Assessing Acceptability

It is likely that you will be unable to please all stakeholders, so you will need to decide who are the most important.

Acceptability refers to whether a strategic option is likely to give worthwhile results for the key stakeholders -- usually management, shareholders, employees, and customers. This includes not just acceptable financial return, but also less quantifiable factors,such as risk (the impact on your brand's reputation, for example) and value to stakeholders.

It is likely that you will be unable to please all stakeholders, so you will need to decide who are the most important. To assess the acceptability of a strategic option, ask yourself questions such as:

• Will the financial return be acceptable?
• What are the risks of the option, and are they acceptable?
• How will this option affect each stakeholder group, and is this outcome acceptable?
• Will this option give the right balance of cost and benefits?

ACTION POINT: Ensure strategic direction is acceptable to the key stakeholders.