Professor María Ballesteros -Sola of Cal State Fullerton, College of Business and Economics explores the concept of ‘Stakeholder Personas’ with the GLI Fellows.
‘Stakeholder Personas’ are conscientious representations of stakeholders involved in an enterprise’s activities. Depending on the enterprise, stakeholder personas can range from clients, beneficiaries, participants, and audience members to sponsors, service providers, employees, suppliers, etc. Carefully constructed, thoughtful representations of these ‘stakeholder personas’ can aid the service design and communication process for enterprises.
‘Stakeholder Theory’ observes a mismatch between the two-dimensional perception held by the public of most businesses and the three-dimensional value that these businesses create for stakeholders. According to theorist R. Edward Freeman, this misperception is a failure of storytelling on the part of enterprises. Freeman notes that, at its core, “business is about purpose. The essence of business is to create value for other people, to do something together no one of us can do alone.”
Mapping ‘Stakeholder Personas’ can help an enterprise communicate this multi-layered value offer to stakeholders. A service, process, or product is not ‘valuable’ unless its target stakeholders perceive this value — a value judgment made in the eye of the beholder. By mapping out this constellation of stakeholders and working to understand them carefully, enterprises can more effectively articulate the 360° value they create for stakeholders — a process at the heart of branding and communication.▣
