The evaluation of stakeholder relationship marketing information systems : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Studies in Marketing at Massey University

Modern business is evolving, the large profit driven organisations of the past have dissipated and responsible, triple bottom line, sustainability focused organisations are pioneering global business practices. The new goal for modern businesses is to become more transparent to their stakeholders, compile triple bottom line reports, and to become a sustainable organisation. To do this an organisation needs to identify who its stakeholders are. Literature in this stakeholder area is vast and has been traced back to the 1930's. However in order to uncover how organisations may utilize stakeholder management to enhance their business practice, there is a clear definition of what a stakeholder actually is. "those with a vital stake in the organisation without whose sanction and support would cease to exist." (Murphy et al., 2004) Stakeholders can have many different relationships with an organisation so there are multiple perceptions on how an organisation is performing through the eyes of its stakeholders. To gain a true understanding of how to communicate with stakeholders, there must be a suitable classification of stakeholder groups. "It is commonsense to consider the five stakeholder groups as being indispensable in the functioning of a sustainable business. The business is financed by shareholders, is allowed to exist by the community, has suppliers providing materials and services, for employees to create goods and services, which customers purchase in preference to competitors' goods and services." (Murphy et al., 2004