Stakeholders

Hallmarks of a leader in stakeholder relations

  • The value of stakeholder engagement to the business is clearly understood and evidenced through senior management engagement. Equally, the organisation ensures that its stakeholders value and understand the difference they are able to make through engagement.
  • Stakeholder views feed into and influence strategic future scanning and long-term planning. The organisation is able to point to actions and real change as a result of this.
  • Stakeholder engagement takes place at all levels of corporate activity, ranging from local engagement on single sites through to engagement on global and corporate strategy issues.
  • Engagement is characterised by an open and honest dialogue that is encouraged for all business functions and processes.
  • The organisation engages beyond traditional stakeholder groups and topics, and understands what sustainability means in different regions across the world.
  • The organisation uses a clear framework to balance different views and needs, and is able to
    prioritise issues openly.

Case studies

 

Sainsbury’s Supermarkets is able to demonstrate how it engages with external and internal stakeholders in the UK in a systematic way across a variety of issues.
 
Non-government organisations and campaign groups are asked to contribute to policy and strategy development in relation to key issues such as the sourcing of fish or timber. The retailer also engages external groups to generate future ideas and to better understand expectations of its own responsibilities.  

Pressure groups and special-interest groups are invited to regular high-level dinners linked to the five pillars of the company’s corporate responsibility (CR) strategy, to discuss content, approach and emerging issues.  

Internally, Sainsbury’s engages its full workforce in working towards its CR goals, especially in relation to its community work. Employees are encouraged to be active in their local communities, and to nominate and work with charities to raise funds. The company organises an annual Local Heroes award ceremony to celebrate the employees who have made the most difference.  

The Local Heroes winners have also been invited to visit overseas Fairtrade suppliers. In 2008 they are going to the Winward Islands where Sainsbury’s sources most of its Fairtrade bananas. Seeing is believing – and trips like these are likely to make the staff become lifelong ambassadors for a sustainable Sainsbury’s.

Vodafone, the world's leading mobile operator has been engaging with wider stakeholder groups for a number of years. In 2007, the company initiated the CR dialogues programme, designed to go beyond CR reporting and enhance the group’s understanding of stakeholder concerns.

 The CR Dialogues focus on the key challenges that the company faces. A typical dialogue would consist of an initial social report from an independent third party, focus groups with stakeholders and subject matter experts and on-line discussions. The information gained through these discussions is used in decision-making, creating management frameworks and developing company policies.

 By inviting stakeholders to contribute to the strategic development of CR, Vodafone is able to engage successfully with the wider public and report issues with stakeholders rather than to stakeholders.

Vodafone recognises the opportunity stakeholder dialogues create by bringing together specialists with in-depth knowledge to discuss community or environmental issues. The company also capitalises on strengthening its reputation through stakeholder endorsement.

The CR dialogues are run both as online debates and through roundtable seminars with invited expert stakeholders. 

The success of Wal-Mart’s sustainability drive, 'Sustainability 360', depends on active participation of several stakeholder groups. With a history of denial and non-engagement, Wal-Mart decided a few years ago to open its doors and work with external groups to transform the company.  

Wal-Mart has developed many of its ideas through contact with consultants, suppliers, NGOs and eco-friendly competitors such as Patagonia and Whole Foods. The success of this approach led the company to form ’sustainable value networks’ made up of Wal-mart executives, suppliers, environmental groups and regulators.  

Fourteen networks, each with a specific focus – e.g. facilities or alternative fuels – meet regularly to share ideas, set goals and monitor progress. The company has also started to engage its customers, beginning with encouraging them to use energy-efficient light bulbs and concentrated laundry detergent.  

Staff are being engaged through the introduction of Personal Sustainability Practices, PSP, a personal commitment to one or more lifestyle changes which have a positive effect on themselves and/or society. They can range from personal fitness goals such as losing weight, to farther-reaching environmental goals such as recycling or saving energy. PSP is a voluntary grassroots programme that is designed and owned by Wal-Mart staff.  

However, the company still faces massive challenges on issues such as the local economic impacts of its superstores and employment rights – issues that need to be addressed for it to become a true leader business.
It has set aspirational goals to drive its progress. Those goals are to have zero waste, to be supplied by 100% renewable energy, and to sell products that sustain the resources and environment.

