Analysis of Stakeholder Engagement in Rural Leadership Program by Kellogg Company

Kellogg company, being the world’s leading producer of cereals, provides to consumers a wide variety of food products. The effectiveness of the Kellogg company is bestowed in the number of resources it invests to its stakeholders.  Kellogg company runs some projects that aim at improving the health and nutrition of Australians (Kellogg, 2018). For the effectiveness of the plan, Kellogg fully engages al its stakeholders in the planning and evaluation processes. Therefore, this essay analyses stakeholder engagement in the rural leadership program by the Kellogg Company.

Stakeholders and the Communication Pan

Stakeholder

Type of the Stakeholder

Communication

Needs

Interests & Expectations

Communication

Strategy/style

Suppliers

External

Data on required project deliverables

That deliverables and ordering will be timely

Fact sheets & websites

Shareholders

Internal

Cost and the general progress of the program

That the program will be economical

Bulletins & Letters

Communities it operates

External

Up to date information of the program and its benefits to the public

That they will benefit from the program, i.e., their lives improved.

Speeches, conferences & public presentations

Customers

External

New inventions

The project will be successful, and all objectives achieved

Speeches, conferences & public presentations

Steering committee

Internal

Project Planning and control information

All programs outcomes will be attained

Corporate documents(Annual reports)

Health organizations

External

The extent of hazard and pollution the organization causes

That greener operations shall be considered

Media releases

Project team

Internal

Planning of the program

That the all laid goals and strategic objectives will be achieved

Corporate documents(Annual reports)

Governments

External

Legislation and compliance with the laid statutes

That trademarks and copyright issues will be obtained by the team.

Corporate documents, official letters & Memos

Employees

Internal

Ways in which the program will be effective

That all the objectives of the project will be achieved.

Corporate documents(Annual reports)

Stakeholder Analysis for Effective Engagement

The objective of the Stakeholder Matrix

According to Hassan et al., (2017), a stakeholder matrix helps in mapping out the organization’s stakeholders and their relation to the issues at stake. For Kellogg company’s program on pastoral leadership engagement, the array generates insights on the importance and the general influence of each stakeholder.

            Kellogg’s Stakeholder Matrix;

Matrix Information

Method of Analysis

Strengths of the Matrix

Weaknesses of the Matrix

Tools & time for preparing

Matrix use & outcome

Base on influence and interest

Involves;

ü Multi-stakeholder forums

ü Planning committees

ü Participatory decision-making personnel

ü Work distribution

ü Task differentiation

Does not involve;

ü Consultative committee

ü Timeline for major events

ü Exact stakeholder

ü role

Tools include;

ü Relevant software

ü Power/interest grid

ü List of stakeholders

Time is based on the planner in charge of scheduling

Used;

ü To determine the extent of influence stakeholders have.

ü Determine the power of stakeholders

Significant outcome is sufficient planning and program schedule.

Stakeholder Interaction

Communication Approaches

Communication Approaches

Relevant Stakeholder

Business Meetings

Suppliers

Official Meetings

Shareholders

Spending One-on-One Time

Communities it operates

360-Degree Respectfulness

Customers

Spending One-on-One Time

Steering committee

Mass media-Local Radio                     

Health organizations

Spending One-on-One Time

Project team

Official Meeting

Governments

Spending One-on-One Time

Employees

Methods, Means, and Media of Communication

Modes of Communication

Relevant Stakeholder

Fact sheets & websites

Suppliers

Bulletins & Letters

Shareholders

Speeches, conferences & public presentations

Communities it operates

Speeches, conferences & public presentations

Customers

Corporate documents(Annual reports)

Steering committee

Media releases

Health organizations

Corporate documents(Annual reports)

Project team

Corporate documents, official letters & Memos

Governments

Corporate documents(Annual reports)

Employees

Workplace Communication Skills

According to Jain (2017), the effectiveness of an organization’s program is directly proportional to the communication skills that key stakeholders have and the effectiveness of this communication. For our stakeholders, the following workplace communication skill is essential;

1. Listening ability

2. Nonverbal communication skills

3. Concision and clarity in communication

4. Friendliness

5.  Confidence

6. Empathy and open-mindedness

7. Respect when solving conflicts

Monitoring and Documenting Communication

            Kellogg Company establishes strong stakeholder engagement through creating an effecting meeting and control channel for al communications in the organization. The organization has set of CCTV cameras in meeting rooms and places of work to see how employee communicate. For our program, we will establish an internal monetary and control system that tracks all telephone and email communications during the process. Perhaps we store information in printed form, as ether soft copy or hard copy documents. We have a control server which documents all communication data.

Stakeholder Engagement

Outline of Stakeholders Engagement Model

1. Think Strategically- Informing process

2. Analysis and Planning

3. Resource and preparation

4. Designing and Engaging stakeholders- Collaboration

5. Review and measure the process

Applications of A Stakeholder’s Engagement

1. Applied in better rural leadership engagement and reduced inequality

2. Improving the outcomes of the program

3. Used in communication improvement and planning, i.e., the power and influence of stakeholders is kept under consideration and their effects on effective communication.

