Improving the Effectiveness of Stakeholder Management, a G&T Cooperative Strateg

PRLog (Press Release) - Feb. 20, 2013 - ScottMadden, Inc., one of North America’s leading energy consulting firms, recently published, “Improving the Effectiveness of Stakeholder Management (http://www.scottmadden.com/insight/612/Improving-the-Effectiveness-of-Stakeholder-Management.html).” This is the final in a series of ScottMadden insights into the “Five Strategic Priorities for Generation and Transmission Cooperatives (http://www.scottmadden.com/insight/516/Five-Strategic-Pri...).”

Cooperatives face unique governance challenges. Because of their special nature, they must confront and reconcile the interests of many stakeholders and do so while serving their members and maintaining transparency. This calls for an effective stakeholder management plan to:

Promote transparency and collaboration among stakeholders and the utility
Incorporate stakeholder input into strategic planning decisions
Foster stakeholder understanding of planning constraints and viewpoints
Establish stakeholder “buy-in” and support of the planning process
Increase support from policy and rate-making authorities

Effective stakeholder management is critical to the success of projects and major organizational change initatives. It is also a key enabler of other strategic priorities: managing generation assets, gaining access to capital markets, ensuring grid security and reliability, and fostering economic development. What does it take to be effective?

“We believe that G&T cooperatives need a structured process that identifies and prioritizes stakeholders, develops understanding of stakeholder expectations, and manages expectations through tailored communications and engagement strategies,” said Brad Kitchens, president and CEO of ScottMadden. “Stakeholder management requires discipline, but it is an important ability that successful praticitioners use to ensure their projects succeed where others might fail,” adds Marc Miller, director and public power, municipal, and cooperatives practice leader at ScottMadden.

For 30 years, ScottMadden has been a leader in energy consulting, serving more than 200 energy organizations, including 20 of the top 20 energy utilities. ScottMadden has completed thousands of successful projects and provides practical expertise in nuclear, fossil, renewables, transmission, distribution, Smart Grid, gas, regulatory, and a host of other areas. ScottMadden: an exceptional consulting experience.

About ScottMadden, Inc.
ScottMadden is a management consulting firm delivering customized, practical solutions for clients in energy, clean tech & sustainability, corporate & shared services, and the federal government. ScottMadden’s collaborative, small-team approach, coupled with deep content knowledge, experience, and insight, delivers an exceptional consulting experience and superior results. To learn more, please visit www.scottmadden.com | Twitter (https://twitter.com/SM_Energy) | Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/#!/ScottMaddenInc) | LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/company/37992)

Media Contact:
Mary Tew
marytew@scottmadden.com
919-714-7628