Novo Nordisk, the Danish based pharmaceutical company, is an example of using stakeholder engagement to help develop the business strategy and focus. As a result of research and engagement Novo Nordisk has shifted its focus from purely medical solutions to also look at prevention and psychological aspects of living with diabetes as well as training to health professionals.

Stakeholder engagement takes place at all levels within the company and is used to help make better strategic decisions.  The company has programmes in place that enable suppliers, employees and environmental groups to be closely involved with company activities and assessments.  It has stakeholder teams at each of its business facilities that conduct regular consultations with local communities about the impact of company operations.

A leader in diabetes care, Novo initiated the DAWN programme in 2001 – the largest ever global survey to uncover diabetes attitudes, wishes and needs.  This has been used to inform innovation and has now evolved into a programme calling for concerted action to improve diabetes care. The focus of the programme is to improve the quality of life for people with diabetes; the study shows that a sole focus on medical targets would not do this.

Novo is currently running The National Changing Diabetes Programmes.  These support activities in developing and developed countries such as educating nurses, doctors and patients, supporting diabetes patient organisations, equipping diabetes clinics, and working with governments to design national diabetes strategies. Novo Nordisk is not just about diabetes and has engaged stakeholders to solve or avert other tricky situations as well.

Stakeholder dialogue can be essential in averting volatile situations.  In the 1970’s, Novo Nordisk was accused of producing an enzyme based laundry detergent that was harmful to both employees and consumers and as a result the company lost over half of its business in the US. However, a similar scare in the 1990’s involving Genetically Modified Organisms was averted through careful stakeholder discussion and cooperation. 

Through extensive stakeholder dialogue Novo keeps ahead of emerging consumer trends and areas of public concern. It also aids development of solutions to environmental and social problems and helps in identifying market opportunities.  The company believes this approach to business creates a competitive advantage and enables the sharing of best practice.


Swiss Re is the world’s largest reinsurer. It works with its expert advisory panel of stakeholders to explore emerging issues and provide strategic insights for Swiss Re’s Board Members.

Swiss Re founded its Centre for Global Dialogue in 2000 to facilitate dialogue between Swiss Re, its clients and other stakeholders from the areas of business, science, academia, and politics. The Centre holds around 30 events a year on a wide range of future-orientated topics including new technologies, sustainability and risk management. The goal of these events is to improve understanding, build stakeholder communities around topics and consider potential business solutions.

The Co-operative Food has long been committed to addressing environmental and ethical issues, and, as part of The Co-operative Group, is the only major retailer to have received the Queen’s Award for Sustainability. In 2007 it launched the world’s largest consumer consultation on ethics, inviting all members and customers to contribute to its responsible retailing strategy. 

This consultation built on a series of previous consumer dialogues, but evolved the principle to ensure customers considered the complexity of the issues. Respondents were invited to prioritise a range of sustainability issues including climate change, packaging reduction and sustainable sourcing. But more than that, it sought to challenge consumers to consider how issues impacted on each other - for example, what is more important: additional local supply chains or support for growers in the developing world?

With over 100,000 responses, the survey provided a clear mandate for action. Member and customer views directly and visibly influenced future strategy through the new Food Ethical Policy – with the percentage of customer support for each section also published.

Real change was also immediately visible in store, where The Co-operative prioritised efforts on those issues that emerged as consumer’s greatest concerns: ethical trading, animal welfare and the environment.

In response to concerns around ethical trading, The Co-operative converted its entire own-brand hot beverage range to Fairtrade - a product line worth over £16 million annually – making it the first UK retailer to do so. On animal welfare, the sale of eggs from caged hens was ended in all Co-operative Food stores. In response to concerns around the environment, the list of prohibited pesticides for own-brand products was tripled to 98.

The organisation has also signalled where stakeholders’ opinions will not guide policy. Despite only four percent of respondents citing climate change as their ethical priority, The Co-operative remains committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. It will address this discrepancy by accelerating efforts to educate consumers on climate change, and the urgent nature of action required to mitigate it.