IBM in China: Designing a Stakeholder Assessment Team

To more effectively manage relationships with critical stakeholders in order to develop and implement corporate and business strategy, a firm must first understand how those stakeholders perceive the firm. Henry Chow, the head of IBM Greater China, saw a need for a more systematic approach to assessing how each major group of stakeholders sees IBM Greater China and its performance as a corporate citizen (under the broad rubric of corporate social responsibility). In recent years in China, this has been particularly important as the government has begun to push a broad social development agenda and expects firms to play a major role in realizing its social objectives. This case asks students to design a team that would be most appropriate for gathering and consolidating information from key stakeholders to serve as an input into IBM Greater China’s strategic planning.