The Procurement Glossary » Stakeholder Management

Stakeholder Management

Strategy & Operations

Definition

Identifying, engaging and aligning the people affected by or influencing a procurement decision.

Explanation

Procurement rarely acts alone — budget holders, users, finance and technical experts all shape requirements and adoption. Managing stakeholders well surfaces needs early, builds support for sourcing decisions and prevents maverick buying and resistance later.

Example

Early stakeholder management aligns engineering and finance on the sourcing criteria before the tender opens.

Related terms

• Change Management — The structured approach to helping people adopt new processes, systems and behaviours.
• Budget Holder — The person accountable for a budget and for authorising spend against it.
• Category Council — A cross-functional group that governs strategy and decisions for a spend category.
• Demand Management — Influencing what and how much the business buys — challenging need, standardising specs and curbing over-consumption — to reduce spend at the source.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Stakeholder Management?

Identifying, engaging and aligning the people affected by or influencing a procurement decision. Procurement rarely acts alone — budget holders, users, finance and technical experts all shape requirements and adoption. Managing stakeholders well surfaces needs early, builds support for sourcing decisions and prevents maverick buying and resistance later.

Can you give an example of Stakeholder Management?

Early stakeholder management aligns engineering and finance on the sourcing criteria before the tender opens.

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