Who is a stakeholder ?

A stakeholder is anyone who has something to gain or lose as a result of the completion or failure of this project or phase

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) breaks down a stakeholder as a person or organization that:•    Is actively involved in the project•    Has interests that may be positively or negatively affected by the performance or completion of the project•    May exert influence over the project, its deliverables or its team membersIn my work on mapping and managing stakeholders, I have found it important to expand on this basic definition to understand the "stake" of the stakeholder. This helps determine the best way to engage with them.  Here are some of the different stakes a person or organization may have (most have more than one):Interest: To be affected by a decision related to the work or its outcomesRights: To be treated in a certain way or to have a particular right (including legal or moral) protectedOwnership: To have a legal title to an asset or a propertyKnowledge: To possess specialist or organizational knowledge needed for the workImpact or influence: To be impacted by the work or its outcomes, or have the ability to impact (or influence) the execution of work or its outcomesContribution: Relating to the support or assets including the supply of resources, the allocation of funding, or providing advocacy for the objectives of the projectOnce you understand the stake the stakeholder is seeking to protect, profit from or enhance, you can structure your communications to let the person know you understand their hopes or concerns. From this starting point, you're in a much better position to manage the relationship to the benefit of both the project and the stakeholder.

Any individual person or a group ,who is an factor of impact on the Project is considered as a Stakeholder. Thet may furhter be classified based on their level of impact.