In the past two years stakeholder activism and influence has grown, threatening companies everywhere and impacting the bottom line, including Malaysia. It is being driven by rising expectations globally of business’s central role in creating a kinder more sustainable world — expectations that have been accelerated by the shock of COVID and growing alarm over the climate change threat.

This trend has spurred a growing number of boards of directors to think hard about what they need to do differently to adapt to a changed world where previously acceptable behaviour and values are no longer acceptable. Their influence is getting stronger with governments and regulators on whom companies depend for licences, merger/acquisition approval, investment incentives, and enabling import/export regulations. We are at the inflection point where regulators believe the activists, not the companies.

 Managing this growing stakeholder influence has never been more important.   Whatever the catalyst for activism, communicating with your major stakeholders is critical whether employees, suppliers, customers, regulators, governments, media, activists and NGOs.  To manage successfully, companies have a range of options open to them, founded on the core principles of open engagement, listening, building deep understanding of activist positions and motivations, building bridges and ensuring that companies polices and process reflect the changing world.

This session explores the changes that impact businesses that accelerated the growth of stakeholder activism. The session will also delve into the activist’s winning strategies and tactics, effective stakeholder management programmes as well as recognising the red flags of ineffective stakeholder management. 

Learning Outcome

• Discuss the changes that are impacting business broadly today and trends
• Identify stakeholder and activist strategies and tactics and why they are succeeding
• Discover how to develop stakeholder programmes and processes that identify threats early and manage them  to prevent business disruption and provide business opportunity for growth
• Explain appropriate review mechanisms
• Identify how companies have managed stakeholders well in Malaysia and where opportunities were missed
• Recognise the telltale signs of a company out of touch with its key stakeholders
• Describe the key touch points for board to monitor to assess company performance

Target Audience

For newly appointed to senior directors

NICK WOOD
Senior Advisor, FTI Consulting, Singapore

Nick Wood is a Senior Adviser in the Strategic Communications segment of FTI Consulting and is based in Singapore. Specialising in the energy and natural resources practice, he has 30 years of global communications experience in reputation management, government and regulatory affairs, crisis and issues management, and sustainability program development and execution.

An experienced senior strategic adviser and leader, Mr. Wood joined FTI Consulting in 2014 following more than 20 years at Royal Dutch Shell where he was last heading communications and social performance for the Company’s global exploration and production business. In this role, he was leading about 200 communications professionals in cross-business teams across Asia Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, central Asia and Russia. During this time, he was closely involved in managing strategic communications for the Shell Group and managing reputational issues in the course of sensitive and difficult projects and operations across the world, including in China, Australia, Iraq, Canada, South Africa, Nigeria and Ireland. Mr. Wood was a speaker at ICDM’s inaugural International Directors Summit (IDS) in 2019.

LIZ KAMARUDDIN
Adjunct Professor & Senior Communications Specialist, FTI Consulting Strategic Communications, Malaysia

Liz Kamaruddin has more than 30 years of experience in various communications practices particularly reputation management, communications strategy, strategic planning, corporate and government stakeholder management, crisis communications, corporate social responsibility, branding, media relations and internal communications. Liz has been in variety of sectors including energy, finance, banking, aviation, telecommunications and hospitality. Known as a ‘turnaround’ communications expert, Liz construct ‘out-of-the box’ solutions and effective strategies/action plans that proactively address business and communications challenges.

Liz is the only Malaysian to be named one of the ‘Top 500 Most Influential PR Professionals’ in the PR Week Power Book for 2014 and 2015 by PR Week magazine, ‘Power List 2014 – Top 50 Most Influential People in PR’ by PR Week Asia and ‘The Internationalist of the Year 2014’ by Internationalist New York. She is known as the ‘turn-around’ communications expert, constructing out-of-the box solutions and advising senior leaders in managing pecializes al reputation inside-out to safeguard and enhance business and reputational value. Liz pecializes in various industries including energy, banking and finance, aviation, telecommunications and hospitality. Liz was also a speaker at ICDM’s inaugural International Directors Summit (IDS) in 2019.

CORY FRITZ
Managing Director, FTI Consulting, Washington DC

Cory Fritz provides counsel on a wide range of issues, with particular insight on foreign and economic policy. His deep understanding of the political and regulatory process governing cross-border transactions is especially valuable to clients.

Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Cory spent more than a decade building and executing strategies to move the needle in policy debates as an aide to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, Speaker of the House John Boehner and U.S. Senator George Voinovich.

At the Foreign Affairs Committee, Cory served as Deputy Staff Director, where he was as a member of Chairman Royce’s senior staff, shaping policy and strategy while also directing the committee’s communications operations. Cory’s counsel at the committee proved critical on matters of international sanctions, outbound and inbound investment, and development finance.

Before his time at the Foreign Affairs Committee, Cory served six years on the staff of Speaker of the House John Boehner. During his time with the Speaker, Cory held several communications roles, including Press Secretary for the White House press corps and Political Communications Director, working daily to drive integrated media and coalition campaigns around the biggest issues facing the nation. He also has experience in Customs & Border Protection.

SHAHID SHAYAA
Founder & CEO, Berkshire Media, Malaysia

As the founder and the CEO of Berkshire Media, Shahid is instrumental in transforming the social data analytics and digital media industry through data-driven approaches and techniques. True to the spirit of innovation that he has cultivated in Berkshire Media, Shahid developed the sentiment and emotion analytics engine SENTIROBO® and EMOROBO®, that are vital to the data analysis performed for clients from multiple industries.

He also founded and implemented the National Consumer Predictor (NACOP) project, which utilises the Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) for economic forecasting using social media data, as an alternative predictor to the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI). Shahid has more than 17 years of experience in his entrepreneurship journey and in the corporate sector, where he specialized in large scale business transformation projects. Shahid previously served in global management consulting firm Accenture, Frost and Sullivan, Malaysia Airlines and the Government of Malaysia’s Performance Management Delivery Unit (PEMANDU).

He now advises top leaderships and senior executives on strategic communications for publicly traded companies and the public sector. Shahid holds a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering and Masters of Philosophy (MPhil) from the University of Sheffield (United Kingdom).