Advancing stakeholder analysis: Power and participation in health technology assessment policy development in the United Arab Emirates.

The multifunctional role of water resources and their interconnections with the broader Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) nexus necessitate a deeper understanding of complex governance structures involving diverse stakeholders. In this study, an integrated approach was developed in which stakeholder analysis (SA) and social network analysis (SNA) were supported by the water value chain (WVC) framework to categorize the key actors in watershed management, analyze network cohesion, and identify opportunities for cross-sectoral collaboration within the WEFE nexus. The Porsuk Watershed, located in a semi-arid region with growing resource challenges, offers a compelling case for exploring these governance dynamics. The findings revealed a fragmented water management structure with overlapping responsibilities, leading to inefficiencies and coordination challenges. Governmental bodies, national actors, and stakeholders in the "Manage Closely" quadrant of the interest-influence matrix exhibited strong internal collaboration within their respective groups but engaged less with other groups. Similarly, stakeholders within WEFE components showed stronger in-group collaboration than cross-group interactions, which exacerbated resource inefficiencies, increased trade-offs, and restricted synergies, thereby emphasizing the need for improved inter-sectoral coordination. Downstream actors demonstrated a higher interest in water governance than upstream actors due to their vulnerability to upstream decisions, while upstream actors showed a lower interest as they are less directly affected by the externalities they create. The information network exhibited fragmented information flow dominated by central actors, while academics, research institutions, and NGOs remained underutilized, limiting their influence despite their expertise. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of this integrated approach in understanding the social dynamics of WEFE nexus governance in watersheds.

Gender-responsive institutional governance is essential for strengthening forest and land conservation in ecologically vulnerable watershed areas. This article examines institutional models for forest and land conservation in the Upper Bengawan Solo Watershed, Indonesia, where erosion, sedimentation, flooding, drought, and declining environmental carrying capacity remain persistent challenges. Using a qualitative participatory approach inspired by Rapid Rural Appraisal, the study focused on two areas: the Lawu forest area in Karanganyar, representing the Samin sub watershed, and the community forest area in Wonogiri, representing the Keduang sub watershed. Data were collected through focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews, observation, documentation, stakeholder analysis, SWOT analysis, Venn diagrams, historical tracing, and gender analysis using the Harvard framework. The findings show that existing conservation institutions remain fragmented, sectoral, and insufficiently gender-responsive. Women’s participation is still limited, particularly in formal decision-making, although women have strategic potential in environmental education, local economic development, agroforestry, forest product processing, and community-based conservation. This article proposes a community based, multi-stakeholder, and gender-responsive institutional model that integrates environmental conservation, women’s empowerment, local economic strengthening, and upstream-downstream watershed governance. The study contributes to sustainable watershed management by positioning women and local communities as active institutional actors in ecological restoration.

Recycling end-of-life automotive traction batteries is paramount in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating supply chain dependencies associated with critical raw materials utilized in producing electric vehicle batteries. Deploying disassembly technologies represents a crucial step in the pretreatment process, enhancing the recycling process’s sustainability and profitability. This study evaluates disassembly technologies based on a multi-stage expert-driven research approach. We present a systematic stakeholder identification and analysis for the disassembly process step, resulting in the 14 relevant stakeholders. 65 expert interviews were then conducted with the relevant stakeholders and yielded a corpus of 16 evaluation criteria. Each criterion underwent a delphi evaluation process with 13 experts to ascertain its relative importance. Ultimately, another delphi panel was utilized to evaluate each disassembly technology conjunction with all identified criteria. To address potential uncertainties, the fuzzy delphi method was employed, resulting in two rounds until a consensus was achieved. Laser cutting and shredding emerged as particularly promising technological approaches, recommended for consideration by industrial stakeholders in the expansion of their facilities and by policymakers in the formulation of their regulatory environment. The developed methodological approach aims to systematically evaluate early-stage emerging technologies and has been validated by the given use case.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-026-50592-1.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic, among others, has shown the world that rapid drug and vaccine development and expedited clinical trials can be effective and safe. The overall benefit of accelerating clinical development would be faster public access to medicines. In this study, we explore key stakeholders’ experiences and perceptions of drivers for the acceleration of clinical development.MethodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews with policy advisors and experts from key stakeholder groups involved in clinical development, identified via a power-interest stakeholder analysis. Thematic analysis was used to identify analytic themes.ResultsTwenty-five participants were interviewed representing pharmaceutical companies, the European Medicines Agency, national competent authorities in the EU, different research and clinical development organizations, including non-governmental organizations, and the World Health Organization. Drivers facilitating acceleration of clinical development could be grouped into three themes: alignment of stakeholders, innovative research design and processes, and financing. Some barriers of systematic acceleration were raised within these themes: European disharmony in trials practice, regulations and guidance; fragmentation of efforts; bureaucracy and the complexity of the Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) submission process; and financial neglect for poverty-related diseases.ConclusionTo sustainably accelerate clinical development, future policies should facilitate collaboration and communication between stakeholders and work to minimize technical and bureaucratic barriers.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12992-026-01213-z.

