CPRS Stakeholder Relations 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A municipal utility faces community opposition to a rate increase. Which stakeholder engagement tactic BEST demonstrates transparency and builds public trust?
- Release only the final approved rate schedule after the vote
- Host open public workshops where financial data is presented and questions are answered in real time (Correct answer)
- Distribute a glossy mailer highlighting customer service achievements
- Engage a celebrity spokesperson to promote the rate increase
Correct answer: Host open public workshops where financial data is presented and questions are answered in real time
Open public workshops with real financial data allow stakeholders to engage directly with the decision-making process, signaling genuine transparency.
Question 2: In Freeman's stakeholder theory, which group would be classified as having a PRIMARY stakeholder relationship with a publicly traded corporation?
- Journalists who regularly cover the company
- Shareholders, employees, customers, and suppliers (Correct answer)
- Trade associations and industry coalitions
- Academic researchers who study the industry
Correct answer: Shareholders, employees, customers, and suppliers
Primary stakeholders are those whose participation is essential to the firm's survival — shareholders, employees, customers, and suppliers.
Question 3: A PR team is designing a stakeholder engagement plan for a new infrastructure project. Which step should come FIRST?
- Draft key messages for all audiences simultaneously
- Identify and segment all potential stakeholder groups and their likely concerns (Correct answer)
- Schedule a press conference to announce the project
- Prepare a social media content calendar for the launch week
Correct answer: Identify and segment all potential stakeholder groups and their likely concerns
Stakeholder identification and segmentation must precede message development so that communication is tailored to each group's specific interests.
Question 4: A company promises stakeholders it will 'consult' them on a decision. Under the IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation, 'consult' means:
- The organization will make the decision without considering stakeholder input
- The organization will obtain stakeholder feedback and consider it, but retains final decision-making authority (Correct answer)
- Stakeholders will jointly make the final decision with the organization
- The organization will implement whatever stakeholders decide
Correct answer: The organization will obtain stakeholder feedback and consider it, but retains final decision-making authority
On the IAP2 spectrum, 'consult' means gathering input with a commitment to consider it, but the organization retains decision-making authority.
Question 5: Which scenario BEST illustrates the risk of 'stakeholder fatigue' in a long-running PR campaign?
- Stakeholders demand more information than the company can provide
- Stakeholders disengage from participation after being over-consulted without seeing meaningful results (Correct answer)
- Media outlets stop covering the campaign due to declining newsworthiness
- Employees become overly enthusiastic about the organization's public commitments
Correct answer: Stakeholders disengage from participation after being over-consulted without seeing meaningful results
Stakeholder fatigue occurs when repeated consultation without visible outcomes causes audiences to disengage from the process.
Question 6: A PR specialist is preparing a stakeholder communication matrix. Which combination of elements is MOST essential to include?
- Stakeholder name, budget allocation, and media outlet preference
- Stakeholder group, key interest, preferred channel, frequency of contact, and responsible communicator (Correct answer)
- Stakeholder social media handle, follower count, and engagement rate
- Stakeholder legal status, lobbying history, and public filing records
Correct answer: Stakeholder group, key interest, preferred channel, frequency of contact, and responsible communicator
A communication matrix maps each stakeholder group to their interests, the right channel, contact frequency, and who owns the relationship to ensure systematic engagement.
Question 7: After a successful stakeholder engagement initiative, a company announces results publicly without attributing credit to participating community groups. The LIKELY consequence is:
- Improved company reputation for taking decisive unilateral action
- Erosion of trust and reduced future participation from the community groups (Correct answer)
- Stronger media coverage due to a simplified, company-centric narrative
- No significant impact since community groups rarely expect public recognition
Correct answer: Erosion of trust and reduced future participation from the community groups
Failing to acknowledge stakeholder contributions signals that their participation was performative, undermining trust and discouraging future engagement.
CPRS Stakeholder Relations 5
A municipal utility faces community opposition to a rate increase.
Which stakeholder engagement tactic BEST demonstrates transparency and builds public trust?