Stakeholder Management for Nura Headphone: Identification, Evaluation and Implications

This report identifies and evaluates the internal and external stakeholders of Nura Headphone, discusses the implications of conflicting interests, and evaluates the interests and influence of stakeholders in the business operation of Nura. It also includes a stakeholder matrix and concludes that identification of stakeholders is important for enhancing organizational effectiveness.

Running head: STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT
Stakeholder management
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Executive summary
 The key functional areas of Nura headphone are identified.
 All the relevant internal and external stakeholders for Nura are also identified and
evaluated.
 Implications of the conflicting interests among the stakeholders are also discussed.
 Interests and influence of the stakeholders in the business operation of Nura are
evaluated.
 Stakeholder matrix is being done.
 It is concluded that identification of the stakeholder is important for enhancing the
organizational effectiveness.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Identification of the functional areas...............................................................................................4
Political factors............................................................................................................................4
Economical factors......................................................................................................................4
Social factors...............................................................................................................................4
Technological factors...................................................................................................................5
Legal factors................................................................................................................................5
Environmental factors..................................................................................................................6
Identification of internal and external stakeholders.........................................................................6
Identification of nature and degree of stakeholder’s interest...........................................................8
Implications of the conflicting interests....................................................................................10
Level of stakeholder’s influence....................................................................................................10
Stakeholder matrix.........................................................................................................................11
Discussion forum...........................................................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
Reference.......................................................................................................................................14

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Introduction
The current business state of affairs is much competitive and challenging for the
contemporary business entities compared to what they faced a few decades ago. This is due to
the reason that the rate and intensity of competition is more in the current time. In accordance to
this competitive scenario, contemporary business organizations are now having more complex
sets of stakeholders in their operation and each of them is having greater influence in the
business affairs. However, it should also be noted that managing each of these stakeholders is
becoming challenging for the business entities due to the reason that effective management will
prevent the emergence of any sorts of issues (Bourne, 2016). It is also important for the
contemporary businesses to identify the key internal and external stakeholders relevant in their
business operation. The more effectively, the interest and influence of the internal and external
stakeholders will be identified, the more effective will be the stakeholder management
strategizes accordingly (Verbeke & Tung, 2013).
Stakeholder management is equally important for the small and medium scale businesses
due to the fact that they will face lower sets of issues since their initial stage of operation. Nura is
one of the leading technological startups in Australia in the recent time and is offering smart
headphone in the market. These headphones are one of the kinds in the market due to their
hearing sensitivity aid features. However, they are expanding their business in the recent time
and thus are having the need for managing different types of stakeholders. This report will
involve PESTLE analysis to identify all the relevant stakeholders in the business of Nura along
with identify their roles. In addition, the nature and degree of stakeholder’s interests and
implications will also be discussed.

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Identification of the functional areas
Political factors
Nura headphone is facing diverse political scenarios in the business due to the reason that
policies of the Australian government are having direct impact on the business. In addition, with
the business expansion in the further stage, governments from different regions or countries will
also have implications on the business of Nura. The business standards and policies to be stated
by the governments will affect the business. Thus, Nura is having the need for stakeholders for
managing and aligning with the political factors.
Economical factors
In terms of the economical factors, Nura will face increasing competition in the later
stage due to the introduction of more competing products in the same sector. The more will be
the competition in the market, the more challenging will be for Nura in managing their business.
In addition, it should also be noted that financial institutions and the source of investments are
also having business implications on Nura. This is due to the reason that Nura is a startup entity
and is based on the angel investments and supports from the financial institutions. Thus, the
more will be the source of funding for Nura, the more will be their capability to invest further.
Social factors
In terms of the social factors, Nura is facing the challenge of changing trend and
preference pattern of the customers, which will further get increased with their expansion in the
foreign countries. Meeting the requirement and expectations of the target customers is important
for Nura in terms of enhancing their business viability for the long term. On the other hand,

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meeting the social needs and trends of the employees is also important due to the reason that
Nura will have employees from different social and cultural backgrounds in their later stage.
Thus, their different approaches and expectations should be fulfilled in order to maximize their
productivity and performance. The managers are the one who are responsible for the
management of the employees, which is further denoting the fact that both the managerial skills
and employee expertise are required in the business.
Technological factors
In terms of the technological factors, Nura should align their business activities with that
of the technological advancements in the industry. In the case of new startup such as Nura,
technological innovations are also important in gaining competitive advantages. This is due to
the reason that technological sector is already decked with the established players and for gaining
market share among them, innovations are important. In this case, Nura is dependent on the
external suppliers for the access to the technological advancements. This should also be noted
that the extent to which the technology will be applied in the business of Nura is based on the
approach of the board members. This is due to the reason that the finance required for the
technological development should have to sanctioned by the board members only.
Legal factors
Legal factors are also relevant for Nura headphone because their business activities will
be determined by means of the legal rules and regulations. In this case, the regulations and
legislations to be introduced by the legal authorities of the particular region will determine the
business effectiveness Nura. Each of the internal stakeholders is bound to follow the legal
formalities for the effective management of the business operation.

