Cameron Balloons Ltd, Bristol, UK

Stakeholders

Don Cameron is not the only person with an interest in Cameron Balloons as a business. Someone who has a stake or interest in the success of the business is known as a 'stakeholder' - Don Cameron is obviously a stakeholder in Cameron Balloons. The stakeholders in any business include the employees, who rely on it to pay their wages. They are known as 'internal stakeholders'. Other internal stakeholders include managers - even though managers are employees, they are still thought of as a separate group as they may have different aims and objectives to the rest of the workforce. As a private limited company, there will also be shareholders other than Don Cameron who want the business to do well.

The main internal stakeholders are:

• owners - Don Cameron and the shareholders
• management
• other employees.

'External stakeholders' are all those people or groups outside the business who have a stake in its success. Perhaps the most important group is the business's customers. The main thing which customers want is value for money - in other words, a fair price for a good product. Of course, their interpretation of what might be a fair price could be different to that of the business itself !
The local community, who generally provide the workforce but also suffer from any problems at the site - noise or traffic for example, also have a stake in the business. People who find something objectionable about a business may decide to form a pressure group in order to make their views known in the hope of changing the business's practices.
Other external stakeholders include local and national government, who will collect payments such as rates and taxes from the business, and impose laws, rules and regulations - for example, hot air balloons will be subject to some very strict safety standards. Cameron's suppliers also have a stake in the business, needing it to give them regular orders and to pay on time, as do its bankers and anyone else who lends the business money.

The final set of stakeholders to mention - organisations that will be affected by Cameron's success (or lack of it) - are Cameron's competitors.

The main external stakeholders are:

• customers
• the local community
• pressure groups
• government
• suppliers
• creditors
• competitors.