Dangote boss attributes effective stakeholders’ management as key to success
The Group Managing Director of Dangote Industries Limited, Olakunle Alake, has attributed the success of business organisations on the adoption and implementation of effective stakeholders’ management strategies.
Alake made this remark while speaking at the Global Chief Executive Officer-Africa Programme organised by the Lagos Business School, IESE Business School, Barcelona and Strathmore University, Nairobi and identified effective management of all stakeholders as a critical factor to achieving an organisation’s aims on the global business landscape.
Alake called on Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) to identify stakeholders who are critical to the success of the organisation and start engaging them as a matter of urgency.
The GMD Dangote Group said, “Put together a team to handle stakeholder relations. Also, determine and know what the critical stakeholders want; and, more importantly, know what they do not want.
“Most importantly, you must be seen to align with local policies, and the country’s aspirations. This builds a healthy relationship as well as provides a feedback mechanism. It also provides market intelligence.”
Alake explained how the Dangote Group had been managing internal and external stakeholders across Africa, stressing that the company consistently interfaced with stakeholders across diverse cultural backgrounds in all its areas of operation.
“Construction is ongoing in several other countries. We have adopted strategies to enable us manage the diversity in regulation, labour, regulation, tax regime and legal system across all our areas of operation”, he said.
He tasked CEOs to expect diversity in regulations in its effort to manage stakeholders, adding that systems differed with the government, traditional rulers and individuals in control in different countries.
Alake also urged the CEOs to play the role of balancing all expectations/interests of the various stakeholders in order to achieve a win-win situation.
