This core concept refers to how stakeholders collaborate with the project team to understand the business need and define a change strategy and a desired future state that meets those needs.

Let's look at an example to bring this Stakeholder concept into the real world: 

Let's continue with our example of the New Orleans Electricity Company. A key stakeholder for the paper-based to electronic statements project is the Customer Services department. It is important to understand the types of inquiries they receive today relating to statements, to ensure that when the new electronic statements are introduced, they understand the change fully and can continue to assist customers in the most effective way. Ideally, this stakeholder group could provide input into the future state in a way that will meet their specific business needs as well.  

Therefore, it is clear that stakeholders play an important role in strategy analysis activities, having a clear relationship with the solution, the need, and the change.