The work that needs to be done in order to rescue business from the moral scrapheap is being done by the authors and editors of this volume ... Unfolding Stakeholder Thinking is the right book at the right time.
R. Edward Freeman



This book provides crucial current impulses as to how companies can view themselves as corporate citizens and, as such, can fulfil their responsibility towards society. The book is also comprehensive reading for academics as well as students trying to unfold stakeholder thinking. This is a book with a vision. It is not simply a compendium of information and ideas.
Dr Andreas Pohlmann, Chief Administrative Officer, Celanese AG

 

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Reviews

Fellow tolerators of Matrix Reloaded should rest assured that this year’s offering from Andriof, Waddock, Husted and Sutherland Rahman is no sequel, but is instead the long anticipated completion of the picture sketched out last year in Unfolding Stakeholder Thinking (UST1).

UST1 . . . analyses justifications for stakeholder orientation and looks at ways in which stakeholder-oriented behaviour can be embedded in the firm. It is in the exploration of stakeholder engagement within a dynamic systems view of corporate behaviour that the first volume excels. Proponents of comprehensive and rigidly applied global standards will find a worthy counterpoint in the fifth chapter, which is on negotiated order, and in the subsequent chapters, which place stakeholder processes at the heart of a living system of relationships in which all participants—including stakeholders—have responsibilities.

UST2 remains as theoretical as UST1. This is a compliment. You cannot decry the absence of a clear training path for CR professionals and then fault a work that attempts to fill this void of conceptual understanding. Theory is not a synonym for impractical, and stakeholder processes form the heart of CR practice by providing a basis on which to define standards of behaviour and then to monitor and report against those expectations.

The articles compiled in this second volume assert the uncontroversial idea that stakeholder dialogue is not merely a mechanism for venting stakeholder frustration and communicating the firm’s PR line but instead needs to be viewed as an integral part of the governance structure of the firm.

The collection begins by recounting the Bangladesh child labour fiasco and in so doing sets out the case for the importance of bringing definition and understanding to the dialogue process itself, beyond glib acceptance of its importance. Only a real understanding of stakeholder concerns and the motivation to be responsive to them will avoid the situation in Bangladesh in which western NGO organisational objectives were found to take precedence over local stakeholder concerns. In that case, children were fired from garment factories following western stakeholder pressure despite ‘the harsh reality that children need to work to survive’ in that country.

The qualities of such a dialogue are explored throughout the collection in depth and with a welcome emphasis on real world examples. Difficult issues are raised, such as the problem of the cacophony of multiple stakeholder voices in a truly inclusive approach, and the fact that the mere act of dialogue, let alone partnership, may represent a threat to the identity of those within stakeholder communities and the company itself. Moreover, there is competition between stakeholders, as well as between the stakeholder and the firm. The case study of the radioactive recycled metals industry suggests that ‘at least for any single given period, [this dynamic] is a zero sum game and large benefits for one stakeholder come at the expense of another’. Given that stakeholder engagement amounts to a negotiation, the role of power and the problem of the power imbalances are pivotal and are explored here.

UST2 raises many issues and does not always address them. In particular, I would have liked to gain more insight into how power imbalances between different groups are successfully mediated, including the potential for the involvement of NGOs. There are clearly many avenues for further research. The fact that the book leaves you with a sense that there is still much left to answer is a feature of the dynamism of the field and the boundary testing nature of the analyses included.

If you wish to keep pace with the developments of thought reflecting this core area of your practice, this book and its companion are a great place to start.
Andrew Newton, Ethical Corporation


The range of the ideas presented, along with the extensive, up-to-date bibliography, provide an accessible road into this increasingly important field.
Natural Resources Forum


 

 

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