Question: What involvement does management need to have to achieve buy-in from internal stakeholders?
During any change with an organization it is key that management is involved in communications to all stake holders. I believe dependent upon the level or significance of the change, will determine who from management should engage with the stake holders. The larger decisions should be represented by the highest level within the organization. Considering senior leadership defines the goals and vision for the organization (Dunn), who better to communicate those to key stakeholders.
Another factor to consider is the impact of hearing the message from a senior leader. Recently, I attending a training session that my organizations CEO instructed part of. I felt hearing the message from the CEO was more moving than hearing it from anyone else. If internal stakeholders do not feel the CEO is behind the plan they may also not support the initiative.
Management has a key role in communicating and soliciting support from both internal and external stakeholders. Without their involvement plans will fail.