04/2008Nucleus-International.net1 Lobby and Advocacy of Business Chambers and Associations Nucleus-International.net.

04/2008 Nucleus-International.net 1

Lobby and Advocacy of

Business Chambersand Associations

Nucleus-International.netNucleus-International.net


Who decides what?

Enterprises Entrepreneurs

Chamber

Service

DecisionTaker

ChamberEntrepreneurs

OtherActors

Lobby

ChamberEntrepreneurs

Other Actors

ChamberEntrepreneu

rs

Objective:to improve

the memberenterprises

Objective:to influence / improve the

entrepreneur’sframeworkconditions


Objective of Lobby : Improvement of the framework conditions for economic activities ...

Infrastructure

Statistics

Labour marketTaxes, fees

FinanceSuppliers

Markets

Public tenders

Industriallocationpolicy

Education,training, research

Chamber

Public Institutions

Transport

Security

Public support

EnvironmentCommunication

Culture

Privatisation

Cooperation, networks

Building sites

Market promotion

Media


Framework conditions for enterprises

• Local, district, regional government and relevant departments– Policy and objectives: Defined, clear, stable?– Development plan for the town and the

district / region? Elaborated, implemented?– Public services: Efficient, public servants are

qualified and oriented to objectives?– Degree of bureaucracy?– Degree of corruption?



• Data– Socio-economic

statistics– Maps

• Markets– Purchase power of

consumers, companies, public institutions

• Infrastructure– Streets / roads– Harbour– Airport– Water / sewage /

garbage– Energy



• Taxes and Fees– Tax system: simple, fair, easing and rewarding

investments– Fees: low, simple, justified

• Public Support– Financial subsidies, tax relief– Provision of land– Support in training employees



• Building Sites– Quantity– Access – Quality– Price– Infrastructure

prepared

• Transport– Of goods– Of persons

in the town(pedestrian, bicycle, car, public transport)

national / international (airplane, ship)



• Public Tenders– Rules– Public investments

participation of local enterprises

size of bids (small / big)

• Supply of Goods and Services– Raw material – Pre-products– Services– Outsourcing



• Bank System and Financing – Banks: fast,

efficient– Services: deposits,

credits, leasing etc.– Credits: access,

costs / interest rates, grace periods

• Privatisation– of enterprises and

public services– of training

institutions

• Market Promotion Activities– Trade fairs– Congress’ – Tourism



• Education, Training, Research

– Schools– Training institutions– Universities– Research institutions

• Labour Market– Qualification and

quantity of employees inreference to the present and future requirements

• Chambers and Associations– Quality of services– Efficiency of lobby

• Cooperation and Networks– Functioning

networks between all actors

– Positive mood and constructive relationship



• Communication / Media– Communication:

Phone, mobile phone, internet

– Media: TV, radio, newspapers

• Environment Protection– Balance between

ecology and economy

• Culture – Events– Institutions

(cinema, theatre, etc.)

• Security– Security level


Objective of Lobby : Improvement of the framework conditions for economic activities ...

Infrastructure

Statistics

Labour marketTaxes, fees

FinanceSuppliers

Markets

Public tenders

Industriallocationpolicy

Education,training, research

Chamber

Public Institutions

Transport

Security

Public support

EnvironmentCommunication

Culture

Privatisation

Cooperation, networks

Building sites

Market promotion

Media


The Target Group of Chamber Lobbying


Who lobbies in favour of what and where?

DistrictChamber

Federation

National subjectswhich can be solvedonly on the nationallevel by nationalinstitutions

Local and district

subjectswhich can be solvedon the local /districtlevel by local /district institutions


Why?

DistrictChamber

Federation National subjects

Local and district

subjects

The influenced person / institution must have the competence to decide about the subject!

Otherwise the lobbying is inefficient!


Examples

DistrictChamber

FederationNational subjects- Income tax- Import- / export levies

Local and district

subjects- Local tax- Local tenders- Building sites


Who lobbies whom?