This study aims to analyze collaborative strategies in developing marine tourism through the empowerment of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) based on the creative economy in Bone Bolango Regency. The research focuses on three main issues: collaborative strategies among stakeholders, the role of creative economy-based MSMEs in strengthening destination competitiveness, and the challenges of managing and marketing marine tourism. A descriptive qualitative method was employed, with data collected through observation, in-depth interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), and documentation. The data were analyzed thematically, complemented by SWOT analysis, stakeholder analysis, and the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to determine strategic priorities. The findings reveal that marine tourism development in Bone Bolango has adopted a pentahelix collaboration model, where the government acts as regulator and facilitator, businesses provide services, academia generates knowledge and training, local communities manage destinations, and media serve as promotion and education agents. MSMEs play a vital role as drivers of the creative economy through handicrafts, culinary products, and tourism services based on local wisdom. However, challenges persist, including limited digital literacy, restricted access to financing, environmental threats, and competition with other marine destinations. This study proposes an adaptive collaborative strategy that integrates MSMEs into marine tourism governance, emphasizing creative economy practices to promote inclusive and sustainable development.

Adopting a Political Ecology Approach to Understanding Stakeholder Roles and Values in Infrastructure Initiatives.

Abstract: The modern business environment is characterized by dynamic changes and digital transformation. Therefore, internal strategic communication plays a crucial role in the successful implementation of changes and transformations. With the increasing complexity of organizations and the growing diversity of employees, the traditional centralized approach with one type of message for all is no longer effective. The hypothesis is that target audience analysis within change management offers different approaches to communication that can transform organizations. The methodology includes several methods. The methods of analy¬sis and synthesis are used, which are relevant in view of the theoretical overview and presentation of a model that can be implemented in a modern business environ¬ment. The descriptive method is applied in deriving the stages for imple¬menting organizational change and achieving proper segmentation of inter¬nal audiences in a business environment. The aim is to explain how stake¬holder iden¬ti¬fication and audience segmentation can be used in John Kotter's organiza¬tional change model to influence employee engagement, reduce resistance to change, and improve effectiveness. The stages are described with a view to using this model and achieving practical results in business organizations. Attention is paid to business communication as an essential element in the successful imple¬men¬ta¬tion of employee management, motivation, and adaptation in a changing dynamic business environment. Keywords: internal strategic communications, organizational change manage¬ment, target audience analysis, stakeholder analysis, employee engagement.

Software Requirements (SRs) represent the expectations and needs of stakeholders that must be clearly defined before the initiation of software development. Existing approaches for stakeholder identification typically rely on predefined roles and responsibilities; however, they lack systematic mechanisms to classify or prioritize stakeholders based on critical attributes such as power, legitimacy, and urgency. Moreover, these approaches do not adequately address the dynamic nature of stakeholder influence over time. To overcome these limitations, this study proposes a stakeholder modeling approach that integrates fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) with visual analytics. Stakeholders are initially identified based on their roles, and their salience is determined through profile scores derived from the attributes of power, legitimacy, and urgency. A three-dimensional decision surface is employed to visualize salience zones, enabling the identification of highly important stakeholders whose involvement is crucial for accurate requirements elicitation. These highly influential stakeholders participate in the requirements elicitation process to identify both functional and nonfunctional requirements of the system. However, in practical scenarios, implementing all elicited requirements is often not feasible. Therefore, the identified SRs are prioritized and selected using the fuzzy TOPSIS method. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated through a case study of a healthcare management system, highlighting its capability to enhance stakeholder analysis and requirement prioritization. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis is performed to evaluate the robustness and stability of the proposed method.

