Many maps of stakeholders They look like organizational charts: customers, employees, regulators, investors, partners, and the community, arranged in circles of priority. This representation prevents omissions, but says little about how influence flows.
A buyer may consult a technical partner before consulting the finance team. A regulatory agency may change the weight of a trade association. An expert may not sign off on the decision but may still determine which suppliers are credible. The stakeholder A relevant entity does not operate in isolation: it occupies a position within a network.
Francis J. Olatoye, Mathew Hughes, Qilin Hu, and James M. Crick explore this issue in the article «Stakeholder Salience: »The Empirical Role of Stakeholder Multiplicity, Stakeholder Proximity, and Social Capital in SMEs,” published online on October 23, 2026, at the Journal of Small Business Management.
From the stakeholder map to the network of influence
The classic relevance model of the stakeholders It helps managers set priorities based on three attributes: power, legitimacy, and urgency. The new study retains this model and adds a relational dimension by analyzing how multiplicity, proximity, and structural social capital influence the perception of relevance in small and medium-sized enterprises.
The research is based on a survey of technology-intensive SMEs in Canada and Nigeria. Higher levels of the three factors are associated with stronger perceptions of relevance. The relationships vary between the two countries, a difference that the authors interpret in light of the dynamism of the business environment.
Three factors that affect the influence of stakeholders
Multiplicity exists when the relationship with a stakeholder It involves various roles, interests, or points of contact. A customer can simultaneously serve as a business referral, an innovation partner, and a source of access to another market. The more dimensions it encompasses, the less a single category can explain its importance.
Proximity refers to the distance between the stakeholder and the company or the decision. It is not limited to geographic distance. It includes frequency of contact, access to information, and the ability to intervene at the right moment. An expert who works closely with the team defining the requirements may carry more weight than a formal decision-maker who merely receives the final recommendation.
Structural social capital results from one's position in the network. Some stakeholders They connect groups that would otherwise have little contact with one another. This position allows them to circulate information, frame issues, and facilitate access to resources and relationships. Their influence depends as much on who they are as on the people they are able to connect.
What's Changing in International Markets
Entering a new market makes these relationships even more important. A foreign company is less familiar with the local context and has fewer direct connections to help it gauge the reputation of local stakeholders. Partners, system integrators, industry associations, the trade press, and reference customers serve as trusted resources.
The same is true of the hidden buyers. Many people who influence the choice never actually enter the CRM nor do they attend business meetings. They may work in areas such as security, procurement, operations, or legal affairs, or at an outside consulting firm. Their influence depends on their relationship with decision-makers and the information they contribute to the process.
Communicating solely through formal channels leaves this network without responses. Technical content, customer case studies, certifications, and specialized coverage must extend beyond the initial business relationship without losing their meaning.
How to draw a map of stakeholders to help you decide
Start with a specific decision, not a general list of stakeholders. Who can initiate it, block it, approve it, or speed up its implementation? Next, identify who consults with whom, who shares information, who brings groups together, and whose opinion is sought in the event of a disagreement.
Also note the nature of the proximity. Some stakeholders Some are closely involved in the operation; others are involved in management or the institutional context. Each position requires different information and channels. A financial argument may be decisive for one group and irrelevant to those assessing technical risk or social legitimacy.
Finally, identify where credibility comes into play in the network. The This Month's #SuccessSteps It proposes a validation framework to link each critical claim to the evidence and to the third parties with the authority to confirm it.
The limitations of the study
The results call for caution when generalizing. The study analyzes the perceptions of executives at technology-intensive SMEs in two countries and finds differences between them. It does not demonstrate that the same mechanisms carry equal weight in large companies, in other sectors, or in all markets.
The study's contribution is to remind us that the prominence of each stakeholder It depends not only on their attributes, but also on the position they hold, the relationships they build, and their proximity to decision-making processes.
Often, what’s missing from the map is the connection that explains the influence of someone who is already part of it.