Companies today face increasing pressure from stakeholder groups to become more transparent and involved in addressing various economic, environmental, governance and social issues. Due to the changing corporate environment, not only are companies expected to maximize long-term shareholder value and ensure high standards for employees, suppliers and the communities in which they operate, but they are also expected to be responsive to other stakeholder concerns, sometimes even those unrelated to their business. Moreover, today’s increasingly interconnected society has provided those groups with the ability to more easily collaborate and to monitor, scrutinize and publicize corporate actions. As a result, it is important for companies to adopt and implement a strategy to effectively engage with their stakeholders. Such a strategy may, in turn, generate increased profits for companies and result in creating long-term shareholder value, for example, by way of attracting new customers, increasing customer loyalty and motivating employees.
This corporate governance update discusses certain topics that highlight the need for a stakeholder engagement strategy and presents considerations to facilitate boardroom and C-suite discussions to help execute a cohesive and effective engagement strategy.
This article was republished by The CLS Blue Sky Blog on August 13, 2015. Click here to read the article on Columbia Law School's blog.
