Stakeholder engagement : a crucial element in the governance of corporate reputation

Abstract

The King III Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa (with a separate
\nchapter on Governing Stakeholder Relationships) highlights the importance of
\nstakeholder management in corporate governance. For the first time the inclusive
\napproach to stakeholder relationship management is explained more fully and
\nprinciples on how stakeholder relationships can be managed in a corporate
\ngovernance context are provided. These have implications for corporate
\ncommunication strategy in all organisations. The inclusion of all stakeholders in
\ncorporate issues has taken centre stage in corporate governance. In any given
\ncommunication situation, a stakeholder could play many roles in an internal or
\nexternal organisational environment. Total stakeholder involvement (engagement) is
\ncrucial and will have implications for organisational practices, reputation and
\ncorporate sustainability. The explosion in social media and networking has empowered
\nstakeholders beyond imagination. Their roles are no longer merely employees, clients
\nor the community in general, but on the virtual stage of communication, stakeholders
\nare taking on roles as citizen editors, journalists, writers, recipients and interpreters of
\ntheir own communication material. They can become reputation ambassadors or
\ndemolishers in the corporate environment. In this continuous neo-corporate
\ncommunication environment, it is not about communication control, but about
\ncommunication power-sharing. In this article stakeholder engagement as an allinclusive
\ncommunication management approach will be illustrated by considering
\nstakeholder theory, corporate governance and integrated reporting and the growing
\nimportance of reputation management.