PLEASE RESPOND AND ANSWER EACH OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS OR POST STATEMENTS. MUST BE 150 WORDS (PLEASE), WRITE IN 3RD PERSON.ONLY ONE REFERENCE CAN BE USED FOR EACH ANSWER.

D1

Which stage have you seen most organizations tend to spend more time in? Which stage do you believe is most effective? (inactive, reactive, proactive, and interactive processes)

DQ 2

In the current economic climate with more focus than ever before on demonstrating efficient and responsible application of public policies, how critical is it for governmental entities and organizations reliant on government contracts to build trust with stakeholders? Why? Will building trust with stakeholders help these entities remain within contractual guidelines? Why or why not?

DQ 3

What is the most significant means by which stakeholders in non-governmental organizations influence public policy related to their organizations? Why?

Stakeholders in Government Organizations

Introduction

Government agencies undertake a broad spectrum of policy and service delivery work, regularly operating in a variety of political and organizational contexts. Within this paradigm, each of these organizations has diverse approaches to stakeholder identification, management and engagement. The key to understanding how these agencies operate lies in understanding how the governmental regulations under which they operate impact their business decisions.

In addition, stakeholder management has long been recognized as a central part of an organization's effectiveness. Stakeholders play important roles as advocates, sponsors, partners and agents of change. Beach, Brown, and Keast (2008) noted that relations with other government departments and public services are integral to successful, efficient government, and there is growing acknowledgement of a need to strengthen relations with both internal and external stakeholders. This lecture will focus on building stakeholder engagement, trust and involvement throughout public entities.

Engagement

Determining ways of engaging those who could or should have input into public decision making and action becomes particularly relevant as governments grapple with the resolution of complex social problems, contracting budgets, and increasing demand for services (Beach et al., 2008). However, the extent to which stakeholders have been incorporated into policy processes has been strongly influenced by the changes in governance and the approach to service delivery over the past several decades. The shifts in the forms and approaches to bureaucratic governance, the shifts in political power, and the lower lying approach to a more collaborative network of governance has resulted in changing relationships with stakeholders (Keast& Mandell, 2005). This power shift continues as the different agencies' agendas and governmental initiatives affect the ebbs and flows of stakeholder interest and engagement.

The major engagement approaches used by public organizations include policy networks, public participation or community engagement programs, and more recently, stakeholder engagement initiatives. In the broadest sense, policy networks seek to bring together a range of separate but interdependent organizations and individuals whose contributions are important to enforcing policy and problem solving (Beach et al., 2008). This compilation of legitimate and effective contributors is complicated by the broad spectrum of individuals and groups who may have, or believe that they have, a legitimate claim to participate in state and federally led public participation, including: citizens, service users or consumers, interest groups, and stakeholders.

Stakeholder Trust

Development of stakeholder engagement is built on trust in the support of individual entities. Pirson and Malhatra (2008) posit that employees who do not trust their organizations are less loyal, less motivated, and less productive. Customers who perceive a breach of trust are more likely to switch to a competitor. Voters who have lost trust in their elected officials and in the organizations they fund have turned their support away from these officials. Further, when trust is lacking in relationships, more resources need to be devoted to contract enforcement and monitoring, the result of which is increased transaction costs. Governmentally supported entities that lose the trust of their stakeholders may be the first to be affected (Beach et al., 2008). Internally, organizations have been working on rebuilding trust since the Enron scandal and other issues emerged several years ago, and externally, with the elections just around the corner, governmental entities are collaborating to regenerate support from stakeholders. It is important to understand that building trust can lead to better policy outcomes. This can only occur, however, where there is genuine, open, and transparent participation with stakeholders and where stakeholder expectations are managed positively.

Building trust in today's difficult times also requires integrity and consistency. Pirson& Malhotra (2008) have found that perception of honesty and integrity are crucial to trust for all stakeholders. However, for stakeholders who engage with a governmentally funded organization on a regular basis, integrity is not enough. These stakeholders need to also perceive that the organization cares about the individual's well-being. In other words, benevolence towards the individual, not just good character and abiding by the rules, is critical. In addition, simply disclosing issues and providing transparency, even though these areas are not mandated, may generate less trust in the material only because the disclosure was forced.