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Environmental factors
Environmental factors are also important because in the current business state of affairs,
there are different standards and regulations being followed in relation to the environmental
management. For example, in the case of Nura headphone, management of the e-waste should be
managed. It is the responsibility of the internal stakeholders of Nura to adhere to the
environmental standards being set by their external stakeholders.
Identification of internal and external stakeholders
Name of the stakeholder
groups
Roles
Employees Employees are the core internal group of stakeholder for Nura.
This is due to the reason that the skill sets and expertise of them
will determine the quality of the value propositions. In addition,
the roles of the employees also includes coping up the change
with the change in the external business factors (Eskerod &
Huemann, 2013). Moreover, the employees are also assigned to
play the role of meeting the diverse needs of the market as
discussed in the previous social factor section.
Managers The key role of the managers is to drive the organizational
challenges through the challenging business environment. For
instance, they are responsible to deal with the legal and political
challenge of Nura. Mangers also play the role of allocation of
proper funding in different areas across to the requirements

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(Doh & Quigley, 2014). Thus, it is the role of the managers to
ensure the effective and ideal usages of the funding in the
organizational development.
Board members The key role and responsibility of the board members is to
ensure the seamless operation and funding in the business. They
act as the support for the company and ensure the smooth
functioning of the same. Board members also take part in the
decision making process in Nura and create consensus in the
process. Assisting the upper level managers is also considered
as a key role of the board members.
Investors In the above section, it is identified that Nura is dependent on
the external investments for their business functioning. Thus, in
this case, the role of the investors is to assist in the proper
business functioning of Nura. They act as the supporting factor
by providing the seamless flow of the capital in the business.
Customers Customers are the key and core external stakeholders for Nura.
The key role of the customers is to make the business viable.
This is due to the reason that they buy the products of Nura and
ensure the cash flow. In addition, the role of the customers is
also providing feedback contributing in the improvement of the
business (Eskerod, Huemann & Savage, 2015). This is due to
the reason that the more will be the feedback from the side of
the customers, the more will be the development in the

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business.
Suppliers The key role of the suppliers is to provide the raw materials for
the business. In the case of Nura, suppliers provide the
electronic components that help in improvement of the
products.
Competitors Competitors are not directly involved in the business of Nura
but with the change in their operation, business of Nura will
also get affected. This is due to the reason that the increase in
the business of the competitors will have negative impact on the
business of Nura and vice versa (Johnson-Cramer, Berman &
Post, 2017).
Government Government is also considered as the external stakeholder for
Nura. The key role of this stakeholder is to initiate the business
standards and regulations to control the business operation of
the entities.
Identification of nature and degree of stakeholder’s interest
Each of the stakeholders identified in this report is having interests in the business of
Nura but the extent or degree of their interests is different. In the case of the employees, their
interest is more due to the reason that the job security of them is associated with the
organizational performance. The more positive will be the performance of the organization, the
more will be the probability of job security for the employees and vice versa. In the case of
managers, their interest is more compared to the employees due to the reason that they are more

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associated with the organizational affairs (Harrison & Wicks, 2013). Thus, their interest extents
to the job security along with the success of the organization because of the fact that with the
development in the organizational performance, the job security of the managers will get
increased along with the increase in their value in the decision making process.
In terms of investors, their interest is also high and extents to the business profitability.
This is due to the reason that the more will be the profit margin of the business, the more will be
the return on investments for them. They have invested their capital in the business of Nura but
not involved in the daily operations. Thus, they are only interested with the return on their
investments over anything else. In terms of the board members, their interest is also high as they
are bothered with the business performance (Ayuso et al., 2014). This is due to the reason that
the more positive and favorable will be business performance, the more will be the stability of
the board members. They are not interested with the job security as not all of the board members
are salaried. Customers are having high interest in the case of business of Nura due to the reason
that the headphones offered by Nura are distinctive in nature and customers are having low
options available. Hence, they are interested with the quality and utility of the products because
they bought the products for meeting their desired value (Tantalo & Priem, 2016).
Suppliers are having moderate interest in the business of Nura because there are other
original equipment manufacturers sourcing the same components from them. Thus, losing out
one manufacturer will have fewer implications on the suppliers. However, the interest of the
suppliers in the business of Nura extents to their positive business performance and profitability.
This is due to the reason that with the positive performance of the business, the long term
viability of Nura headphones is getting increased and probability of sourcing more components
will also be more. The interest of the government extents to the ethical principles followed in the

