25 August 2017

Of Elephants and Baboons: Five Company Stakeholders in Animal Form

World Bank professional Eva Schiffer divides stakeholders into 5 categories:

Elephants: high influence, positive
Meercats: low influence, positive
Snakes: high influence, negative
Mosquitos: low influence, negative,
Baboons: high influence, undecided (sitting on the fence).

The full article can be read here:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/stakeholder-strategies-how-engage-elephants-avoid-snakes-eva-schiffer

There is another useful maxim in business organisations: When you are the boss and you are launching a new project, 20% of people will support you, 10% will be against you, and the remaining 70% won't care. However, the 70% will care how you treat the dissenting 10%.

In the world of elephants, snakes and baboons, the baboons are always watching out for elephants trampling on snakes, and for snakes biting elephants.

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