Applying stakeholder analysis to health care administration education

Demographic trends and budgetary constraints at many universities suggest that education will not be "business as usual" in the next several years. Academic programs in health care administration can enhance their ability to respond to these challenges by implementing stakeholder analysis as part of their strategic planning process. This article delineates the stakeholder groups which typically influence programs in health care administration and presents a systematic manner of analyzing their relationships to the program in terms of values and beliefs, power, cooperative potential, and likely issues. Actions to strengthen relationships with each stakeholder group are noted. Finally, the utility and limitations of stakeholder analysis are discussed.