4. Building organizational culture

Benefits and Drawbacks of the Applications

Benefits;

1. Improved understanding of communication approaches in the organization

2. Better program outcomes

3. Better planning of the program’s activities

Drawbacks;

1. Time-consuming

2. Subject to bureaucracies

Accommodating Stakeholders Interest and Expectations

The most fundamental strategy for managing the stakeholders’ expectations is through communication (Chan, & Oppong, 2017). For our stakeholders, I will open up less formal lines of communication such as phone calls to accommodate those stakeholders who are extremely busy. I will also establish a suggestion box or platform where all stakeholders will channel their complaints, suggestions or feedback concerning the program.

Initiatives for Your Ongoing Stakeholder Commitments

Type of Stakeholders

            Internal Stakeholders: Radzi, Lee, Halim, and Siwar (2018) defines internal stakeholders as those entities within the business. For Kellogg Company, the internal stakeholders have different influences on the rural leadership program. The steering committee and the project team oversee the actual planning process of the program. Shareholders raise the capital necessary for the program. Employees, on the other hand, offer support to the program in the form of consultations and suggestions.

            External Stakeholders: According to Radzi et al., (2018), external stakeholders are those parties who are not from within the organization, but they are interested in the performance of the organization’s program. For Kellogg Company, various external stakeholders such as the governments, health organizations, and charities, communities around the business locality and customers have a direct impact on the success of the rural leadership program. Charities and other health organizations can offer grants and funds to facilitate the program. The Australian government provides security to the researchers. On the other hand, the customers engage in the actual buying of the company’s goods and services.

Initiatives to Influence Stakeholders

            Inclusivity Strategy; As Radzi et al., (2018) cites, ‘it is impossible to influence stakeholders if they are not part and parcel of the program”. Inclusivity initiative remains a subject of paramount importance to our program to ensure both the external and internal stakeholders take part in the program. We will provide all our stakeholders with the necessary information that they require for them to participate in a meaningful way. We will establish a system for accommodating all our stakeholders’ objectives despite language or cultural differences.

            Time Keeping Initiative; No stakeholder will be interested in a program that has no purpose and whose planners waste time. We will involve stakeholders in setting time and the manner on which we will engage with one another. We will identify and define our engagement process to all our stakeholders, and there will be room for them to negotiate on what they feel. He freedom of expression influences stakeholders to participate in the project.

            Respect and Transparency Initiative: Both internal and external stakeholders for Kellogg company require transparency in the way the organization transacts business, and also they need the organization to respect their needs and expectations. We will openly communicate the role of stakeholders in the program and what benefits they will attain from the program. Since engagement is a two-way process, we will willingly allow stakeholders to channel their views concerning the program; these views will be discussed, and if found essential, will be implemented.

Stakeholder Conflict and Possible Resolution

Possible Conflict

1. Suppliers may demand the company to increase the cost of delivery since they are using their means of transport.

2. The rural leadership program for Kellogg may too be subject to conflicts of interest whereby other health organizations or charities may try to pick the program by themselves and decide to pursue their interests.

3. Potential investors and sponsors may want to know how Kellogg responds to cultural, social and environmental issue before committing their money to the program.

4. Customers may expect reliable and accurate outcomes of the program all the time without realizing that it is not possible to achieve all the set objective.

5. The program may fail to meet the rural peoples, and the customers’ expectations, and thus they might rise against the achievement of the program.

6. Internal politics and struggles on the leadership of the company, and the program team.

Possible Resolution to the Conflicts

1. The company can listen to the suppliers’ grievances and develop a supplementary budget to meet suppliers’ payments in the case of economic upheavals during the program execution and implementation.

2. The company can hold a meeting with all the charities and health organizations and listen to their interest and try as much as possible to include their suggestions in the actual execution of the pastoral leadership development program.

3. Kellogg can frequently provide reports on the program’s progress to all stakeholders

4. Kellogg should be transparent when addressing the possible outcomes of the program to avoid conflicts with customers.

5. Al members should be included in the management of the project team. Perhaps a matrix organizational structure needs to be adopted to solve leadership conflicts.

References

Chan, A. P., & Oppong, G. D. (2017). Managing the expectations of external stakeholders in construction projects. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 24(5), 736-756.

Hassan, R., Kasim, S., Ning, N. K., Ramlan, R., Salamat, M. A., & Saedudin, R. R. (2017). Analysis of Multi-Stakeholder Requirements Using Requirement Interaction Matrix. International Journal on Advanced Science, Engineering and Information Technology, 7(4-2), 1498-1503.

Kellogg, (2018). Retrieved November 7, 2018, from https://www.kelloggs.com.au/en_AU/health.html

Kellogg, (2018). Retrieved November 7, 2018, from https://www.kelloggs.com.au/en_AU/open-for-breakfast/servings-donated.html 

Jain, A. (2017). Workplace Communication Skills for Students’ Placement: Workplace Training and University Preparation.

Radzi, N. A. M., Lee, K. E., Halim, S. A., & Siwar, C. (2018). What Drives Them to Do CSR? Another Empirical Study of CSR Motives from the Perspective of the Internal and External Stakeholders. International Information Institute (Tokyo). Information, 21(3), 909-928.

Appendix

Stakeholder Engagement Model