Nature, structure, types of products or service of your chosen organization, and two (2) key factors in the organization’s external environment that can affect its success.
The National Football League is an American is a non-profit sports organization in the United States. It organizes a league of matches that are American football oriented which runs for a maximum of 17 weeks (Quinn, 2012). The nature of the organization is the promotion of sports in the United States. The organization has been there since the year 1920 and has improved a lot to become one of the unsurpassed sports associations in the world. Its products are entertainment through well-organized matches between 32 teams for 17 weeks. Its services have become very common amongst American football lovers across the world. It attracts millions of fans who come to enjoy watching their teams play.
Marketing is one of the external factors that can affect the success of the NFL. He marketing strategy that the organization uses can cause it to have lots of profits and at the same time lose a lot if it’s not implemented in the correct manner. Marketing can be termed as the communication of the worth of the service to the consumers. The value that is being talked about in the NFL is the price of tickets that the customers have to buy so that they can be able to watch games under NFL. The marketing of the tickets should be done in a way that all customers get to appreciate it and be satisfied. This is the only way that NFL can get to attract more customers and be able to gain the profits that they intend. The second external factor is the government regulations. There have been a lot of brawls recently that have mostly been focused on the taxing of the organization. If the organization is taxed through the regulations that have been set by the government, it will see more money used to pay the taxes. This will make it complicated to rely on the success that the company will have.
Three (3) salient stakeholders of the chosen organization based on their key roles and relationships with the company
The biggest and the largest stakeholder in the NFL are the bar and restaurant businesses. They are the biggest beneficiaries from the events that the NFL organizes country wide. It has been determined that the games that are held by NFL five to ten times the revenues that they get from everyday business. The fans are intrigued to watch the NFL games while drinking coffee, beer and other beverages. If the NFL was to halt for a season, it would see lots of bars and restaurant close due to the lack of the revenue to continue running them. The bars and restaurants are located near stadiums which the NFL matches take place. They also attract multiple of NFL fans to come to watch the games either in the bar or the stadiums. This has proven the bars to be a paramount part of NFL.
The other important stakeholders are the fantasy football companies. They have more than 25 million players who flock into their websites annually. They are able to make more than $800 million from the fantasy football which is from real teams in the NFL. They are depended to NFL and the NFL also depends on them as it attracts more customers into watching their football games and earning a lot of money. It has proven to be a salient stakeholder year by year as it raises its customer base the NFL also gets a big share of this and can earn more profits. The more the fans in a fantasy football companies, the more the fans for NFL and the more profits that the two companies get to earn more profits day by day (Martin, 2011).
Anheuser-Busch InBev is a sponsor of the NFL league games. It provides the organization with billions of cash so that they can continue running its business. This company has agreed to spend over 1.2 billion US dollars in NFL one of the best lucrative deals that have ever been made in the world of sports. The deal is imperative as NFL will be able to run its operations without having to worry about certain financial setbacks that might affect it. The company has shown a very supportive way in the NFL for the years that it has become a sponsor. InBev is aiming to be a major sponsor to NFL and be the main company that sells beer to the fans that come to watch the NFL games. This shows the dedication of the company and its paramount to realize that it has critical stakeholders that can lead it to achieve its goals (Guskiewicz, Teel & McCrea, 2014).
Ways in which the primary stakeholders can influence the organization’s financial performance
The financial performance of the NFL has been positive since it was formed. There has been a massive turn out to the NFL games which has seen the organization gain a lot of profits that it has used to develop the American football sport even further. The primary stakeholders for the NFL can increase the company’s perceived environmental risks. The issue has a negative impact to the finances of the company. If the organization is perceived to have low environmental risk, the organization will less likely be sued, fined or be a subject to lawsuits and boycotts in the future. The primary stakeholders are, therefore, paramount in the organization’s future and the present activities that the company is indulging in. If the environmental risks that are mostly determined by the primary stakeholders are affected then it becomes very hard for the company to attract investors that might prove to be paramount for the organization's financial status.
Research shows that investors are most likely care very less about the actual environment performance of an organization and look a lot in the organizations environmental risks. They would rather not invest in the company if they find out that it is associated with a lot of risks that could affect them negatively. All the investors want an organization that is not subject to environmental risk as they could even affect the rest of their investments and businesses. Therefore having the primary employees intact and supportive of the organization is very important as it will attract more investors who link the company to its good environmental risks which will promote them instead of being a burden to them. If the organization’s primary stakeholders are satisfied, attracting investors will be much easier and have a business that has lots of profits making the financial situation to be splendid for the organization.
Primary stakeholders are as important as any other stakeholders in the business. Their contribution may not be directly noticeable, but they can affect the organization either positively or negatively in regard to the profits or financial position of the organization.
Controversial corporate social responsibility concern associated with your selected organization
The NFL has been criticized a lot about not being able to control racism in its games both from the teams and fans. The NFL runs its activities in the US; therefore it should ensure that its fans and players are not subject to racism at any cost. The NFL has, therefore, been given the responsibility of ensuring that it tackles the issue of racism appropriately and instead get to spread unity across the country. Players who are of the opposite race to places where he games are being held are at most times subject to racism. The NFL has to assume the social responsibility of ensuring that diversity is promoted and that all players and fans that come to enjoy their services are satisfied and that they are not brought under any kind of racism because it will affect the organization negatively (Babiak & Wolfe, 2006).
Stakeholder coalition
The target groups that can be influential in assisting me in bringing up the controversial issue are the bars and restaurants and the sponsors. This is the main stakeholders that can be in a position to help me in passing the issue and out and making the organization o consider the controversial issues that have been presented to them through this coalition. There are many of them but gathering them and making our voice heard is the main priority that can lead us to gain what we want to achieve through the correct way.
These stakeholders have been chosen because they are imperative to the NFL, and their voice can be heard because of the positive effect they have on the organization. The organization has proven to rely on them as the stakeholders also rely on them to o its functions and make sure that its presence has been noticed. Using this group will, therefore, bring out a positive income towards the presentation of the controversial issue that is affecting us as the stakeholders.
The method that will be used to foster the collaboration will be through a joint form of doing business. The beverages can sell their products to the bars and restaurants at a fair price and sell it at a profit to the fans. The beverages companies will, therefore, have no need of looking for people to market their products so that they can be recognized. This proves to be the best method which is also reliable. It will boost the kind of relationship that we currently have and ensure that we all get the results that we require alongside the profits that we are targeting.
Role as the leader of the most influential stakeholder group
The challenges that I might face from forming a coalition is competition. Most of the stakeholders are competitors and will be very hard t bring them together. Most of them would prefer to stay away from the group rather than work with the people who compete directly with their products. The other challenge is the lack of participation from the members. Some members will not be able to contribute as well as to put to task what has been offered and therefore defy what the company wants which will increase the burden in the group to handle. The third challenge is that some stakeholders are not stable and therefore unreliable. Most stakeholders come to the NFL for short time benefits, and they can, therefore, not be relied on with the long term coalition to express our views. This is because it does not concern them as they are satisfied and are not tied to the organization.
References
Babiak, K., & Wolfe, R. (2006). More than just a game? Corporate social responsibility and Super Bowl XL. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 15(4), 214.
Guskiewicz, K., Teel, E., & McCrea, M. (2014). Concussion: key stakeholders and multidisciplinary participation in making sports safe. Neurosurgery, 75, S113-S118.
Martin, R. L. (2011). Fixing the game: Bubbles, crashes, and what capitalism can learn from the NFL. Harvard Business Press.
Quinn, K. G. (2012). Introduction. In The Economics of the National Football League (pp. 1-3). Springer New York.
