Stakeholder management and governance

This seminar provides students with an overview of the governance arrangements in the public sector (e.g., a ministry), in private companies as well as in not-for-profit organizations (e.g., the Red Cross). Since arrangements between these organizations have become the norm in multiple situations, and as they are increasingly complex, this seminar aims at explaining how these arrangements work in practice and provides concrete examples. External speakers, usually top managers, are often invited to give concrete insights about what these governance arrangements imply, how they are structured, and what kind of challenges arise. The seminar also gives material about stakeholder theory and management, as it focuses especially on the role of stakeholders in these governance arrangements. Concrete examples of stakeholder management and engagement techniques will be presented.

Following the five first theoretical sessions, students will then work in small groups on concrete cases, such as the current energy crisis or the covid-19 pandemic. They will also have the chance to propose their own topics, to be validated by the professor. Such topics can include sustainability or financial issues for example. They will work on their own for four sessions; three sessions at home and one coaching session in the classroom with the professor. The third part of the seminar consists in the presentations and discussions of the students’ reports.

- Better understand the global environment surrounding organizations in all public, private, and not-for-profit sectors

- Understand the importance of governance arrangements for all kinds of organizations

- Identify organizations' stakeholders and how to prioritize them or conduct a stakeholder analysis in a real situation

- Exercises during the theoretical classes
- Attendance to a presentation from a guest speaker
- Writing of a policy note (in group) / Presentations of the notes
- Discussion on the policy notes

Références, bibliographie et lectures recommandées

Bevir, M. (2012) Governance: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Freeman, R. E. (2010) Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Silvius, G., & Schipper, R. (2019). Planning project stakeholder engagement from a sustainable development perspective. Administrative Sciences, 9(2), 46-68.
Smith, S. R. (2010). Hybridization and nonprofit organizations: The governance challenge. Policy and Society, 29(3), 219-229.
Sternberg, E. (2009) Corporate social responsibility and corporate governance. Economic Affairs, 29(4), 5-10.

Support(s) de cours

• Université virtuelle

Campus

Solbosch

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

• Travail personnel
• Présentation orale
• Travail de groupe

Travail personnel

Présentation orale

Travail de groupe

Presentation of a reading
Discussion of a reading
Writing of a policy note
Presentation of the policy note

Construction de la note (en ce compris, la pondération des notes partielles)

Presentation of the reading: 20%
Discussion of a reading: 10%
Writing and presentation of a policy note: 70%

Langue(s) d'évaluation

• anglais