Mendelow’s matrix, also called the power-interest grid, sorts stakeholders by how much power they have over an organisation or project and how much interest they take in it, giving four groups: manage closely, keep satisfied, keep informed and monitor. It is associated with Aubrey L. Mendelow of Penn State, whose 1981 ICIS paper tied a company’s scanning effort to the power of each stakeholder relative to the organisation.
Plot each stakeholder on the grid and give each quadrant its own engagement plan, from close partnership to light monitoring.
04
Re-plot when things change
Stakeholders move. A regulator with little interest becomes a key player the moment it decides to act.
Where you see it today
AI rules put the affected on the map
Article 27 of the EU AI Act requires certain deployers of high-risk AI systems, including public bodies and private providers of public services, to assess the impact on fundamental rights first, naming the categories of people likely to be affected and the specific risks to them.
AI risk frameworks name the actors
The NIST AI Risk Management Framework, released on 26 January 2023, maps the ‘AI actors’ across an AI system’s lifecycle and notes that residual risk lands on end users and affected individuals and communities, groups that often sit in the low-power, high-interest corner.
Regulators changing quadrant
The EU AI Act says it applies from 2 August 2026, with its prohibitions applying from 2 February 2025. For AI providers, regulators that were ‘keep satisfied’ become key players as rules take effect.
Scanning in a fast market
Mendelow’s 1981 paper linked how a firm scans its environment to how dynamic that environment is and to each stakeholder’s power. In fast-moving AI markets, that argues for re-plotting the grid often, not once a year.
Mendelow's matrix and related tools
Mendelow's matrix
What it sortsStakeholders by power and interest
Best forDeciding how much to engage each group
Stakeholder mapping
What it sortsWho the stakeholders are and how they connect
Best forSeeing the whole field first
RACI matrix
What it sortsWho is responsible, accountable, consulted, informed
What it sortsStrengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
Best forSumming up a strategic position
How to use it
Start with a full list of stakeholders before you score anyone; missing a group is the most common error.
Score power and interest separately, and write down why, so others can challenge the placement.
Give each quadrant a concrete plan: who owns the relationship, how often you talk, through which channel.
For AI projects, add the people affected by the system's decisions, even when they have little power.
Re-plot after every major event: a new rule, a public complaint, a change of leadership.
The Business Engineer lens
In AI deployments, the people with the least power over the system are often the ones it affects most, and rules such as the EU AI Act now give them formal weight. The Business Engineer’s view is that stakeholder maps have become part of AI productdesign, not just projectmanagement.
A two-by-two grid that sorts stakeholders by their power over a project or organisation and their interest in it, with an engagement strategy for each quadrant.
What are the four quadrants of Mendelow's matrix?
Manage closely (high power, high interest), keep satisfied (high power, low interest), keep informed (low power, high interest) and monitor (low power, low interest).
Who created Mendelow's matrix?
It is associated with Aubrey L. Mendelow; his 1981 ICIS paper linked environmental scanning to stakeholders' power.
How is Mendelow's matrix used for AI projects?
Map who is affected by the AI system's decisions as well as who controls it; the EU AI Act requires some deployers to identify affected groups and risks.
Correction (10 Oct 2026): an earlier section on this page showed unsourced figures; it has been removed.
The Mendelow stakeholder matrix is a framework used to analyze stakeholder attitudes and expectations and their potential impact on business decisions.
The Mendelow Stakeholder Matrix is a strategic management framework developed by Aubrey L. Mendelow that categorizes stakeholders based on their level of power and interest in a project or organization. This 2×2 grid helps managers prioritize stakeholder engagement strategies by plotting stakeholders into four quadrants: minimal effort, keep informed, keep satisfied, and manage closely.
Stakeholder Category
Description
Implications
Examples
High Power, High Interest (Key Players)
Stakeholders with significant influence over the project or organization and a high level of interest.
Engage closely with these stakeholders, collaborate, and actively manage their expectations.
Major shareholders, senior executives, key customers.
High Power, Low Interest
Stakeholders with significant influence but relatively low interest in the project or organization.
Regulatory agencies, industry associations.
Low Power, High Interest
Stakeholders with limited influence but a high level of interest in the project or organization.
Frontline employees, local communities, specialized interest groups.
