Week 4 Discussion 1

Stakeholder Analysis of Tesla Motors

P.E.S.T.  analysis is an important way to capture the general forces that affect  industries and companies. Another way to obtain a more comprehensive  perspective of the general ecosystem that a company like Tesla Motors  works within, is to identify, as explicitly as possible, all the stakeholders that have an interest in a given business.

You  might want to think about this from the “outside-in.” That is, given  each of the major P.E.S.T. forces noted above, ask yourself, “Who are  the people (stakeholders) behind each major force and how must I relate  to them strategically?” So, for example, it is clear that international  and national political figures may be relevant stakeholders in any given  case, as would government regulators at local, regional, national, or  international levels. You can't change a local, regional, or  national/international regulation directly—you have to know who to see  and the action occurs among people—so a stakeholder analysis is, in many  ways, a "personified" version of your P.E.S.T. analysis.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review all required readings, including the Weekly Briefing, which  provides additional guidance on how to complete the Assignment.
• Review this week's case study. You can, and should, scan it multiple times.
• Identify and review all relevant readings from the MBA Program Capstone Bibliography.
• Consider the elements of P.E.S.T. analysis that you learned earlier in the MBA program. These elements include:    
  • Political (Legislative) and Legal Elements (regulatory  environment, market access, technology regulation, zoning restrictions,  industry specific, company specific legislation, anti-trust laws,  insurance/liability requirements, safety regulations, child workforce  protection laws, immigration laws, etc.)
  • Economic Elements (interest rate and equity  market movements, capital liquidity, inflation prospects, exchange rate  movements, workforce availability, discretionary income levels, etc.)
  • Societal Values and Ethics (risk taking  propensity, family dynamics and behavior, cultural “in” behaviors, taboo  activities, media focus, religious behaviors, ethical limitations on  business, etc.)
  • Technology Elements (materials technology  advances, electronics advances, communications advances, infrastructure  access [communication, electricity, etc.], energy advances, etc.) 
    
    And an important and too often forgotten element:
  • Demographic Changes (age distribution and trend,  absolute population size and trend, birth and death rates, gender  proportion and trend, ethnic mix and trend, location/mobility and  trends.)
• Identify, as explicitly as possible, all the relevant stakeholders that have an interest in Tesla Motors, and how Tesla should manage them as part of a strategy.
• Research your stakeholder list initially this way, to ensure complete coverage:    
  • General Ecosystem Stakeholders (the ones that  are behind the specific P.E.S.T. influences, includes the press,  interest groups, the public at large, communities, shareholders, etc.)
  • Industry Level Stakeholders (direct local  competitors, potential substitute companies, other competitors or  potential competitors outside your current markets, lenders, alliance or  potential alliance partners, trade associations, suppliers in the  entire supply chain, customers and their end-users, potential customers  or end users, etc.)
  • Internal Stakeholders (these are the people who  influence the company from inside, including the board of directors,  senior leadership, management, skilled employees at any level, other  employees, contract workforce, outsourced workforce, potential new  recruits, etc.)
  • Potential New Stakeholders (at any level, but which may become stakeholders as you consider new strategic actions and activities)
• Then, reorder and rank the stakeholder list in order of “influence  priority,” where stakeholders at the top of the prioritized list require  more of Tesla Motor's attention because they can/will influence your  strategic choices for the future the most.

Post an assessment of the  stakeholder environment for Tesla (and the U.S. automobile industry)  that includes a comprehensive and prioritized list of stakeholders and  explains who the key stakeholders are that Tesla Motors must pay  attention to and why; and then offers specific strategies for how Tesla  must seek to manage or otherwise, legally and ethically, influence these  stakeholders.

General Guidance: Your original post, due by Day 3,  will typically be approximately 1 single-spaced page in length in APA format as a general expectation/estimate. .