Internal and External Stakeholders: What's the Difference?

Internal and External Stakeholders

I am a Director for Vascular Lab at the department of surgery. Vascular surgery is a surgical subspecialty in which diseases of the vascular system, or arteries, veins, and lymphatic circulation, are managed by medical therapy, minimally-invasive catheter procedures, and surgical reconstruction. Duplex ultrasound is a non-invasive evaluation of blood flow through your arteries and veins. This test provides information to help vascular surgeon make a sound diagnosis and outline a treatment plan. Accuracy is critical, so a credentialed sonographer in an accredited vascular laboratory should perform ultrasound testing.

Some of the internal stakeholders include surgery booking team, oral surgery nurses, surgeons, doctors, anesthesia team, discharge coordinators, dieticians, domestic staff, healthcare assistants, hospital management, housekeepers, accidents and emergency staffs, hand nurses, cardiorespiratory team, clinical coders amongst many others. The external stakeholders include health care organizations, the government, members of the public, surgeon's national organization.

The ability to put up a trusting, strong and long term relationship is crucial in defining the success of any organization. Stakeholders can influence business or organization's performance either positively or negatively. In today's world of business, managers who create good relationships with their stakeholders add value to their organizations by bringing competitive advantage (Verdeyen, Put & van Buggenhout, 2004). Keeping good relationships with stakeholders lays a foundation for an environment of trust and support and cooperation network. Thus, the organization is able to anticipate the challenges before they occur and deal with the expectations of the stakeholders effectively. With good relationships with stakeholders, the organization can be sure of solidifying their success.

One of the strategies of developing good relationships with stakeholders is building trust. While trust may seem to be a pretty obvious point, it is one virtue which is not easy to achieve. With just a single breach of trust, good relationships with stakeholders can be ruined forever. Trust can be built when there are honesty and openness. It is always important to give the stakeholders a reason to trust.

The second strategy of gaining trust is by being empathic. This involves understanding the needs of the stakeholders before seeking to be understood. One who does not listen because his status brews an environment of misunderstandings and conflicts (Sirgy, 2002). To avoid this, it is important to ask the stakeholders about their opinions on different issues.

Another strategy is taking responsibility for one's actions. Often, stakeholders become happy when their leaders take responsibilities for their mistakes and resolve issues efficiently. This allows the leader to change a situation for the better and do away with the negative effects. Stakeholders understand that there are many challenges that their leaders face. What matters is how the leaders deal with their challenges to achieve a desirable outcome.

Being honest and open about the progress of a project is another way of maintaining healthy relationships with the stakeholders. It is always important for the leader to share with the stakeholders on the performance of the organization (Hearld, Alexander, Beich, Mittler & O'Hora, 2012). Giving inaccurate report or information breaches trust which ruins the relationships.

Maintaining a positive attitude is important in the modern dynamic business environment. There may be times when the stakeholders do not radiate the positive attitude but it is important for the leader to always have positive energy regardless of the situation. Positive energy shows that a leader is confident even during difficult situations. Also, it is important for the leader to occasionally reveal him so that the stakeholders can connect with the leader's human components. For example, the leader may reveal what food or sport they like. Such conversations make the leader be more interesting and likable.

References

Hearld, L. R., Alexander, J. A., Beich, J., Mittler, J. N., & O'Hora, J. L. (2012). Barriers and strategies to align stakeholders in healthcare alliances.  American Journal of Managed Care ,  18 (6), S148.

Sirgy, M. J. (2002). Measuring corporate performance by building on the stakeholders model of business ethics.  Journal of business ethics ,  35 (3), 143-162.

Verdeyen, V., Put, J., & van Buggenhout, B. (2004). A social stakeholder model.  International Journal of Social Welfare ,  13 (4), 325-331.