MGT501 - Business Environment: Aldi Stakeholder Analysis Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Aldi, a German discount supermarket chain, examining its internal and external stakeholders and their respective influences on the company's operations. The report identifies key functional areas within Aldi, such as finance, sales and marketing, customer service, human resources, and warehousing and transportation, highlighting their roles in ensuring smooth business operations. It differentiates between internal stakeholders (employees, managers) and external stakeholders (suppliers, customers, government), detailing their specific roles and interests. A significant portion of the report focuses on analyzing the level of influence various stakeholders possess, including government, owners, customers, and employees. A stakeholder matrix is created to visually represent the power and interest levels of different stakeholders, categorizing them into groups such as those who need to be kept satisfied, managed closely, kept informed, and monitored. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of stakeholder analysis as a tool for understanding stakeholder needs, forming partnerships, and safeguarding stakeholder information, which is crucial for organizations across various industries. The report also presents a comparison between stakeholders in the retail and agricultural industries.

Assessment Internal and
External Stakeholder Analysis

Executive Summary
This report is based on Aldi, which is chain of discount supermarkets in Germany. The
company was founded in the year 1946 by two brothers named Theo and Karl Albrecht. The report
explains the different stakeholders, both internal as well as external of the company and their
influence on its operations. A stakeholder matrix is included in the report to facilitate the
understanding of the levels of power as well as interests possessed by these different stakeholders.
Lastly, a comparison is done between the main stakeholders of the retail as well as agricultural
industries.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary.................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...........................................................................................................................................4
Identify functional area........................................................................................................................4
Identify internal and external stakeholders and their roles..................................................................5
Identify the level of main stakeholders’ influence...............................................................................6
Stakeholder matrix...............................................................................................................................7
Identify the main points of stakeholder dissimilarities and analyse the differences in stakeholder
interests and influences........................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Stakeholder is the party who have interest within company as well as get can affect or be
affected by the business. For a corporation primary stakeholder are their employees, investors,
customers as well as suppliers. In addition to this, for an organisation there are two type of
stakeholders internal and external. Here, internal stakeholders are employees, manager and owners
(Aithal, Shailashree and Kumar, 2016). On the other hand, external stakeholders are suppliers, society,
government, creditors, shareholders and customers. This report is based on Aldi which is part of retail
industry founded in 1946 by Karl and Theo Albrecht. Products offering by respective business firm
are grocery, household essentials and so on. This report will be going to conduct discussion on
functional area of Aldi along with its internal as well as external stakeholder with their roles.
Furthermore, nature and degree of main stakeholder’s interests and implication of conflicting interest
will elaborate. In addition to this, level of major stakeholders influence and their matrix will created.
MAIN BODY
Identify functional area
Functional areas can be defined as teams or departments within an organization having
employees who have similar skills and experience. There are different functional areas within Aldi
that help it function effectively and make sure that all business operations are carried out smoothly.
Some of the functional areas in the company include finance, operations, sales and marketing etc. The
sales and marketing functional area finds out the right customers and seek different innovative ways to
sell the company’s products to the customers. The products are promoted through different ways in
the market like television, leaflets, brochures, billboards, newspapers etc.
Another functional area in Aldi is Customer Service, which is primarily dedicated to
addressing the issues and problems faced by the customers. The area listens to the complaints and
feedbacks that are shared by the customers and informs it further to the related functional area.
Customers’ queries are addressed via emails, through phone calls etc. People can easily ring up the
customer service of the company which is available 24/7 and get their queries resolved easily. Human
Resources is another functional area that is responsible for managing the employees within the
company (Arroyo, 2017). It ensures that all new hires as well as the existing employees receive the
correct training according to their job role. Also, it ensures that healthy relations are maintained
between the employees as well as employers.

Lastly, warehousing and transportation is an important functional area as the company stores
all its raw material in different warehouses. When they are needed, they are transported or delivered to
the stores. All the warehouses are kept safe and secure in order to avoid any kind of theft or break-in.
The company has its own warehouses so as to keep all the materials stocked up and safe in order to
satisfy the customers.
Identify internal and external stakeholders and their roles
Stakeholder is the party who have interest within company as well as get can affect or be
affected by the business. For a corporation primary stakeholder are their employees, investors,
customers as well as suppliers. In addition to this, for a business stakeholder can be external as well as
internal. They can have vital interest within business or its activities (Bueno and et. al., 2016).
Moreover, it can include property interest, ownership, legal interest, moral rights, obligations and
many more. Here, legal obligations are related to the duty of paying wages or to honor contract
whereas, moral rights involve the rights of customers not to be intentionally harmed through business
activities. There are internal and external stakeholders within organisation each have their different
role. Explanation of these are as follows:-
External stakeholders
 Suppliers – They are external stakeholders of Aldi but play several important role within
satisfying customers and maintaining sales of company. Suppliers are the one who provide raw
material to Aldi for their production purchase and also help in fulfilling customers needs as
well as making them satisfy.
 Customers – For an business firm customers are important stakeholders and major motive of
Aldi is to make their customers satisfy by fulfilling their needs as well as wants in effective
manner. Role of respective stakeholder in Aldi is to purchase products and increase
profitability of company.
 Government – Government imposes different rules and regulations which the company is
expected to adhere to. When the company makes profits, it invests back in the society and the
actions of the government impact the overall productivity as well as performance of the
company.
Internal stakeholders
Internal stakeholders can be defined as entities that are within a company for example-
employees, board of directors, managers etc. The different internal stakeholders of Aldi are explained
below –

