Stakeholder engagement in the creation and maintenance of corporate citizenship

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Date
2005Author
De Jongh, Derick
Rensburg, Ronel
De Wet, J. M.
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Recently numerous references have been made to corporate social responsibility,
corporate or brand citizenship, stakeholder engagement, partnerships, sustainable
development and effective corporate governance. One of the fundamental issues in
corporate citizenship is the ability of an organisation to cope with its various
stakeholders and enter into partnerships with these stakeholders for improved business
ventures. The question, however, remains how can organisations take a structured
approach to engage and consult with stakeholders. Organisations need to know who
their stakeholders are, and should be accountable to these stakeholders. Stakeholder
accountability requires that organisations must ensure that governance systems foster
an understanding of business relationships which will allow balanced business
judgments to be made. Stakeholder "voices" need to be heard at the highest level of
organisational governance. This article attempts to define and describe the concept of
stakeholders, illustrates how partnerships can be built between stakeholders and
organisations, and provides a South African perspective on public/private partnerships
in a rapidly changing business landscape. It underpins the importance of creating
business networks, but emphasises that maintenance of relationships with stakeholders
are pivotal for organisations in becoming good corporate citizens.