| Course | MKT 438 Public Relations (MKT/438) |
|---|---|
| Week | 3 |
| Paper type | Stakeholder relationship plan |
| Length | about 1,017 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | BS in Business |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MKT 438 Week 3
Employees, Neighbors, Farmers and City Hall: Building Stakeholder Relationships for a Milwaukee Grocer
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
MKT/438: Public Relations
Week 3 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Northgate Markets, its stakeholders and survey results are composites written for a model paper.
Northgate Markets, the composite 14-store family grocery chain in Milwaukee, closed a store in a lower-income neighborhood last year with little explanation. Employees learned from the news, neighbors lost their nearest full-service grocer and a city council member criticized the company publicly. Northgate has since adopted a communication code and launched a food rescue program. The company now needs a deliberate plan for its relationships with the groups it depends on. Trust between a company and its neighbors is built slowly through many small, consistent acts and lost quickly through one careless decision. This paper analyzes Northgate's stakeholders and plans how to strengthen those relationships.
Identifying Stakeholders
Northgate's stakeholders include employees and their union, shoppers, neighbors near each store, especially near the closed store, Wisconsin farm and food suppliers, the city council and mayor's office, the food bank and pantries, local media and the Kowalski family owners.
Stakeholder Salience
Mitchell et al. (1997) explained that the priority a group receives from managers rests on how much it can affect the firm, how proper or justified its claim is and how pressing that claim is at the moment. Groups that score high on all three, which the authors called definitive stakeholders, need attention first.
Applying Salience
Employees have power, as the company cannot operate without them, legitimacy and growing urgency after the closure. Neighbors near the closed store have legitimacy and urgency, and gain power through media and officials. City officials have power through permits and public statements, legitimacy and current urgency. Shoppers have power and legitimacy but low urgency. Suppliers have legitimacy and moderate power. Employees, affected neighbors and officials are the most salient groups now.
Relationship Quality
Ki and Hon (2007) found that the quality of organization-public relationships, measured through dimensions such as satisfaction and control mutuality, influenced publics' attitudes toward the organization, and that attitudes predicted behavioral intentions to support it. Good relationships are not a soft goal; they shape behavior that matters to the business.
Transparency
Rawlins (2009) developed a stakeholder measure of organizational transparency based on participation, substantial information, accountability and the absence of secrecy, and found that transparency was closely related to trust. For Northgate, sharing reasons for decisions and inviting input are central.
What Each Group Wants
Employees want honest information, a voice in changes that affect them and confidence that their jobs and hours are secure. Neighbors near the closed store want access to affordable fresh food and to be treated as partners rather than an afterthought. City officials want jobs, food access in every ward and no surprises. Wisconsin farmers want fair prices, predictable orders and timely payment. Shoppers want good prices, fresh food and stores that reflect their community. The food bank wants reliable donations and recognition for its own work.
Current Relationships
An employee survey of 900 respondents showed that only 41% trusted leadership to communicate honestly, down from 63% two years earlier. A survey of 300 residents near the closed store showed that 72% felt the company did not care about the neighborhood.
Why Employees Come First
Employees are both a stakeholder group and a channel to every other group. Cashiers, stockers and deli staff talk with shoppers and neighbors every day, and many live near the stores. When they feel uninformed or disrespected, their frustration reaches customers. When they trust leadership, they become credible advocates. The drop in employee trust from 63% to 41% is therefore the most urgent problem in the stakeholder map.
Employees
Store managers will hold monthly town halls. A confidential feedback channel will collect questions answered in a weekly newsletter. Major changes will be shared with employees first.
Neighbors Near the Closed Store
Northgate will form a neighborhood advisory council with residents, a community organization and the council member. A weekly mobile market will provide produce and staples. The company will share data on the store's losses and explore options with the city.
Why a Mobile Market
A mobile market will not replace a full store, but it signals commitment and meets a real need. The truck will visit three sites weekly, accept food assistance benefits and price items at the same level as Northgate stores. The advisory council will choose locations and hours. If demand is strong, the data will support a discussion with the city about a smaller-format store.
Suppliers
An annual summit will bring Wisconsin farmers together with buyers to discuss plans, pricing and payment terms. A local products program will feature farms in stores.
Officials
Quarterly briefings will update the council member and the mayor's office on store plans, food access efforts and hiring.
Shoppers
Store surveys and social media listening will gather feedback. A customer advisory panel in each region will meet twice a year.
Timeline and Owners
The director of communications will own the plan. Employee town halls begin in the first month. The advisory council forms within 60 days, and the mobile market launches within 90 days. The supplier summit takes place each spring, and official briefings occur quarterly. A first relationship survey will be conducted at the end of year one.
Balancing Conflicts
Shoppers want low prices, employees want better pay and neighbors want stores in low-income areas that may lose money. Northgate will explain tradeoffs openly through the advisory council and newsletters rather than pretending conflicts do not exist.
