Summary: | This book -- the first of a two-volume series -- argues that, today, stakeholder thinking has evolved into the study of interactive, mutually engaged and responsive relationships that establish the very context of doing modern business, and create the groundwork for transparency and accountability. This book makes it clear that in today's societies successful companies are those that recognise that they have responsibilities to a range of stakeholders that go beyond mere compliance with the law or meeting the fiduciary responsibility inherent in maximising returns to shareholders. If in the past the focus was on enhancing shareholder value, now it is on engaging stakeholders for long-term value creation. The process of engagement creates a dynamic context of interaction, mutual respect, dialogue and change -- not a one-sided 'management' of stakeholders.
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