A public issue is any issue that is of mutual concern to an organization and one or more of its

stakeholders. Public issues are frequently argumentative—different groups may have different
opinions about what should be done about them. They often, but not always, have public strategy
or authoritative ramifications. Emerging public issues are both a risk and an opportunity. They
are a risk because issues that firms do not anticipate and plan for effectively can seriously hurt a
company. As the following examples show, sometimes a firm anticipates and addresses a public
issue very well and other times it does not.

As new public issues arise, businesses must respond. Organizations need a systematic way of
identifying, monitoring, and selecting public issues that warrant organizational action because of
the risks or opportunities, they present. Proactive companies do not wait for something to
happen; they actively manage issues as they arise. The process of doing so is called issue
management. The issue management process.

The managers who are involved in issue management are called issue manager or merchant
banker.

 What kinds of managers are best able to anticipate and respond effectively to emerging
public issues?
 What skill sets are required?

If the Committee agrees that future investigation is required, an issue manager(s) volunteer or
issue manager(s) are appointed by the Committee leadership. In general, the issue manager’s role
is to identify research and track issues to frame for presentation to the Committee.
The issue manager(s) will serve as:

 The primary contact for the Committee, the Board and facilitators.
 The issue contact for the Agencies and other parties.
 The focal point for comments gathering.

The issue manager(s) is responsible for:

 Monitoring the current status, new developments and time constraints of issues.
 Coordinating issue meetings, communicating with other issue managers and Agency
staff.
  Determining the time sensitivity of the issue.
 Identifying other Committee members to work on the issue, including representatives
from other HAB Committees, should the issue be cross‐cutting.
 Identifying appropriate, knowledgeable individuals for issue presentations. Presenters
could be Agency staff, Board members or other experts.

There are several activities that have to be performed by the issue manager in order to raise
money from the capital market. Adequate planning needs to be done while chalking out an
appropriate marketing. An analytical study of various sources, the quantum, the appropriate time,
the cost of raising capital and the possible impact of such resources of the overall capital
structure will greatly help this task.

Issue identification involves anticipating emerging concerns, sometimes called “horizon issues”
because they seem to be just coming up over the horizon like the first morning sun. Sometimes
managers become aware of issues by carefully tracking the media, experts’ views, activist
opinion, and legislative developments to identify issues of concern to the public. Organizations
often use techniques of data searching, media analysis, and public surveys to track ideas, themes,
and issues that may be relevant to their interests all over the world. They also rely on ongoing
conversations with key stakeholders. Sometimes, awareness of issues is forced on companies by
lawsuits or protests by activists who hold strong views about a particular matter. A corporation’s
issue management activities are usually linked to both the board of directors and to top
management levels, because of their increasing importance.