Consider the brief description of Target’s stakeholder relationships and combine that information with your experience shopping in a Target store. How might Target’s stakeholders (in particular, employees, customers, local communities, and suppliers) influence the manager’s decisions about building competitive advantage in the
analysis stage of the AFI framework? How might Target gather information from its stakeholders in order to inspire a better customer experience in the formulation stage in order to differentiate? Or in order to lower costs? Brainstorm (by jotting down as many ideas as you can think of) about how key stakeholders may affect (or be affected
by) the implementation stage.
2. BP’s experience in the Gulf of Mexico has made it the poster company for how not to manage stakeholder relationships effectively (see Strategy Highlight 1.2). What advice would you give to BP’s managers in order to help them continue to rebuild stakeholder relationships in the Gulf region? How can BP repair its damaged reputation?
Brainstorm ways that top management might leverage the experience gained by reacting in the Gulf and use that knowledge to motivate local managers and employees in other locales to build stakeholder relationships proactively so that BP avoids this type of negative publicity.