Explore this subject further: Investors want to understand how your business will create value; Customers need to see the value in your environmental claims; Employees want credible action and a future they can work towards; Suppliers need a practical path from expectations to delivery.
Investors, customers, employees and suppliers each influence how your business creates and sustains value.
Their expectations can affect access to capital, customer demand, workforce capability, supply reliability and the cost of doing business.
But not every expectation is material to every enterprise. Leaders need to understand which expectations are changing, how they could affect business performance, and what information supports that assessment.
The question for leaders is which stakeholder expectations and behaviours could change enterprise value.
Fieldwork Technical & Digital
For this fictional technical and digital services business, specialist knowledge, intellectual property and customer relationships are central to enterprise value. Founder and CEO Alex Morgan needs to understand whether changing customer expectations will create demand for new services, and whether Fieldwork can recruit, develop or partner for the capabilities required to deliver them.
Leadership question: Which emerging customer requirements mean we need to strengthen our service offering, and what customer insight justifies investing in new capabilities?
Mallee Harvest Foods
For this fictional Australian food business, product quality, reliable supply and relationships with growers and customers underpin performance. Managing Director Helen Russo needs to understand how changing buyer requirements, input availability and growing conditions could affect supply commitments and margins.
Leadership question: Which customer and supplier expectations could cause us to change our product mix, sourcing arrangements or investment priorities?
Four example stakeholder perspectives to investigate
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| Stakeholder | Potential enterprise value connection | Information leaders should investigate |
|---|---|---|
| Investors and financiers | Cost and availability of capital, investment confidence and financial flexibility | Financing terms, investor questions, credit conditions and indicators of future earnings resilience |
| Customers | Revenue, retention, pricing and market access | Tender requirements, contract terms, purchasing decisions and customer feedback |
| Employees | Capability, productivity, retention and implementation | Workforce feedback, recruitment and retention data, skills requirements and operational experience |
| Suppliers | Input costs, quality, reliability and delivery capacity | Supplier capability, contractual dependencies, delivery records and investment constraints |
Source context: Illustrative enterprise value relationships and suggested areas for investigation, not findings from a single stakeholder survey. External research may inform the assessment; verify relevant sources and populations before publication.
External research can identify emerging expectations, but it cannot establish how material they are to an individual company. That requires information from the enterprise and direct engagement with stakeholders.
Which expectations deserve attention?
Leaders can assess stakeholder expectations through three questions:
- Relevance: Does the expectation affect an important source of enterprise value or a dependency on which the business relies?
- Consequence: Could it materially change revenue, costs, capital requirements, operational reliability or future growth?
- Business information: What do contracts, commercial decisions, enterprise records and direct stakeholder engagement tell us about its significance?
This approach helps distinguish an emerging expectation from an established commercial requirement. It also identifies where further engagement is needed before drawing conclusions.
Questions for your disclosure
- Governance: How do material stakeholder expectations reach leaders and the board, and who is responsible for responding?
- Strategy: Which expectations could affect the business model, value drivers, revenue, costs or access to resources?
- Risk management: How does the business identify, assess and monitor expectations that could become material climate-related risks or opportunities?
- Metrics and targets: What evidence supports the conclusions, and how will the business assess whether its response is working?
These are suggested leadership questions, not a substitute for the specific AASB S2 disclosure requirements.
The Climate Value Framework connects stakeholder information and insights with enterprise value drivers, risks, opportunities and financial consequences.
Leaders can use this understanding to determine which relationships deserve closer attention, where further engagement is needed, and which responses could protect or create value.
It is not possible to satisfy every expectation. Leaders will recognise and sustain the relationships that underpin company value.
Source note: References and quotations are retained in the article text. Verify original publications, figures and any reuse permissions before public release.