Linking Stakeholder Relationships and Corporate Reputation: A Public Relations Framework for Corporate Sustainability

Abstract

“Over the next decade or so, sustainable development will constitute one of the biggest opportunities in the history of commerce,” predicts Stuart Hart, Cornell University professor and world authority on the implications of sustainable development for business strategy. In this chapter, the authors argue that a stronger link should exist between stakeholder relationships and corporate reputation. Public relations strategy and activity in organisations should be the nexus that binds stakeholder relationships and corporate reputation together in order to work towards corporate sustainability. All the above indicators and expectations require strategic thinking skills from public relations strategists that will contribute to much needed synergy, integration and alignment of activities, processes and systems in organisations. In a certain sense public relations strategists need to go back to the basics and remember that communication is in essence the sharing of meaning and the creation of understanding that can only be established by solid stakeholder relationships. By assisting business to become more sustainable in creating and maintaining good stakeholder relationships whilst solidifying strong corporate reputations public relations as practice and as discipline could also become better sustainable and socially more relevant in future. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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