Edward Freeman describes a stakeholder as "any group or individual that can affect or is affected by the achievement of a corporation's purpose" (Freeman, 1984). Regarding stakeholders in the context of any organisational transformation the verdict is unanimous, namely their role is catalytic. Mitchell et al. (1997) buttress their prominent place in organisational proceedings based on their types as well as how the management perceives them in the axes of power, legitimacy and urgency. Donald and Preston (1995) presented the intrinsic value nature of stakeholders in a project when they explained that every group of stakeholders is involved for the merits of its own interest and not because it has the ability to further other stakeholder's interest. Therefore it is of utmost importance that stakeholders are correctly identified, a strong relationship is established with them and sufficient comprehension of their interest in the pertinent change initiative is acquired. I believe that, ideally, the aforementioned relationship should be mutually benefiting and based on a balanced bi-directional flow of information. Question: It would be interesting to examine the role of stakeholders in change management initiatives in the realm of the 3 programme life cycle categories as articulated in PMI (2013c). What do you think? References Donaldson, T, & Preston, L E 1995 'The stakeholder theory of the corporation: concepts, evidence, and implications', Academy of Management Review, 20(1), 65-91. doi:10.5465/AMR.1995.9503271992 Freeman, R E 1984 'Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach', Boston, MA: Pitman Mitchell, R, Agle, B, & Wood, D 1997, 'TOWARD A THEORY OF STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION AND SALIENCE: DEFINING THE PRINCIPLE OF WHO AND WHAT REALLY COUNTS', Academy Of Management Review, 22, 4, p. 853 Project Management Institute (2013c) The standard for program management. 3rd ed. Newtown Square, PA: Author.