Stakeholders and Corporate Social Responsibility

Opening the recent world summit on sustainable development the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: 'I hope this event will mark the beginning of a new chapter of global responsibility, partnerships and implementation'.

'Companies today have to be ready to evaluate their business, social, economic and environmental impacts'.

PricewaterhouseCoopers' partner Andrew Savitz added to this by saying: 'You are not expected to be doing it all now, but stakeholders will expect you to set objectives, lay out the timetables and begin defining the programmes to get the job done'.

Many young people have little knowledge of the business world and yet it is probable that, at some point in their future careers, they may find that an understanding of the ways in which businesses operate will be very useful. This understanding can be difficult to acquire, especially as the world of business has many unique terms and concepts.

In this activity you are asked to research a specific area of the business world, namely the role of stakeholders in business and the concepts of corporate responsibility. As an outcome you are asked to produce a leaflet to introduce students to these areas of business. This leaflet will provide students with useful information on the stakeholder/company relationship including ways in which companies demonstrate commitment to their stakeholders, how stakeholders influence businesses and how corporate responsibility is defined.

The language and level of presentation in the leaflet will be determined by the present levels of understanding that you find in your peer group. The leaflet should be suitable for use in the careers office or library.