Despite growing investment in digital health for immunization, there is limited evidence on how gender is considered into design and implementation. In 2022, Ethiopia launched a Gender-intentional Digital Health Information Roadmap with the support of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; however, the operationalization of gender strategies remains unclear. This qualitative study explored gender inclusiveness in digital health for immunization in Ethiopia, drawing on document reviews, participatory workshops, key informant interviews, and stakeholder analysis across selected three regions in Ethiopia. Findings revealed that women dominate frontline roles as caregivers and vaccinators but remain underrepresented in supervisory, leadership, and digital system development positions. Although gender strategies and units exist, implementation is weak, with limited gender awareness and no intentional planning. In addition, a notable gender digital divide persists. Senior leadership role assignments, despite competence, depend on ability for women to balance responsibilities and travel with household duties. The routine health data systems, like District Health Information Software, version 2, lack sex-disaggregated immunization data, hindering gender-informed decision making. Enabling factors include national prioritization of gender equity, empowerment programs, and partner support, whereas barriers include cultural norms, inadequate advocacy, weak accountability, and insufficient resources. Embedding gender-transformative approaches is vital for equitable, inclusive digital health information and associated health system and immunization outcomes in Ethiopia.

Designing and implementing a prediabetes screening in community pharmacies and online prevention program: findings from the PREDICT study

ABSTRACT Complex water governance in developing countries often faces financial barriers, prompting governments to adopt a public-private partnership (PPP) to provide water for society. This study integrates stakeholder theory (ST) and the salience model with an analytic hierarchy process (AHP)-based framework to prioritize governance factors in PPP implementation, enabling a theory-driven and quantifiable analysis of stakeholder influence. Dissecting a PPP water project in Indonesia, this study sequentially highlights the importance of governmental commitment, financial feasibility, political support and strong private consortia. Effective stakeholder management, aligned with ST dimensions, is essential to harmonize stakeholder contributions and ensure the success of water PPP projects.

ABSTRACT Tourist taxes have been used at heritage sites to maintain the symbiotic relationship between tourism and heritage. However, local authorities in the UK do not have the power to directly implement tourist taxes, leading to political debate. Bath is one of the UK cities interested in the use of tourist taxes for conservation and improving its public realm, and the research seeks to present a systematic overview of the problem situation and stakeholder analysis, mapped in a power-interest matrix. From this work, it was found the relationship between the Bath local authority and lobbying parties, businesses, tourists, and residents already has a strong basis for continued collaboration. However, the one-sided relationship between the government and local authorities means that lobbying for tourist taxes will need to continue, or alternative methods to implement tourist taxes will be needed. Despite the challenges, Bath demonstrates examples of beneficial stakeholder collaboration that should be continued and built on.

Community-level perceptions of housing services for people with opioid use disorder: a qualitative analysis of community stakeholders in the HEALing communities study.

Abstract The article examines the role of communications in crisis management and financial recovery projects. Using the cases of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse (2023) and the adaptation of Russian companies – Sberbank and Aeroflot – to sanctions pressure (2022), the study analyzes differences between reactive and proactive approaches to crisis communications. The methodological basis is a comparative case analysis that identifies factors of successful and unsuccessful communication responses. The paper demonstrates the significance of scenario planning as a project management technique that enables organizations to prepare for informational aspects of a crisis before it occurs. A five-stage model of communication scenario planning is proposed, including threat identification, risk assessment, stakeholder analysis, development of communication materials, and protocol testing. The research findings can be applied in developing communication components for crisis management projects and organizational transformation programs.

Since the enactment of law no. 33 of 2014 concerning Halal Product Guarantee, matters of halal certification are no longer entirely in the hands of the Indonesian Ulema Council, where previously halal certification norms were voluntary, but now they are mandatory. There are three main actors in the halal certification chain in Indonesia. These actors are the Halal Product Guarantee Organizing Agency (BPJPH), the Halal Inspection Institute (LPH), and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI). This research focuses on studying the role of each actor and the relationships (relationship patterns) between each institution or actor in creating a good halal industrial ecosystem in Indonesia, especially for food products. It is hoped that the results of this research will provide an overview and understanding of the flow of halal certification and the authority of each actor involved, especially explaining the relationship patterns of each actor involved in the halal certification chain in Indonesia. In fact, in implementing the JPH Law, halal registration and labeling matters fall under the authority of the State through BPJPH which is an administrative area, ingredients and product content are checked which is a scientific area through LPH, and halalness is determined, which is an area of religious substance through the MUI. The method used in this research is qualitative, analyzing the points using a critical legal theory approach or critical legal studies (CLS), supported by a stakeholder analysis approach to identify, categorize, and investigate relationships between stakeholders.

