It was the great American statesman Benjamin Franklin who said that in this world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes. Of course, he wrote that at the end of the 18th century. Had he been considering the position today, and had he been in possession of Sigi Osagie’s latest book, he may well have extended his list of certainties to include stakeholders. This is because, as Osagie says in the thoroughly engaging ‘Sweet Stakeholder Love’ (EPG Solutions, £11.97, ISBN 9781838489205), this is a category of management challenge that faces you, whichever way you turn.
Stakeholders are everywhere, everyone has them, and if you don’t know how to deal with them you won’t realise your full potential as a manager. Osagie, who is a leading expert on effectiveness in procurement and supply-chain management, has seen this recurrent problem from the bottom to the top and knows whereof he speaks. It was a 14-year journey from stepping off a plane at...