Friends to Grow and Foes to Know: Using a Stakeholder Matrix to Identify Management Strategies for Convention and Visitors Bureaus

Abstract

Effective stakeholder management is essential in today's dynamic business environment, especially in the case of convention and visitors bureaus that are dependent upon destination stakeholder support for critical resources. This article uses the resource-dependency theory to propose a typology for strategically managing stakeholders using convention and visitors bureaus as a case example. Building on previous research, it offers a new focus and categorization using both control over resources and mission congruence to help executives strategically manage their stakeholders and achieve their mission. By analyzing how different stakeholders can be considered friends, foes, or neutrals, strategies are offered that convention and visitors bureaus, destination marketing organizations, and other organizations can use to manage multiple stakeholders. The framework presented also serves as a basis for empirical work with the potential to inform theory and practice.