Introduction Establishing a social co-governance system for intellectual property (IP) protection in e-commerce is crucial for strengthening the IP protection framework, fostering a conducive business environment, and promoting the high-quality development of China’s e-commerce sector. Methods Grounded in social co-governance theory, this study constructs a multi-stakeholder framework for e-commerce IP protection, encompassing the government, e-commerce platforms, operators, and consumers. An evolutionary game model is developed to capture stakeholders' strategic interactions, and numerical simulations are performed to examine the dynamic evolution of their behavioral strategies. Results The results indicate that strategic decisions are significantly influenced by action costs and benefits, the intensity of rewards and penalties, and social reputation. The simulation analysis further shows that well-designed reward-punishment mechanisms can effectively enhance stakeholders’ incentives for IP protection. Discussion These mechanisms facilitate the emergence of a stable social co-governance equilibrium and enhance the overall effectiveness of IP protection in e-commerce environments. The findings provide theoretical insights and policy implications for improving collaborative governance mechanisms in digital marketplace regulation.

Pharmacy First (PF) was launched in the National Health Service in England in January 2024, and an evaluation of PF was commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The aim of this study was to conduct a reflexive stakeholder analysis of the PF evaluation team and an independent study steering committee (SSC), considering stakeholder positionality and identity. All members of the PF evaluation team (including patient and lay members) and the SSC were asked to confirm their affiliations and professional identities potentially relevant to evaluating PF. The data were entered into an online platform for mapping complex systems. Two stakeholder maps were created, showing the connections between both groups and their respective affiliations. Individuals' positions (i.e. opinions) on PF were also recorded. All PF evaluation team (n = 32) and SSC (n = 17) members responded. There were 23 and 33 potentially relevant affiliations reported across the PF evaluation team and SSC, respectively. Across both groups, 25 had more than one affiliation, 24 had a formal health professional identity and 8 held a dual role in public service and academia. This novel method for reflexive stakeholder analysis of a research team and its SSC has demonstrated that participants span multiple sectors and professional affiliations, but that there was initial potential for imbalance in the SSC. As a result, changes were made, such as the inclusion of two more general practitioners in the SSC, and adapting data collection to include the former. Conducting reflexive stakeholder analysis may be worth consideration by other evaluation teams, in similar contexts, evaluating high profile policy schemes.

Mountain regions across Europe face demographic decline and institutional fragmentation that hinder sustainable tourism development. This study analyzes the territorial governance system of the Val Canale and Canal del Ferro valleys (Italian Alps) with the aim of designing a stakeholder-based Organizational Model (OM) to strengthen sustainable tourism coordination in a peripheral mountain context. A qualitative single-case study approach integrates Stakeholder Analysis, Actor-Linkage Matrix, Appreciative Inquiry, and spatial contextualization to examine relational, institutional, and territorial dynamics. The findings reveal a territory rich in environmental and cultural assets—characterized by protected areas and extensive trail networks—yet constrained by fragmented inter-municipal cooperation and limited supra-municipal coordination. Governance fragmentation, rather than resource scarcity, emerges as the primary barrier to coherent territorial development. In response, the proposed multi-level Organizational Model introduces a valley-level coordination unit designed to institutionalize collaborative governance, enhance administrative capacity, and align local initiatives with regional strategies. By operationalizing stakeholder theory within a structured territorial framework, the study contributes to place-based governance literature and offers transferable insights for peripheral mountain regions facing similar coordination challenges.

The Industrial Revolution 4.0, accelerated by the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, has brought significant changes in various lifelines, including education. The transition from traditional education, which relies heavily on printed teaching materials, has gradually begun to integrate with digital learning resources and learning facilities. The stakeholders involved, such as the government, schools (teachers), students, parents, and material book publishing companies, go through various stages of adapting to digital transformation. This study aims to analyze the stakeholder mapping system related to digital transformation in education in Indonesia and also to measure the ability to pay and the level of consumer (school) acceptance of digital product innovations carried out by school book publishing companies. The researchers used a mixed convergent parallel design approach. The qualitative research conducted uses stakeholder analysis with Macbook software. Data were collected by conducting interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) with selected resource persons representing each group. This study involved 119 primary and high schools in Central Java Province, which were selected as research samples using the Slovin formula. The willingness-to-pay (WTP) analysis was used to determine the ability to pay, and the TAM method was used to determine the determinants of consumer acceptance. The results showed that schools have the most dominant role among other stakeholders. Digitalization in education is considered adequate and efficient for improving the quality of learning.