Tag Archives: Stakeholder
As more companies put together stakeholder panels to provide ongoing input into sustainability strategic planning and reporting, the question arises: should stakeholders be paid to play?
Many of these panels are composed of well-known experts—in SRI, in supply chain, environmental issues, etc. These individuals have spent years in the field developing their knowledge base… which is precisely the reason their feedback can be a valuable reality check for companies (for example, see: Symantec’s Stakeholder Advisory Council or GE’s Expert Advisory Panel.)
So it seems apparent that there needs to be a way to appropriately compensate “stakeholders” for time and effort in providing counsel and advice. At the same time, companies need to protect against the perception of co-option or bias that a paid relationship might engender.
There are a variety of approaches currently in play: payment for travel and lodging,… More
Following the news from the Copenhagen climate summit has nearly become a full time job. Observing the chaotic deliberations, I am reminded of Adam Kahane’s comments on solving complex sustainability problems via a stakeholder inclusive approach, delivered during this fall’s BSR conference.
What sticks in my head the most is how relevant each of the three “complexity parameters” are to the climate debates :
1) Systemic complexity, whereby cause and effect are far apart in space and time (the generational issue in climate change)
2) Social complexity, whereby each actor has a fundamentally different worldview and perspective (developed vs developing nations, anyone?)
3) Generative complexity, whereby we are dealing with situations that have never occurred before (when was the last time we had to put together a truly global, multilateral, mutually acceptable, binding agreement on anything?)
Adam’s approach… More
