Getting it Right: Making Corporate-Community Relations Work

by Luc Zandvliet, Mary Anderson

Overview

Getting it Right is a manual for corporate managers responsible for company operations in poor and politically unstable societies. Managers can analyse their own interactions with local communities, so that they can more effectively accomplish their production goals and ensure local communities are better off as a result.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781906093198
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/01/2009
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Luc Zandvliet, Mary Anderson

Table of Contents

Preface and acknowledgmentsIntroduction  Section I1. How to understand getting it wrong and getting it right: toward a framework for analysis2. Benefits distribution: getting it wrong and getting it right3. Corporate behavior: getting it wrong and getting it right4. Side effects: getting it wrong and getting it right5. Making the transition from getting it wrong to getting it rightSpecial note on corporate operations in situations of conflict  Section II6. Hiring policies7. Compensation policies8. Contracting policies9. Community consultation and negotiationSpecial note on establishing grievance procedures10. Community projects11. Working with advocacy NGOs12. Working with government  Section III13. Internal management issues that determine the success or failure of external relations14. Measuring the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement15. "Even engineers can get it right..."  About the authorsIndex

Editorial Reviews

... the authors take a balanced, practical and jargon-free tone well suited to their corporate audience ... The book is perhaps most valuable in terms of the overarching perspectives it attempts to impart to managers: that "community relations" activities are not the only, or even the most powerful, drivers of local perceptions of a project (for example, the impact of actual business operations on communities inevitably can be far more important); that an inclusive and respectful process of engagement is often more valuable than generous community investments made unilaterally by the company; and that all aspects of a company's operations which affect its "license to operate", from government relations to security policy, are better addressed as elements of a coherent strategy than through ad hoc fire-fighting. If managers were able to fully take these principles on board, much local opposition could no doubt be avoided. Read the full review - Rob Foulkes, Critical Resource.

From the Publisher

"Why do so many corporations, despite the best of intentions, get it wrong when they set up shop in poor communities? This book not only clearly explains why, but it also offers a rich array of practical and sensible recommendations on how to get it right, based on years of painstaking field research and analysis of the complex interactions between communities and corporations. This book not only fills an important gap in the corporate social responsibility field but its principles and advice help us understand what we mean when we speak of sound and sustainable development. It should be required reading for the executive about to embark on a field posting, but also by any development practitioner that is interested in understanding how to interact with poor communities."

Ian Bannon

"Getting relations right with communities is critical to business success but very challenging. This extraordinary multi-year global study of business and community interactions is richly filled with insightful, practical, and clear advice on how companies and communities can avoid costly mistakes and construct powerful and mutually beneficial relationships."

James E. Austin