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business operation of Nura. This is due to the reason that government is not interested with the
profit share of the business entities but the rules and regulations being followed by them. Thus,
the interest of the government will be limited and moderate for Nura.
Implications of the conflicting interests
Each of the interest of the stakeholders discussed above can be contradicting in nature
due to the reason that different interests of the stakeholders cannot be met at the same time. For
instance, the interests of the employees are earning more from their jobs while the interest of the
board members is with reducing the cost of employee management. Thus, these types of
conflicting interests between the stakeholders will have negative implications on the business of
Nura (Hillebrand, Driessen & Koll, 2015). With the cost cutting approach of the board members,
employees will be demoralized in their workplace and their productivity will get affected. On the
other hand, incurring more cost in the employee management will reduce the average
profitability of the business.
Level of stakeholder’s influence
Stakeholders High Moderate Low
Employees
Managers
Board members
Investors
Customers
Suppliers

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Government
Competitors
From the above matrix, it is identified that different stakeholders are having different
level of influence. Managers, board members and investors are all having high influence on the
business operation because they hold the maximum value in the decision making process.
Moreover, these three stakeholder groups are the key strategic making and investing groups and
bear the maximum risks in the business. Thus, they enjoy the highest influence in the business.
Employees, customers and government are having moderate level of influence due to the reason
that they are not having the direct decision making power but having influences. Hence, they are
the second most influential stakeholder groups for Nura. Lastly, suppliers and competitors are
the least influential in the business operation of Nura due to the reason that they are not directly
associated with the business operation of Nura.

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Keep satisfied
Employees
Government
Monitor
Suppliers
Competitors
Keep informed
Customers
Government
Manage curiosity
Investors
Managers
Board members
Influence
Power
Stakeholder matrix
Discussion forum
It is identified that Nura is operating in the electronic sector, which is highly competitive
in nature. On the other hand, retail sector is also highly competitive in nature. However, there are
certain differences also evident between the stakeholders between the two industries. One of the
major differences is the influence of the suppliers. In the case of electronic gadgets sector, the
influence of the suppliers is limited while in the case of the retail industry, this influence is more.
This is due to the reason that retail entities are more dependent on the suppliers compared to the
technological firms. Another dissimilarity identified is the interest of the competitors. This is due
to the reason that in the case of the retail industry, competitors are having more interests because

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frequent buying patterns of the customers are more relevant in this sector. Thus, change in the
demand for one competitor will have impacts on the others. However, in the case of the
electronic gadgets industry, one time buying pattern is more evident and thus interests of the
competitors are also low.
Conclusion
Thus, it is concluded that different internal and external stakeholders are having
relevance in the business operation of Nura headphones. In this report, each of the stakeholders
is identified along with their degree of interests and influence. In addition, the implications of the
conflicting interests of the stakeholders on the business of Nura are also evaluated. With the help
of the stakeholder matrix, it is well identified that different stakeholders are having different
levels of influence. The differences between the stakeholders of the electronic gadget industry
with that of the retail industry are also identified in this report. It is concluded that identification
of the nature of the stakeholders is important to manage them in the most effective manner.

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Reference
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stakeholders’ interests: An empirical analysis of the stakeholder approach to corporate
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Bourne, L. (2016). Stakeholder relationship management: a maturity model for organisational
implementation. Routledge.
Doh, J. P., & Quigley, N. R. (2014). Responsible leadership and stakeholder management:
Influence pathways and organizational outcomes. Academy of Management Perspectives,
28(3), 255-274.
Eskerod, P., & Huemann, M. (2013). Sustainable development and project stakeholder
management: What standards say. International Journal of Managing Projects in
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Eskerod, P., Huemann, M., & Savage, G. (2015). Project stakeholder management—Past and
present. Project Management Journal, 46(6), 6-14.
Harrison, J. S., & Wicks, A. C. (2013). Stakeholder theory, value, and firm performance.
Business ethics quarterly, 23(1), 97-124.
Hillebrand, B., Driessen, P. H., & Koll, O. (2015). Stakeholder marketing: theoretical
foundations and required capabilities. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science,
43(4), 411-428.
Verbeke, A., & Tung, V. (2013). The future of stakeholder management theory: A temporal
perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 112(3), 529-543.

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