Low Power, Low Interest (Minimal Effort)
Stakeholders with limited influence and low interest.
Monitor their concerns passively, provide basic information, and avoid over-investing resources.
Vendors, casual customers, general public.
Key takeaways
Mendelow’s matrix sorts stakeholders by two things: their power over a project and their interest in it.
That gives four groups, each with its own approach: manage closely, keep satisfied, keep informed, monitor.
People move between groups as a project changes, so the map is worth redoing at each stage.
Understanding the Mendelow stakeholder matrix
The ability to manage stakeholders is critical to the project’s success.
However, any project manager will know how complicated it can be to juggle the various competing interests of stakeholders simultaneously.
Since these interests are often contradictory, they can cause conflict, disharmony, and a loss of productivity.
To balance the conflicting priorities of stakeholders, the Mendelow matrix analyzes their attitudes across two key variables:
Power
Defined as the ability of a stakeholder to coerce, induce, or persuade another group to take a specific course of action.
Interest
Or the likelihood that a stakeholder will be motivated to exert their power to have their needs met.
Interest can sometimes be more difficult to quantify and is context specific.
The four categories of Mendelow’s matrix
The Mendelow matrix is divided into four categories with stakeholder interest (low to high) on the x-axis and stakeholder power (low to high) on the y-axis.
Let’s take a look at the four combinations below:
Low priority (low power, low interest)
These are stakeholders with the lowest ability to impact a project and, in any case, are not interested in doing so.
There is less of a need to inform or engage with this group but it should be monitored in case circumstances change.
These stakeholders are usually local groups, suppliers, or members of the community.
While these stakeholders may not require significant attention, it is still important to monitor their interests and engage with them as needed to maintain a positive relationship.
Keep informed (low power, high interest)
It is important to keep these stakeholders in the loop to ensure there are no concerns that could become major problems later.
While this group has low power, a high level of interest means they may lobby a more powerful group to have their needs met. In other words, they may be directly affected by the organization’s actions or decisions but not have the authority to influence those decisions.
Employees often fall into this category, as do other stakeholders such as customers and local communities.
These stakeholders may not have the power to directly impact decisions, but their support and engagement can be valuable for the brand’s reputation and also the organization’s long-term viability.
Keep satisfied (high power, low interest)
Despite their low interest, these stakeholders need to be kept informed/satisfied for various reasons.
They tend to be powerful organizations such as banks, governments, law enforcement, insurance companies, and other regulatory bodies.
Other stakeholders to fall in this quadrant include trade associations and any other entities that can yield power over an industry if required.
While such stakeholders may not be actively engaged with (or even interested in) the company’s day-to-day operations, they must be kept informed and involved because of their ability to exert power.
Key players (high power, high interest)
These are stakeholders that need to be managed closely to ensure they are fully engaged with the project. With high power and high interest, it is these stakeholders that tend to be the most influential.
They comprise directors, upper management, and investors who are actively involved in decision-making and have the power to terminate a project if dissatisfied.
Further examples of stakeholders in this quadrant include major shareholders, government regulators, and customers with large accounts.
Managing relationships with these stakeholders is critical for the company’s success since their support and cooperation substantially influences outcomes.
Mendelow matrix best practices
With the various stakeholder groups identified, project managers can devise tailored plans to better manage communications while endeavoring to keep each satisfied.
Remember that stakeholders may shift between quadrants without warning – particularly if specific needs or conditions are not met.
A project that fails to meet strict environmental standards, for example, may see the government move from the “Keep satisfied” (high power, low interest) to the “Key player” (high power, high interest) if it intends to impose sanctions.
Advantages of Mendelow stakeholder matrix
To conclude, let’s take a look at a couple of the advantages and disadvantages of the matrix.
Clarity
The matrix is a tool that offers clarity on how organizations should manage different stakeholders. It helps them identify which stakeholders require immediate attention and engagement, and which are lower priority and can be managed with less effort.
By clearly categorizing stakeholders into different quadrants, organizations can tailor their communication, engagement, and relationship-building strategies accordingly.
Decision-making guidance
Mendelow’s matrix can also be a valuable tool that supports organizational decision-making processes. By understanding the power and interest of stakeholders, practitioners can make more informed decisions about how to engage with different groups.