 Employees – Aldi feels that the employees are the ones who form the face of the company
and thus values them a lot (Cuppen and et. al., 2016). They are provided with various benefits
and rewards based on their performance and thus they remain motivated and thus help the
company achieve its goals and objectives. Employees also help the company in improving its
overall productivity and performance. When employees do not perform effectively, they are
provided training so that their skills are enhanced.
 Managers – Managers are important internal stakeholders for Aldi as they guide the
employees of the company in different departments to work productivity. The managers
oversee and monitor the performance of the team members. Managers formulate strategies,
plan as well as make important decisions. They also direct the team members to achieve these
goals and objectives.
Identify the level of main stakeholders’ influence
There are various stakeholders that will have impact on ALDI business functions as well as its
performance. It is very important for respective company to analyse and evaluate different factors that
will have impact on business activities (Cvitanovic and et. al., 2017). Different stakeholders that will
have influence over ALDI business and its decision making are owners, customers, employees and
government. It is essential for organisation to determine the level of influence of these stakeholders on
business in order to take correct decision. Several stakeholders are mention below in detail-
 Government – This essential external stakeholder that will have influence over business and
its decision. It is important for respective company to follow all rules and regulation that is
developed by government. This will lead to smooth functioning of business and
accomplishment of desired objectives. Policies of government are developed in order to
provide guidance of ALDI company and full filling of rules and legislations. Influence of
government will lead to have impact over existence of company in market area.
 Owners – This stakeholder refers to those who have power to take major decision and want to
gain maximum benefits by conducting business activities. Owners are part of internal
stakeholders and it have major influence on business and its decision making process. All
activities of organisation will work according to the will and direction of owner. They have
power to influence business decision as well as polices of organisation. Owner of ALDI
company will analyse the day to day activities of organisation as well as determine
profitability and growth of business.
 Customers – Customers are one of the key stakeholder and all business activities are majorly
concern with the needs and requirements of customers (Farooq, Rupp and Farooq, 2017).
They have high level of influence over sales and profits of respective company. It is essential
for organisation to consider the needs and requirement of customers while developing and

offering products. Customer will lead to influence the long term stability of company in
market area.
 Employees – It is essential for organisation to identify and analyse the requirement of
employees. Workers and employees of ALDI company will lead to have direct impact over
operations and productivity of company. Respective organisation will not be able to perform
its operation task without support of employees (Hansson and Polk, 2018). Participation of
business employees also have high influence on long run as well as success of business.
Stakeholder matrix
The stakeholder matrix for Aldi is described below –
High Power and Low Interest
 Customers
 Government
 Investors
 Sponsors
High Power and High Interest
 Owner
 General Manager
 Shareholders
 Director
Low Power and Low Interest
 Receptionist
 Cleaners
 Security Guards
Low Power and High Interest
 Employees
 Suppliers
High Power and Low Interest – These are those stakeholders whom the company should
keep satisfied. Efforts should be made to keep them satisfied but not so many that they become bored
with the message (Kong, Hong and Kim, 2018). Stakeholders that fall into this category are
customers, government, investors as well as sponsors. These stakeholders possess high power and low
interest in the projects of the company.
High Power and High Interest – These are the stakeholders who have a high power as well
as high interest in the project of the company and can influence it anytime they want (Stakeholder
Analysis, 2020). Therefore, the company should engage these people fully, they must be provided
each and every detail about the project. Also, great efforts should be made in order to keep them
informed as well as satisfied. The stakeholders that fall in this category are the owner of the company,
managers, board of directors as well as shareholders.
Low Power and Low Interest – These are the people who possess low power as well as low
interest within the company. These people should be monitored from time to time but also no

