, Boutelle (2004) further states that, while understanding stakeholder needs and goals is certainly necessary, it is often does not provide enoughinformation for the corporation to operate effectively. In addition to understanding stakeholder needs and perspectives, the corporation needs to incorporate the goals and perspectives of their various stakeholders into operating plans and objectives in order to achieve stakeholder buy-in and be considered a success in the corporate workplace. Typically, this task falls upon midlevel managers who are also tasked with the allocation of resources by balancing costs, benefits, and risks and gaining commitment of their wide constituency of stakeholders. This task is complex and difficult because many options are present, benefits and risks are rarely expressed as single objectives, multiple stakeholders with different agendas compete for limited resources, individually optimal resource allocations to internal units are rarely collectively optimal, and those dissatisfied with the decisions taken may resist implementation (Phillips & Bana e Costa, 2007). To this end, developing a keen understanding of these various drivers and needs is critical to the decision-making process. The most efficient way to develop this knowledge is to gather information through a stakeholder analysis
Stakeholder Analysis
Boutelle (2004) asserts that stakeholder analysis serves a dual purpose. Information gleaned from stakeholder analysis is helpful in creating solutions that are appropriate to the business context. It is also a critical tool for understanding what drives the stakeholder. This analysis can be conducted internally as well as externally, identifying internal stakeholders as the customer as well as external stakeholders. This is important for making sure that organizational goals and decisions are in concert with everyone involved. Stakeholder analysis also helps gain greater acceptance of corporate decisions. This acceptance can be realized even if the analysis does not lead to the creation of new corporate solutions. Stakeholder analysis assists in anticipating reactions to a specific project, and building

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