Network Dynamics, Stakeholders and Support Points

by Luc Vandeputte

Content

The notions of networks, stakeholders and support points all exist on the borders of the worlds of economics, social issues, governance and the environment: they belong to the concept of sustainable development through corporate social responsibility (CSR).

This means, among other things, that a company or organization must be attentive to the preoccupations of its stakeholders, namely its employees, shareholders, clients, suppliers and the whole of civil society.

In any corporate export project, it is therefore fundamental to be able to discern the stakeholders concerned by the project, their links, interests, needs and satisfactions. The participant can him/herself draw up a personal network, a basis of support points, centred on the countries concerned, which could be the guarantees of success for a mission.

Such a way of approaching things does not necessarily constitute an additional burden or supplementary cost for a company: indeed it often represents tangible benefits such as the reduction of risk or the appearance of new opportunities. Four types of benefits are usually present:

• Improved efficiency and cost reduction
• Development of new opportunities
• Mobilisation of personnel
• Reduction of external pollution (air, water, earth).

This is explained in function of two core criteria, namely the pressure put on companies (public opinion, legislation, weighty economic trends, trade unions, etc.) and companies’ own attitudes towards such pressure, which they may perceive as threats or opportunities. On the basis of these two criteria, it becomes possible to determine the main strategies emanating from the corporate world.

Each strategy demands a definition and a typology for the stakeholders with regard to understanding a system that identifies the system’s stakeholders and establishing their respective interests within the system.

• Who are the stakeholders involved in securing my objectives?
• Who are my allies and what are my networks?
• How far away are the stakeholders from me and my objectives?
• Etc.

Within the framework of an export project and thus a strategy based on stakeholders, it is of the utmost importance to know your allies and networks, i.e. to locate and identify them, to map them and to maintain them active and in good order, to be aware of their interconnections and to increase your own visibility.

Pedagogy

The notions of networks and support points, as well as that of stakeholders, can be identified at every level imaginable, whether this is the family, school, company or something else.

Simple exercises serve to clarify such notions and the deciphering of the strategies that can be adopted within the framework of a project, and an export project in particular, are of infinite variety.

As far as export projects are concerned, the stakeholders, networks and support points can be interpreted in terms of strong or weak pressure and the opportunities or constraints present, and they can be multiplied almost to infinity in function of the depth of analysis.

• The products or services exported
• The commercial partners, suppliers, importers, distributors, etc.
• The clients in their own countries and markets
• The context of the exporting country and its actors: transporters, taxation, legislation, political, social, economic, legal and religious life etc.
• The financial actors in the country of origin, the country of destination, their banks and insurance, etc.
• Etc.

A gradual understanding, beginning with the most simple and progressing to the most complex, leaves room for numerous participatory exercises and discoveries within the group.