excessive communication should be made with them (Markovic and Bagherzadeh, 2018). The
stakeholders that fall into this category are receptionist, security guards, cleaners etc.
Low Power and High Interest – These stakeholders should be kept informed about the
important happenings in the project. They should be adequately informed from time to time and also,
the company should talk to the from time to time so as to ensure that they are not facing any major
issues. Stakeholders who fall in this category can prove out to be very helpful with the details of the
projects. The category includes employees as well as suppliers. Employees can help the company in
achieving its goals and objectives in an effective manner. While the suppliers provide with the raw
material and other necessary supplies that are needed to manufacture the products and services to be
delivered to the customers.
Therefore, it can be seen that stakeholder analysis/matrix is a useful tool that organizations
across different industries can use in order to identify the different stakeholders, both primary as well
as secondary as well as their needs (Miller, 2016). The analysis helps in getting a better understanding
about the different stakeholders, the power they possess as well as their interest in the project of the
company. The matrix also helps in forming partnerships with the different stakeholders as well as
balancing the different stages of a particular project. Lastly, the matrix also safeguards the information
of the stakeholders. Thus, Aldi can make use of a stakeholder matrix to identify all the stakeholders
that can impact a particular project. This way it will be able to improve its overall performance as well
as gain a competitive advantage against competitors in the market.
Identify the main points of stakeholder dissimilarities and analyse the differences in stakeholder
interests and influences
The organization chosen in this report, i.e., Aldi belongs to the retail industry is a well-known
name across different nations. On the other hand, the industry in which the company of the peers is the
agricultural industry. The stakeholders of both retail as well as agricultural industry are different and
thus possess different interests. Also, they can have different interests according to the power that they
possess within the company. The stakeholders of the agricultural industry can include individual
farms, different environmental groups, farmers, health organizations and government agencies. On the
other hand, the stakeholders of retail industry include customers, employees, government, managers
etc. These stakeholders can affect the process of decision making within a company and therefore
should be dealt with in a very structured as well as effective way.
The major stakeholders of the retail industry like managers, employees as well as customers
help the company in attaining its objectives as well as goals, both short term as well as long term.
Employees within the retail industry form the face of the organization in front of the customers
whereas the environmental groups within the agricultural industry make sure that all the activities are

carried out according to environmental standards and that there is no harm caused to it (Whitehead,
2017). Stakeholders of the retail industry can work from different locations but the stakeholders in the
agricultural industry work near to each other as sudden situations may arise in which they have to be
assisted. It can be said that the different stakeholders of the retail industry possess more interest in a
particular project of a company as compared to the stakeholders of the other industry. This is because
they basically are interested in the end result.
A stakeholder matrix can be developed in order to understand the dissimilarities of the
different stakeholders of both the retail as well as agricultural industries. The most powerful as well as
the least powerful as well as least powerful stakeholders can be identified with the help of this tool
(Zheng and et. al., 2016). Thus, this means that stakeholder analysis is one of the most important tools
that companies can use not only to identify their stakeholders but the dissimilarities among them as
well. The stakeholders of the retail industry can be powerful and can influence the way in which
activities are carried out in a company much more effectively and significantly as compared to the
ones in agricultural industry.
Lastly, it can be said that the different industries have different stakeholders that can influence
the way in which activities are carried out. This is because they possess different levels of interest as
well as power in the different projects of a company. By analysing the differences among the
stakeholders of the agricultural as well as retail industry, it is seen that they should be kept informed
about all the activities that take place within a project based on the influence that they possess (Aithal,
Shailashree and Kumar, 2016). This can be beneficial for both the company as well as the
stakeholders as they can help the teams or departments that are involved in the project during different
stages.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that business stakeholder analysis is one of the
crucial techniques that can be used company for determining the role and influence of stakeholder on
business. There are different types of stakeholders that will have major impact on business as well as
its operation. It is important for organisation to determine its internal and external stakeholder so that
business task can be conducted smoothly. Stakeholder role play crucial role in accomplishment of
desired goals and objectives in a company. It has been analysed that company will be to enhance its
business performance with the support of stakeholder and this will lead to accomplishment of desired
goals and objective of business.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
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Cuppen, E. and et. al., 2016. Stakeholder engagement in large-scale energy infrastructure projects:
Revealing perspectives using Q methodology. International Journal of Project Management.
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Cvitanovic, C. and et. al., 2017. Using Social Network Analysis to Monitor and Assess the
Effectiveness of Knowledge Brokers at Connecting Scientists and Decision‐Makers: An
Australian case study. Environmental Policy and Governance. 27(3). pp.256-269.
Farooq, O., Rupp, D. E. and Farooq, M., 2017. The multiple pathways through which internal and
external corporate social responsibility influence organizational identification and multifoci
outcomes: The moderating role of cultural and social orientations. Academy of Management
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using the attack tree analysis. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing.
9(3). pp.531-551.
Markovic, S. and Bagherzadeh, M., 2018. How does breadth of external stakeholder co-creation
influence innovation performance? Analyzing the mediating roles of knowledge sharing and
product innovation. Journal of Business Research. 88. pp.173-186.
Miller, B. A., 2016. Assessing organizational performance in higher education. John Wiley & Sons.
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Zheng, X. and et. al., 2016. Review of the application of social network analysis (SNA) in
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Online
Stakeholder Analysis. 2020. [Online]. Avialble through:<
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_07.htm>.