Identifying Project Stakeholders--Competitors and Suppliers

Competitors

Competitors can be an important stakeholder element in that they are materially affected by the successful implementation of a project. Likewise, should a rival company bring a new product to market, the project team's parent organization could be forced to alter, delay, or even abandon their project. In assessing competitors as a project stakeholder group, project managers should try to uncover what information is available concerning the status of potential rival projects being developed within competing firms. Further, where possible, the lessons learned by competitors can be an important and useful source of information for a project manager who is initiating a similar project in another company. If a number of severe implementation problems occurred within the first organization's project, that information could offer valuable lessons to other project organizations in terms of what activities or steps to avoid in their own situation.

Suppliers

Suppliers refers to any group that provides the raw materials or other resources that the project team needs in order to complete their project. When projects require a significant supply of externally purchased components, it behooves the project manager to take every step possible to ensure that steady deliveries will continue. In most cases this is a two-way street. First, the project manager has to ensure that suppliers receive timely input information needed to implement their part(s) of the project. Secondly, he has to be able to monitor deliveries, to see that they are met according to the plan. In the ideal case, the supply chain becomes a well-greased machine that automatically both draws the input information from the project team and delivers their products without excessive involvement of the project manager. For example, in large-scale construction projects, project teams must daily face and satisfy an enormous number of supplier demands. The entire discipline of supply chain management is predicated on the ability to streamline our logistics processes through effectively managing the project's supply chain.