Mendelow's matrix explained (with an ACCA SBL example)

The four quadrants explained

How to use Mendelow's matrix in the SBL exam

SBL tasks rarely ask you to "draw Mendelow". They ask you to assess stakeholders for a particular decision, such as a closure, a takeover or a new strategy. ACCA's examining team uses Mendelow as the standard way to think about stakeholder influence (ACCA: All about stakeholders). To score well:

1. Tie it to the decision. A stakeholder's power and interest depend on the issue. Say which decision you are mapping.
2. Use case evidence. Justify each placement with a fact from the scenario: voting rights, funding, media reach, regulation.
3. Look for movement. Point out who could move quadrant, for example a regulator moving from C to D after a scandal, or employees uniting through a union.
4. Recommend actions. Finish with specific steps for the key players and anyone at risk of moving.

Worked example: a heritage charity

Using the March 2025 SBL pre-seen, Historic Places (HP), a charity considering expanding its commercial activities:

• D, key players: the Board of Trustees (they approve strategy) and the Charity Supervisory Board if the change raises regulatory questions.
• C, keep satisfied: major corporate sponsors and large donors, who could withdraw funding if the charity looks too commercial.
• B, keep informed: 20,000 volunteers and members, who care deeply and may resist change, and could move to D if they act together or go to the media.
• A, minimal effort: occasional visitors with no membership.

Limitations to mention for evaluation marks

• It is a snapshot. Positions change over time and between decisions.
• Placing stakeholders is a judgement and can be biased.
• It ignores how stakeholders might form coalitions.
• It shows how to manage stakeholders but not whose interests should come first ethically.

How to build a Mendelow's matrix, step by step

1. Define the decision. For example, "closing the regional office" or "accepting the takeover bid".
2. List every stakeholder group. Think internal (board, managers, staff), connected (shareholders, lenders, customers, suppliers) and external (government, regulators, community, media, pressure groups).
3. Score power. What can they do to the organisation? Sources of power include voting rights, funding, contracts, legal authority, scarce skills and public influence.
4. Score interest. How much does this decision affect them, and how likely are they to act?
5. Place and justify. Put each group in a quadrant and give one line of case evidence for the placement.
6. Plan the response. Set a communication and engagement approach for each quadrant, starting with key players.

Common SBL exam mistakes

• Describing the matrix in theory instead of placing the case's real stakeholders.
• Mapping stakeholders in general rather than for the specific decision in the task.
• Treating all employees or all shareholders as one group when the case shows they differ.
• Stopping at the map without recommending what management should do.
• Ignoring ethics: a stakeholder can have little power but a strong moral claim.

Mendelow's matrix and other stakeholder models

Mendelow uses two attributes, power and interest. Mitchell, Agle and Wood's salience model uses three attributes instead: power, legitimacy and urgency. Urgency helps explain why a low-power group can suddenly demand attention. Freeman's stakeholder theory is the wider idea that an organisation should create value for all its stakeholders, not only shareholders. In SBL, Mendelow is usually the quickest way to show which groups matter for a decision, and you can use salience or ethical arguments to add depth to your evaluation.

FAQs