Know Your Stakeholders - Mendelow's Matrix

Mendelow's Matrix is one of the most frequently used matrices in the business world. The only purpose of using Mendelow's Matrix is to evaluate the stakeholders of a business. More specifically, what stakeholders have more or less power to influence the business and what stakeholders have more or less interest in the business and any combinations of the two. 

Following is the Mendelow's Matrix.

As the diagram above displays, there are basically four types of stakeholders that a business has to be aware of. 

01) High Power & High Interest stakeholders

This is shown at the top, right hand corner square of the matrix. These stakeholders have a high influence over the business and also they are very much concerned about the business and it's activities. 

The business should pay a very close attention to the needs of these stakeholders because their withdrawal from the business could mean trouble. 

High Power & High Interest stakeholders are usually main shareholders of the company, main investors of the company, government environmental authorities etc. 

NOTE:

The examples for stakeholders for each category will vary vastly depending on the type of business you are in. For a business that deals with chemicals, environmental authorities will be a high power-high interest stakeholder. For a company dealing with medicine, health authorities will be a high power-high interest stakeholder. 

02) High Power & Low Interest stakeholders

These stakeholders possess a high power to influence the business but are not much interested to do so. They will involve only when they need to. They are not much worried about the sustenance of the business. The Government towards a normal business organization may have this kind of relationship. A government will only meddle with the business activities only when necessary. 

03) Low Power & High Interest stakeholders

Employees of an organization can be fit into this description. Employees will be constantly worried about their job security, their pay, promotions etc. So that means they have a high interest towards the business. But being employees, they possess low power to influence any business activity of the organization. 

04) Low Power & Low Interest stakeholders

For most general organizations, customers can be identified as low power, low interest stakeholders. Customers anyway have a low power against a company, unless and otherwise they are organized against the company. Also customers will be rather less interested in the activities of the company as long as they receive their good or service from the company. 

As I have mentioned above the role each stakeholder performs will vastly depend on the type of the organization. So there are no standards set in stone that this stakeholder should possess this much power and interest. It will vary from one business to another, even in the same industry. So you will have to identify the type of business the organization does and think on that who and who will be more or less interested in the activities of the business and who and who will or will not possess a high or a low influence on the activities of the business.