Using Transparency
To apply Rawlins's dimensions, Northgate will share the financial reasons for future closures before decisions are final, publish an annual community report with donations, local purchases and hiring data and invite advisory council members to review drafts of plans that affect their neighborhoods.
Measuring Relationships
Annual surveys of employees, neighbors and suppliers will measure trust, satisfaction, commitment and control mutuality. Targets include employee trust at 60% within two years and neighborhood favorable views at 50%.
Conclusion
Northgate's most salient stakeholders are employees, neighbors near the closed store and city officials. Research on salience, relationship quality and transparency guides a plan of two-way communication, advisory councils, a mobile market, supplier summits and briefings, with relationship measures to track progress.
References
Ki, E.-J., & Hon, L. C. (2007). Testing the linkages among the organization-public relationship and attitude and behavioral intentions. Journal of Public Relations Research, 19(1), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/10627260709336593
Mitchell, R. K., Agle, B. R., & Wood, D. J. (1997). Toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: Defining the principle of who and what really counts. Academy of Management Review, 22(4), 853-886. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1997.9711022105
Rawlins, B. (2009). Give the emperor a mirror: Toward developing a stakeholder measurement of organizational transparency. Journal of Public Relations Research, 21(1), 71-99. https://doi.org/10.1080/10627260802153421
What the MKT 438 Week 3 instructions ask
The third MKT 438 assignment usually asks students to analyze an organization's stakeholders and recommend strategies for building relationships with them. Common requirements include identifying stakeholders, assessing their interests and influence, prioritizing them, describing relationship-building tactics such as two-way communication, community programs and employee communication and explaining how relationships will be measured. Some prompts ask students to apply a stakeholder model or create a stakeholder map. Use public relations and management research, apply tactics to specific groups and cite sources in APA format. Set measurable targets for relationship quality. Recognize that stakeholders can have conflicting interests and that the organization must balance them openly rather than favoring the loudest voice.
How this MKT 438 Week 3 example is built
A grocery chain that closed a neighborhood store must rebuild trust with several groups at once, and the paper plans how. It applies stakeholder salience research, which ranks groups by power, legitimacy and urgency, finding employees, neighbors near the closed store and city officials most salient now. Research shows that relationship quality shapes attitudes and behavior and that transparency builds trust. Surveys reveal low trust among employees and neighbors, which sets the baseline for later measurement. The plan includes manager town halls and a feedback channel for employees, a neighborhood advisory council and mobile market, a supplier summit for Wisconsin farmers and regular briefings for officials, with annual relationship surveys and targets for trust.
MKT 438 Week 3 grading rubric: where the points go
Strong stakeholder papers identify groups precisely, prioritize them with a defensible method and match tactics to each group's interests. Instructors credit accurate use of stakeholder theory, evidence about current relationships, two-way communication tactics, attention to conflicting interests and measures of relationship quality. Papers that connect relationships to organizational outcomes, such as employee retention or approval of new stores, show strategic understanding. Reviewers look for scholarly research on stakeholders and organization-public relationships, specific programs and links to the organization's earlier ethics and media analysis. Targets with dates add accountability. A stakeholder map described in words, logical sections and careful referencing make the priorities easy to see.
MKT 438 Week 3 help: mistakes to avoid
Students often list stakeholders without prioritizing them. Use a model such as salience to decide where to focus. Another frequent gap is proposing one-way communication only. Build listening into every tactic. Students also ignore employees, who are often the most important stakeholders. Describe what each group wants and what it fears. Address conflicts openly, explaining tradeoffs instead of hiding them. Measure relationships with trust, satisfaction and commitment, not just activity counts. Use research on transparency to shape what you share. Make tactics specific, with timing and owners. Connect relationships to business results such as retention or community support. Finally, review the stakeholder map regularly, since salience changes when events give a group new urgency.
Related MKT 438 sample papers
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- MKT 438 Week 1: Public Relations and Ethics
- MKT 438 Week 2: Media Relations and Publicity Tools
- MKT 438 Week 4: Crisis Communication
- MKT 438 Week 5: Public Relations Campaign Plan
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MKT 438 Week 3 questions, answered
What does MKT 438 Week 3 usually cover?
It usually covers building stakeholder relationships: identifying and prioritizing stakeholders, assessing interests, relationship-building tactics, two-way communication and measuring relationship quality.
Where can I find a free MKT 438 Week 3 sample paper?
The stakeholder relationship plan for a Milwaukee grocery chain is shown above in full; a version for your own organization can be requested.
What is stakeholder salience?
How much priority managers give a group's claims, based on how much the group can affect the firm, how justified its claim is and how pressing it is.
How are organization-public relationships measured?
Often by surveying stakeholders about trust, satisfaction, commitment and control mutuality, the sense that both sides have appropriate influence.
Why does transparency matter in stakeholder relations?
Because stakeholders trust organizations that share relevant information, invite participation and are accountable, while secrecy breeds suspicion.
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