Dangerous, Dominant, Dependent, or Definitive: Stakeholder Identification When the Profession Faces Major Transgressions

This study examines how professional associations respond to crisis situations. The theoretical concepts presented in a model of stakeholder saliency, developed by Mitchell et al. (1997), are applied in examining how the New Zealand Society of Accountants responded to a significant transgression situation. The embezzlement by John Graham, a chartered accountant, gave rise to significant pressure being brought to bear on the profession by various stakeholder groups. The Graham scandal is described using landmark transgression analysis (Nichols 1997). The stakeholder model is applied in identifying salient stakeholder groups, in describing their activities, and in analyzing the profession's response. The analysis identifies an unprecedented level of activity among the professional body's stakeholder groups and provides a framework useful in making sense of the New Zealand Society's actions as it attempted both to protect its reputation of acting in the public interest as well as serving the interests of its members.