Stakeholder Compass

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The Stakeholder Compass is a strategic model for the systematic recording of the relevant stakeholder groups of companies ( customers , employees , financiers as well as politicians and journalists as representatives of society) and the specific relationships with them - defined by exchange and communication . The concept of stakeholder -Kompasses was by Lothar Rolke developed and 2002 for the first time published , now it is also used in textbooks to corporate and marketing communications, as well as literature on sustainability-oriented communications and marketing - controlling .

Function and focus

Lothar Rolke sees the Stakeholder Compass as a navigation tool for communication management in the company, in order to be economically oriented

  • to recognize the importance of the most important from a large number of possible stakeholder groups (market relevance),
  • to grasp the interactive environment of the company in the perception logic of exchange and exchange (market reference) and
  • appropriately focus the management of these communication and exchange relationships (comparison of interests).

In this model, stakeholders appear at the same time as representatives of specific markets , into which they are integrated through exchange relationships, and as communication partners who are in a media-supported exchange relationship with the company. This duality explains, for example, why communication in the form of advertising , PR , social media interactions, etc. (exchange reference) can trigger market-appropriate, monetary behavior (exchange reference). To put it simply, how immaterial understanding, conveying information, etc. ultimately becomes material success .

Environment as markets

Function of the Stakeholder Compass according to Lothar Rolke

Four markets form the relevant environment for the company . In all of these markets, companies exchange valuable offers (or benefits) for appropriate consideration: Products and services are sold on the sales market at a price to be paid, labor is offset against income on the procurement market, and capital and time are traded for returns on the financial market the acceptance market the “license to operate” in return for a net benefit ( taxes , jobs, etc. minus infrastructure investments, environmental pollution, etc.). And the exchange of information and communication between the company and the market representatives always play a decisive role.

From the company's point of view, this results in four market-relevant communication fields:

  • communication with customers, (trade) partners and competitors to initiate or prevent purchase transactions (sales support or sales market communication ),
  • communication with and between executives and employees (internal communication) and with potential new employees (personnel communication) and suppliers for the purpose of joint service provision,
  • communication with sociopolitical groups, opinion leaders, parties and state representatives to legitimize and secure scope for action (public relations / public affairs)
  • communication with shareholders and players in the capital market in order to secure the required liquidity for the value creation process and to finance growth (financial communication ).

Value contributions from communication

The company's communication must therefore be geared towards the interests of the four markets with their stakeholder groups as well as procedurally towards the two axes - i.e. value creation (direct value contribution) and safeguarding value creation, in short: value preservation (indirect value contribution). At the same time, if the company continues to be successful, it will build up communicative value potential (value building). This market-related modeling of the company's stakeholder relationships enables the value-added contributions of communication to be systematically reconstructed:

  • Communication supports the process of service creation or conversion: Along the value chain, it directly helps to develop the respective relationships with customers and employees (or suppliers) in a profitable manner.
  • Communication secures room for maneuver along the value preservation axis - through trust in the capital market and acceptance by politicians and the media : Operating activities in market-based systems require companies to credibly convey to donors that and why there is a sufficient chance of making a profit. At the same time, the company must convey to the general public and their representatives that and why the return motive does not endanger the interests of the common good. This creates a structural contradiction that needs to be explained in public: the pursuit of profit on the one hand, good partnership on the other. Corporate communication has to help ensure that this opposition does not become virulent as a blockage, but can be resolved in a way that promotes success.
  • Communication creates protective and stimulating potential in the perception of an organization ( image / reputation ): In addition to the value creation process in the narrower sense and its permanent protection, the focus is on building value. The perception of a positive difference (of a company and its offers) compared to the competition and the regular confirmation of this difference through one's own and / or published third-party experiences ensures a sustainable imagination among the stakeholders, which also has a friendly influence on their future behavior. From the point of view of corporate communication, this creates an image or reputation value, which in some companies becomes the key currency when it comes to measuring communicative success.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rolke, Lothar: Communicating according to the stakeholder compass. In: Bodo Kirf / Lothar Rolke (ed.): The Stakeholder Compass of Corporate Communication. Frankfurt / M. 2002, pp. 16-33.
  2. ^ Zerfaß, Ansgar: Corporate management and public relations: laying the foundation for a theory of corporate communication and public relations . Ed .: Günter Bentele. 3. Edition. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-531-32845-4 .
  3. ^ Bruhn, Manfred: Corporate and Marketing Communication: Handbook for an integrated communication management . 3. Edition. Vahlen, 2014, ISBN 978-3-8006-4858-0 , pp. 6 .
  4. ↑ Griese, Kai-Michael: Sustainability Marketing: A Case Study-Based Introduction . 1st edition. Springer Gabler, 2014, ISBN 978-3-658-05850-0 , pp. 248 .
  5. ↑ Pepels, Werner: Success factor marketing controlling: effectively controlling procurement, communication and sales . 2nd Edition. Symposium Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-3-86329-607-0 , pp. 209-220 .
  6. ↑ Rolke, Lothar: The Stakeholder Compass. In: Paul, Herbert / Wollny, Volrad: Instruments of strategic management. Basics and application. Munich 2011, p. 109.
  7. ↑ Rolke, Lothar: Communication Controlling: Strategy-based control using impact management. In: Esch, Franz-Rudolf / Langner, Tobias / Bruhn, Manfred (eds.): Handbook Controlling of Communication. Basics - innovative approaches - practical implementations. Wiesbaden 2016, p. 31.
  8. ↑ Rolke, Lothar: Communication control according to the stakeholder compass - added value through impact management. In: Rolke, Lothar / Sass, Jan (ed.): Communication control. How corporate communication achieves its goals in the digital society. Berlin / Bosten 2016, pp. 24–26.