Rajesh Patwardhan

The PowerX Interest stakeholder analysis tool is extremely powerful tool for stakeholder management. Each quadrant of stakeholder pool requires addressing the stakeholder differently but if you have a well defined pool of people lying strictly within each quadrant, then each of these pools can be managed easily for e.g. pool of people in high power and interest are extremely important and need to be informed and buy-ins sought from them from time to time. Those in low Power and Interest quadrant, one may choose to just keep them informed as some of them may transition into another quadrant as the project/ task evolves. A major issue is correct assessment of interest and Power for each stakeholder. "Interest" can be interpreted for stakeholders differently around a broader and more specific level of detail is relation to the topic in consideration and hence extremely subjective. This may change over a period of time depending upon organizational changes and other external factors. The other issue, as with many other such 2x2 matrices, is how do you deal with stakeholders that lie close to intersection of all quadrants? You will also typically find many people in that region, which means stakeholder management remains a challenge and difficult to compartmentalize stakeholders in the true sense.

HIRAC - Hazard identification, risk assessment and control. This tool has been used by the industry for decades globally. It's a very powerful tool and goes with identification of each (typically a risk identification register), with a 3x3 or 5x5 matrix for assessment of risks. Typically, it can be used effectively for Project risk management bug has largely been used for Health and safety risk assessments. ERICPD - Eliminate, Reduce, Isolate, Control and PPE and Demarcation is the methodology used with HIRAC to manage risks in a decreasing order of effect each of these techniques of risk management has, with Elimination being the best and most desirable methodology to Demarcation being the least impact full and effective. The HIRAC methodology is extremely effective provided there's continuous and full cooperation within team with significant focus on identification of risk, assessment of the risk and choice of methodology to control. The CDM regulations in the UK promote use these methodologies extremely seriously and have put significant onus on all stakeholders from Owners to Consultants to Contractors and Subcontractors to contribute to this.

Businesses globally work on the principle of win work (top line) - do work (execution) - make money (bottom line). Businesses constantly endeavor to maximize top line and increase bottom line. Execution of work requires companies to incur costs. For a manufacturing company, it may be capital expenditure with operating costs. For construction businesses, costs relate to hiring equipment, skilled and unskilled workforce etc. For Asset operators, for exampl e.g. airport operators, costs will include money spent on operations including the upkeep/ maintenance/ security/ staff both technical and non-technical. Briefly, Profit = Business revenu - Cost. To maximize profits, you increase business revenue or reduce costs. If an airport is using physical paper tags for check-in systems, there is a huge direct and indirect cost associated with buying tags and indirect costs in disposing off the tags apart from huge carbon and water footprint associated with paper tags. If airports use face recognition systems instead of using paper tags all these direct and indirect costs are eliminated. However, the airport will have to incur costs and maintenance of face recognition system, which may reduce operational costs. Bangalore airport is already doing this. If a pipe needs to traverse across a river, you may have to build a bridge with all its apputenace and maintenance access through the bridge. An engineer can reduce the cost of the bridge by choosing structural system like an Arch structure to reduce the cost instead of conventional beam-slab type of bridge. If, instead, the same pipe can be shaped in an Arch form to span across the river, cost of bridge is eliminated.

The second approach is more scientific. The first approach is adhoc and actually assumes the result of hypotheses. While the first approach may seem to require lower investment initially, since you are trying to prove significance, you are gradually increasing sample size and hence may end up spending more due to iterative approach. In case of the second one, we are adopting an unbiased approach to problem solving. The second approach defines clearly the sample size needed to reach a conclusion with certain confidence level, and may seem costlier, but in the end will save a lot of money and provide unbiased outcome which can be relied upon