Stakeholder accountability in strategy: a conceptual approach to disparate groups and organizational decision making

A number of instances where stakeholder needs have not been taken account in strategy resulting in the waste of resources, lost opportunities and inappropriate activities are highlighted. A discussion on who is and who should be included in strategy development is made. Managers may not be the best to set strategy in isolation as this may become self serving, whilst owners or their representatives, the board may not always have the organization’s long term interests in mind when contributing to strategy. Other stakeholders are often ignored by the process of strategy setting that in a number of cases has resulted in strategic problems. This paper proposes the adaptation of Stakeholder reporting as a framework to include stakeholders to enable a constructive communication framework and more appropriate strategy development process. This paper looks at the merits of such an application.