The basic principles of developing trust are fairly simple in themselves and, according to Ipsos (2005), fairly simple to commence, though potentially difficult to achieve. Four key elements in developing trust in a public entity include:

1. Leadership- The best organizations have boards with a clear set of priorities and a shared vision of how to achieve them. They articulate this directly and indirectly via several communication channels providing full disclosure and a consistently true message.

2. Staff -Staff at all levels need to be credible, consistent, and share their organization's objectives. It is not all about leadership; stakeholder trust is built over many day-to-day interactions.

3. Communication- Organizations need to communicate their objectives well both internally and externally. They must also conduct real, two-way conversations with their stakeholders that demonstrate active listening. This communication needs to be consistently accurate and truthful. Delivering a message that stakeholders later discover to be false instantly destroys trust and further support.

4. Action -Action must be evident. It is not enough to simply listen to stakeholder's ideas and inputs; there must be solid and visible actions and results based on this input. The organization must provide evidence that they genuinely value the input.

Development of Public Policy

During the past decade, the role of government has been steadily changing with increasing emphasis being placed on setting overall direction through policy and planning, on engaging stakeholders and citizens, and occasionally on empowering stakeholders or partners to deliver programs and services. Smith (2003) further states that the environment for policy and planning has increased in complexity and that ownership of issues is often unclear, particularly when more than one department and more than one level of government are involved.

Today's environment seems to have more room for the participation of individuals and stakeholders in the development of public policy; the interest is deeper and the demand greater according to Smith (2003). In addition, these stakeholders appear to possess fewer resources and less direct power; the demographics appear to have shifted to include more people who are local members of their communities. These stakeholders are citizens who were once outside the community but may now, by choice or necessity, have become part of it (Smith, 2003).

Effective public participation requires that government or the sponsor be competent in the development and implementation of public participation programs. They must be willing and able to listen, truly seeking and valuing diverse voices, making a special effort to hear and understand those who, for various reasons, may otherwise go unheard. Effective public participation requires that all (citizen, community, and sponsor) demonstrate respect for each other and commitment to the process and have the patience and discipline to work together toward shared perspectives and commonly desired outcomes.

Typically, local governments have developed several modes of involving and educating the public and involving the participation of their stakeholders in local and important referendums. These media may include direct information exchanges utilizing public media, public consultation, engagement in shared decisions, and shared jurisdiction. This involvement may also be generated through the development of active relationships in which stakeholders engage in proposing policy options and shaping the dialog (Smith, 2003).

Impact to Stakeholders

Active stakeholder participation and input into policy contributes to good governance by fostering greater transparency, improved stakeholder trust, and a higher level of stakeholder engagement. It also provides more accountability through direct public scrutiny and oversight, enhanced legitimacy of governmental decision-making processes, better quality of decisions based on a wider range of resources and stakeholder input and lastly improved compliance based on improved public and stakeholder awareness of policies and participation in their design.

Conclusion

Developing a lasting and shared stakeholder involvement in publicly held organizations involves more than simply asking for their opinions-it involves developing trust through continued honest and truthful disclosure. It also involves the development of a closed-loop process, in which the organizations are constantly seeking and utilizing the vast amount of resources and knowledge their stakeholders bring to the table. Beach et al. (2005) further state that the most effective organization succeeds through exposure to the knowledge and learning achieved by these interactions. It is possible that organizational capability in stakeholder engagement could be improved across all levels of organization if trust and engagement are achieved.

References

Beach, S., Brown, K., &Keast, R. (2008). Together now, stakeholders in government agencies. Retrieved from: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/15315/1/15315.pdf.

Keast, R., & Mandell, M. (2005). Governance arrangements and network management: The impact on hybrid networks. Paper presented at the International Research Symposium on Public Administration, Milan, Italy.
Pirson, M. & Malhotra, D. (2008). Unconventional insights into managing stakeholder trust. Retrieved from http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/08-057.pdf.

Smith, B. (2003). Public policy and public participation engaging citizens and community in the development of public policy. Retrieved from http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/canada/regions/atlantic/pdf/pub_policy_partic_e.pdf.