The outline obtained derived from various analytic focuses. The new Guideline Plan is the fruit of internal work and external validation. Below we give a brief round-up of the main points of the methodology employed.

It is important to underline the deductive focus of the plan, which employs a methodology of progressive definition, taking into account the proposals of the AA1000 standard of AccountAbility: approximation to stakeholders; analysis of inclusivity; study of relevance; identification of priorities; definition of action; and monitoring action taken.

In order to lay the foundations of the Guideline Plan we identified the most important stakeholders for Grupo SOS. To do this four differentiation criteria were defined:

• Liability: stakeholders to which Grupo SOS is in one way or another responsible, be it legally, financially or operationally.
• Influence: stakeholders that are key to achieving the aims and objectives of Grupo SOS.
• Proximity: this defines the stakeholders with which Grupo SOS interacts, based on daily ongoing relationships and/or groups that are physically within the catchment area of the Group’s different installations.
• Dependence: those stakeholders most heavily dependent on Group decisions.

From this classification process we obtained an initial map of stakeholders, with a list of expectations and the steps that needed to be taken to respond to their requirements.

We next examined their nature, interests and principle characteristics, grouping them by type and shared expectations. From this analysis the following groups emerged:

• Staff: our human capital
• Communities: those residing within the neighbourhood of our production centres; the Administration; NGOs.
• Partners: consumers, customers, shareholders and investors, suppliers, financial institutions.
• Prescribers: the educational and academic worlds; the media.