For example, stakeholders in the high power and high interest quadrant may require more consultation and involvement, while stakeholders with low power and low interest likely require less attention.
Disadvantages of Mendelow stakeholder matrix
Simplicity
While the simplicity of the matrix can be an asset to a company that wants to easily determine stakeholder power, this trait can also be a drawback.
Stakeholder relationships are often complex and multidimensional and cannot always be accurately captured by a two-dimensional matrix with four quadrants. It is also important to note that stakeholder power and interest can be dynamic and fluctuate over time.
Their relationships with an organization may also be influenced by numerous other factors such as values, emotions, and historical interactions. Thus, relying solely on the Mendelow matrix may result in oversimplification and a lack of nuance in understanding stakeholder dynamics.
Subjectivity
Power and interest can sometimes be nebulous concepts, which means that assessing these traits for various stakeholders is open to interpretation.
Different stakeholders may perceive their own power and interest differently, and the same can also be said for companies.
Subjectivity can lead to inconsistencies and biases in categorizing stakeholders into the Mendelow matrix. In some cases, this may cause the business to choose an inappropriate stakeholder strategy.
Key takeaways
The Mendelow stakeholder matrix is a framework used to analyze stakeholder attitudes and expectations and their potential impact on business decisions.
The Mendelow stakeholder matrix analyzes attitudes across two key variables: power and interest. Power is the ability of a stakeholder to influence the actions of others, while interest is defined as the likelihood of using that power.
Mendelow’s matrix illustrates varying degrees of power and interest in quadrants that represent different stakeholder groups. These groups are low priority, keep informed, keep satisfied, and key players.
Key Highlights
Purpose of the Matrix:
Importance of Managing Stakeholders:
Effective stakeholder management is crucial for project success, but it can be complex due to conflicting interests. The matrix aids in managing stakeholder relationships.
Two Key Variables:
The matrix evaluates stakeholders based on two variables: power and interest.
Power: The ability of a stakeholder to influence, coerce, or persuade others.
Interest: The likelihood that a stakeholder will use their power to address their needs.
Four Categories in the Matrix:
The matrix is divided into four quadrants based on stakeholder power and interest:
Low Priority (Low Power, Low Interest)
Keep Informed (Low Power, High Interest)
Keep Satisfied (High Power, Low Interest)
Key Players (High Power, High Interest)
Stakeholder Categories Explained:
Each quadrant corresponds to different stakeholder groups and how they should be managed:
Low Priority: Not impactful or interested stakeholders, but still monitored.
Keep Informed: Low power but high interest stakeholders who may influence powerful groups.
Keep Satisfied: High power stakeholders with low interest, requiring information to maintain a positive relationship.
Key Players: High power and high interest stakeholders with significant influence on outcomes.
Adapting Strategies:
Organizations should tailor their communication, engagement, and relationship-building strategies based on stakeholder placement in the matrix.
Advantages of the Matrix:
Clarity: The matrix offers clarity in managing stakeholders by categorizing them into different quadrants, guiding appropriate engagement efforts.
Decision-Making Guidance: The matrix aids decision-making by suggesting how to engage with stakeholders based on their power and interest levels.
Disadvantages of the Matrix:
Simplistic: The matrix’s simplicity can oversimplify complex stakeholder relationships, lacking nuance in understanding dynamics.
Subjectivity: Assessing power and interest can be subjective, leading to inconsistencies and biases in stakeholder categorization.
How AI Is Changing This
AI is fundamentally reshaping the Mendelow Stakeholder Matrix by accelerating how stakeholders move between quadrants and creating new categories of influential actors. Traditional stakeholder mapping assumed relatively static positions, but AI enables rapid shifts in both interest and power levels. For example, social media influencers can now instantly mobilize thousands of consumers against a company through AI-powered content creation and targeted distribution, quickly moving from low power/low interest to high power/high interest quadrants within hours. AI algorithms amplify their reach exponentially, transforming previously peripheral stakeholders into critical players requiring immediate management attention. Additionally, AI itself has become a stakeholder – algorithm owners like Google or Facebook now wield significant power over business outcomes through search rankings and content visibility. Companies must now continuously monitor and reassess their stakeholder maps using AI-driven analytics, as the traditional quarterly or annual reviews are too slow for today’s dynamic stakeholder landscape.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
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