DistrictChamber

Federation

National level-Government- Parliament- Administration- Political parties- Other institutions- General public

Local and district level-Government- Parliament- Administration- Political parties- Other institutions- General public


Strategies for Lobbying


Lobby means

• To influence stakeholders with the power to make decisions relevant for the development of the economy and society.

• Lobbying can be understood as– A continuous task

in order to represent the chamber’s and entrepreneurs’ interests on a subject area

– An isolated campaign in order to – as an example - to create a new law


Fundamental Principles for efficient lobbying: 1

• Profound knowledge of the subject is the most important aspect to justify a proposal or claim.



• The subject must be stated precisely and clearly.



• The lobbying chamber as well as its representatives must be trustworthy.


Fundamental Principles for an efficient lobby work: 4

• The chamber’s partners interests must be known and understood as reference point, in order to allow a realistic evaluation.



• Self-interests of the entrepreneurs should not be presented as demands. Instead, the arguments– Have to be self-convincing– Have to provide additional information.

• Therefore, the partner must perceive that he / she received an information advantage.



• Use a step by step approach. • Do not aim to achieve immediate “great

impact” results.



• The chamber should not confront the partner with proposals and claims– For which he / she is not responsible– Which he / she objectively cannot address.



• It is a must for the chamber to develop a close relationship network to public and private institutions and its stakeholders.

• Lobby is a constant exchange of information (give and take).



• The chamber must not perform like a “branch” of the partner’s political opposition.


How to lobby

The instruments


1 : Personal talks

• Permanent personal talks with the partners– Chairperson, directors, CEO, eventually other

staff members

• … in order to develop a personal relationship– … I inform you, you inform me

• Networking through “Body to Body” work


1 : Personal talks

• Strategy: The more I know someone as trustworthy personthe more– I listen to his / her arguments– I trust his / her information– I follow his / her proposals


2. Permanent presence

• The chamber shows presence on as many events of stakeholders as possible.

• Message: “We are here !!!”• Important: If the subject of the event is

known then the chamber representative should be prepared to say:This is the position of the chamber!



• A honorary member of the chamber’s board normally does not have the time and it is not his / her job to elaborate a qualified statement

• This the job of the chamber’s professionals task or of external experts

• Afterwards they have to brief the chamber representative



• Observations: – Nothing is more counter productive for the

chamber than an unqualified statement– Avoid ad hoc statements based on feelings!


3 Participation in workgroups

• Active participation in workgroups with participants– from the private sector

(different chambers, sector companies and other institutions)

– From the public and private sector(Examples: Energy Forum, Tourism Task Force, Environment Protection for our Town, etc.



• Observations: – Take care that always the same chamber

representative participates in the workgroup!Nothing is more frustrating than to be always confronted with different participants who have different ideas where the workgroup is at present

– The chamber representative has be prepared for the workgroup

Eventually: link a director plus the CEO. The preparation, the elaboration of papers, the collection of data etc. is done by the professional



• Be prepared for the discussion of the subject and prepare adequate papers

• Example: Energy forumThen the chamber must know– Who of the members use which kind of

energy?– How much energy?– What are the problems for the enterprises?– How often do electric blackouts occur?– Which economic damages are caused by the

blackouts?



– For which member enterprises could alternative energy sources be interesting?

• Present operational proposals– Public campaign: “We save energy!”– Private Public Partnership:

- Training of energy counselors- Invitation of specialists to advice the biggest energy consumers- etc. etc.


4 Chamber events

• Regular public events in the chamber to discuss subjects

• Invite and present the chamber’s proposals– The mayor / governor

twice per year - only once is useless– Public departments– Representatives of training schools and similar

institutions– Specialists– Etc.


4 Chamber events

• Observations– Take care that the hall is filled with chamber

entrepreneurs– Define a well prepared subject about which the

invited person should talk. – Take care that the invited person does not do

only a boring self-presentation– Prepare questions– Let someone who is qualified for this and

knows something about the subject do the moderation


4 Chamber events

• Messages: – “We are here!”– “We speak in the name of many

entrepreneurs!”– “We participate and take care of the economic

development of our community!”– “We have concrete proposals

and recommendations!”


