Title: The importance of stakeholder engagement in managing corporate reputations

Authors: Anria S. Van Zyl

Addresses: Department of Accountancy, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa

Abstract: It is becoming increasingly evident that corporations need to communicate clearly with their larger stakeholder communities' regarding the risks faced by the corporation along with their strategies to mitigate these risks. Stakeholder communities are also increasingly relying on social media to obtain a better understanding of and to inform others regarding the costs and externalities imposed on them by multinational corporations. The aim of this paper is to highlight the risks posed to corporate reputations by self-organising stakeholder activist groups and how a pro-active inclusive and transparent stakeholder engagement process can counteract these risks.

Keywords: integrated reporting; stakeholder engagement; sustainability; branding; corporate reputations; reputation management; activism; greenwashing; blackwashing; social media; multinational corporations; MNCs; self-organising activist groups; sustainable development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISD.2013.052120

International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, 2013 Vol.7 No.1, pp.46 - 60

Received: 17 Oct 2011
Accepted: 20 Jun 2012
Published online: 14 Feb 2013 *

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