Stakeholder engagement drivers – Part 2: Self-interested organisations

In the first part of this series of posts we looked at three levels of commitment to stakeholder engagement, self-interest, enlightened self-interest and altruism. This, and the following posts will expand on these and illustrate them with examples. The antithesis of engagement Lets start by looking at an extreme level of disengagement – methamphetamine (P)Continue reading “Stakeholder engagement drivers – Part 2: Self-interested organisations”

Stakeholder mapping – for threat or opportunity?

To map stakeholders, AccountAbility’s approach is to rank each stakeholder with a number of factors. This approach provides some scaffolding to enable a more objective assessment. Here is a summary of these factors from an earlier version of AccountAbility’s AA1000SES.  Responsibility – the organisation has, or in the future may have, legal, financial and operationalContinue reading “Stakeholder mapping – for threat or opportunity?”

Engaging stories: rebuilding Christchurch

The City of Christchurch, New Zealand was devastated by a series of earthquakes. The largest, on the 4 September 2010 wrecked havoc in the central city, but the second quake on 22 February killed 181 people and all but destroyed the central city. The response of the people of Christchurch is an inspiring engagement story.Continue reading “Engaging stories: rebuilding Christchurch”

Sustainability depth – are you green from top to bottom?

Companies trumpet sustainability initiatives, but what is the significance of these initiatives? Another lens we can use to evaluate their efforts is a measure of sustainability depth. There are three levels of performance to consider: the company’s in-house sustainability performance the impact of the company’s products and services on society and the planet the company’sContinue reading “Sustainability depth – are you green from top to bottom?”

Stakeholder engagement pays!

This blog positions stakeholder engagement at the leading edge of sustainability and also, as a core process underpinning a superior business model is transforming older, extractive and exploitative models. However, it is also great to have evidence that stakeholder engagement supports financial sustainability in addition to environmental and social sustainability. Witold Henisz led a majorContinue reading “Stakeholder engagement pays!”

Sustainability – what’s real?

There are a belwildering array of sustainability ratings – but what do we believe? How do we know they are measuring and evaluating the right things? In their Rate the Raters documents, SustainAbility identified over 50 sustainability rating agencies. SustainAbility will offer insights into how credible each rating system is, but I suspect that many imponderables willContinue reading “Sustainability – what’s real?”

Sustainability leadership report

How do you know if a company is green-washing, or over-promoting its sustainability performance? Brand Logic’s recently released Sustainability Leadership Report compares the perceptions of sustainability of 100 prominent brands, with their sustainability reality. Their matrix, sorts the brands into 4 categories: leaders – those who perform well in environmental, social and governance (ESG) dimensionsContinue reading “Sustainability leadership report”

Engagement stories – Mäori Health Services

Just decades ago, the gulf between health practitioners and the many Mäori (the indigenous people of New Zealand), impacted on the quality of health outcomes for Mäori. Bridging this gap is an engagement process. This is the first of my engagement stories and it is close to home. My wife, Huria works as an educatorContinue reading “Engagement stories – Mäori Health Services”

Introducing engaging stories

I’m convinced that stakeholder engagement is the leading edge of sustainability, and that those organisations most skilled at engagement, are more likely to survive and thrive. Engagement isn’t a new practice; good communicators have been engaging for centuries – but with stakeholder engagement emerging as a discipline we have a better understanding of both theContinue reading “Introducing engaging stories”