Excurse : The Brassware Nucleus

• The brassware entrepreneurs suffered: – Non availability of raw materials

because some traders are exporting all the material they can get their hands on to another country

– Effect: In some cases this led to even the closedown of enterprises that have existed for generations



• The brassware Nucleus decided that it need to take action– It organized a demonstration

(one of the areas renowned for the brassware) – The chamber counselors introduced the

Nucleus members to various media representatives to get publicity for the event



• Effects:– Some members of the Nucleus were invited for

a meeting with a Deputy Minister of the Central Government

– The Deputy Minister in turn invited them to parliament and got them an appointment with a delegation of Ministers from related Ministries, including the Prime Minister

– The Government delegation promised to take immediate action



– First step: Passing of a cabinet paper prohibiting the export of this metal

– The budget speech of the Finance Minister has taken up the issue and proposed to impose a tax of 25 percent on export of scrap or any form of metal



• This example shows:

The Nuclei can be an imported source for concrete lobby activities

of the chambers !


5 Political elections

• The chamber invites the candidates for the local / regional elections for a sequence of public events– One after the other, never all together !!!

• The chamber presents a list of proposals and recommendations to the candidate for discussion and– To hear the positions and opinions of the candidate– To see who of the candidates will best support the

development of the enterprises and the economy– To help the members to take the “right” decision

in the election


5 Political elections

• After the elections:– Maintain permanent contact with the elected

candidates– Invite them again for public discussions:

- What did you promise?- What did you do up to now?- What will happen next?


6 Internal Chamber discussions

• Discussion amongst members to identify the chamber’s opinion / stand point – Allow arguments, ideas, opinions, needs,

experiences etc. to be exchanged amongst members

– Integrate members when defining and defending the chamber’s and entrepreneur’s interests

• Key question – The subject is important / relevant / interesting

for the members?


6 Internal Chamber discussions

• Example: “The Municipal Council’s intention to move the local food market elsewhere”

This is the chamber’s opinion! This is what the chamber’s members

propose!


7 Information of members

• The member entrepreneurs have to know for what the chamber stands for– The members learn that the chamber is active– They are informed about the chamber’s

opinion which he / she make as his / her own opinion

– The members serve as messenger to disseminate the chamber’s opinion


7 Information of members

• Instruments– Member events– Chamber newsletter / printed journal ---

expensive– Weekly chamber information letter by e-mail ---

cheap (examples: Joinville, Blumenau, Brazil)– Nucleus information letter / e-mail– Notice and photo board

(examples: Matale and Badulla, Sri Lanka)– Flyers and other material


8 Public relations

• Objective: – To inform the public– To influence the publicAbout the chambers opinion and its activities

• Purpose:– To show that the chamber and its

entrepreneurs are working in favour of the development of society

– To attract more entrepreneurs to apply for membership


8 Public relations

• Instruments– Press release– Press talk– TV and radio interviews– Prepared articles, stories etc. for

newspapers– Regular / weekly columns in newspapers


8 Public relations

• Message:– The chamber participates in society’s interests

& discussions– The chamber is heard– The chamber is respected

• Example: ”The Chamber’s president meets the governor & the chief minister!”

Play the drums and make “noise”

Or: Each day the chamber does not appear in the media

is a lost day!


The main requirement for successful lobby and public relations

• Each publication• Each phrase• Each ...needs a

MessageMessage


Key question

What is the message?What is the message?

Who is the target group?Who is the target group?


Nucleus-International.net

• This file is part of our material to present and illustrate our activities to professional and elected officials of business associations, personnel from technical cooperation projects, and other people with an interest in this field. We are involved in a constant process of elaborating and improving this material, and targeting it to the demands of specific groups.

• You may use, copy, and change this file as you like (we do not insist on a copyright).

• We would, however, like to ask you for the following: please send us a copy (as a file or printout) and additional information if you use the file or parts of it.

• Thank you!• The Nucleus-International.net team

04/2008Nucleus-International.net1 Lobby and Advocacy of Business Chambers and Associations Nucleus-International.net.

Documents

netframework conditions

public servants

netobjective of lobby

lobby cooperation

town pedestrian

economic activities

mobile phone

quantity of employees