Purpose – the purpose of this paper is to propose a method for integral assessing the priority level of specific stakeholders in the model of stakeholder management.

Research methodology – the paper develops ideas of matrix approach to assessing the priority level of individual stakeholders and proposes a method for obtaining more accurate integral assessment based on analysis of a set of indicators, taking into account factors of subjective estimates.

Findings – the integral assessment of the priority level of specific external stakeholders improves estimates’ accuracy and provides a practical framework for the development of successful corporate social responsibility strategies. It has been substantiated by the application of the proposed method for prioritising suppliers of a large Ukranian metallurgical company.

Research limitations – there are requirements for a linear or quasi-linear nature of the relationship between the numerical value of the stakeholder’s priority index and its interpretation on a “better to worse” scale within the framework of the proposed method of evaluation.

Practical implications – integral assessments of stakeholder priority obtained from the results of the proposed method can be used as a tool for reasonable comparison, selection of strategic stakeholders and building programs for interaction with them.

Originality/Value – unlike most existing methods of stakeholder analysis representing a generic list of priority stakeholder groups the method proposed in the paper provides an integral assessment of priority level of specific stakeholders from the category of the immediate environment through a system of indicators, taking into account factors of subjectivity.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3846/cibmee.2019.046