Management of Stakeholders' Interests in an Innovation Project/Company

The aim of this work is to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy for managing the stakeholders’ interests in an innovative company and to develop an action plan to increase its effectiveness. The first part of the work discusses the main approaches to the analysis of stakeholders, the classifications, methods for identifying interests and basic engagement strategies. An analysis of scientific articles and works of Russian and foreign authors of the corresponding thematic scope was used to study the theoretical issues of stakeholder management. In the second part, a study of an innovative business incubator was conducted, its stakeholders and the current strategy for engagement with stakeholders were analyzed. In particular, the company’s stakeholders and their interests were identified through an open source company’s internal documentation analysis and conducting a semi-structured interview with a company representative. In accordance with the tools discussed in the first part and the developed scenario, a comprehensive analysis of the identified stakeholders was carried out. A description of the company's current relations with interested parties was also made and a critical assessment was carried out, and as a result company’s strategy shortcomings were identified. A list of recommendations was made to improve the identified weak areas, so it will be able to formulate the basic rules of engagement and increase the effectiveness of communication with stakeholders. Thus, the business incubator will be able to develop a systematic approach to managing stakeholders, create high-quality relationships and achieve sustainable development of the company. The practical significance of the work lies in the fact that the developed recommendations for stakeholder engagement strategy, if approved, can be implemented in the activity of the State Institution "Nizhny Novgorod Innovation Business Incubator".