Stakeholder Abundance

The notion of abundance can be interpreted in so many ways, and because of the interconnectivity which surrounds us it is vital to understand the stakeholder abundance. Earlier shareholder reporting was something only expected from public listed companies, but this is no longer the case. Even small start-ups need to ensure that they are engaging with all their stakeholders. Especially in the middle east region, with sovereign wealth funds reshaping the investment landscape, it has become possible to quickly emerge as major player in the global economy.

While companies may understand their target customer or clients, the abundance of stakeholders involved have increased. Customers and ‘influencers’ are playing a big part in marketing. The retail landscape is constantly evolving. There is also the effect of tokenomics and digital identity being used to build stronger customer connections. In fact proper tokenomics often emphasize transparency and may include governance structures. A project that’s transparent about its token allocations, partnerships, and development can be less susceptible to manipulative schemes. This is the trend we have seen, most fintech firms are adopting in DIFC.

What’s more fascinating is even our ‘old- school’ functions of finance and compliance have evolved with their agenda items. They are now branching into more streams with the advancement of data science, for example accounts receivable check can be made more reliable with predictive analysis algorithms, banks are increasingly using this advanced technology to predict the day or date of receivables.

Data analytics is most evident in the compliance space for transactions monitoring and KYC protocols. The safeguarding measures of Data protection is another abundance example. Allowing us to have a comfort for the level of transparency and integrity that we are maintaining for our stakeholder situation. It matters how we inform, consult and collaborate with all the stakeholders.

This is particularly interesting for me, because I do feel as an internal auditor we are working closely with all the stakeholders and enabling collaborations and this is a very effective value-add for most of our clients.? Reviewing the areas of importance, risk and controls faced by each stakeholder allows us to provide a very deep insight and foster decision-making which is more cohesive.

The perfect brew is based on the blend of internal stakeholders with external stakeholders. If we all make a joint commitment starting from the policymakers, diversified developers, leaders, investors, to every varied background individual, it will pave the way for long term transformation. Consideration also needs to be given to microeconomic and macroeconomic factors like portfolio, performance assets, interest rates all need to be consolidated to manage the overall understanding and allow us to see through a wider lens. ?

?The objective of supporting environment, economic and social sustainability has become more widespread. We also need to be mindful about upskilling ourselves, fostering the right culture, engaging with regulators to manage conflicts of interest and understanding priorities, the key to unlock and cater for stakeholder abundance for me is always based on a time-mapped solution. That is the one constraint, we all have, we are restricted to 24 hours in a day, so set your timer and get started!

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