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Stakeholder dialog workshop at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, 2010 (Photo by Robert Stuermer)

University Teaching offer

The interaction of business and civil society

Stakeholder Dialog

Especially since the 1980s, large corporations have become strong actors that actively use their influence to impact the rules of engagement in the global economy. Simultaneously public interest in the ethical dimensions of corporate conduct has risen steeply over recent years and has created a situation where ignoring critical signals from civil society can cost a company dearly.

Those companies however, that actively engage with their civil society stakeholders will gain on two levels. First they develop a platform to enhance their public legitimacy and, second, they obtain a tool to better reflect on possible reactions from society regarding various possible courses of business conduct.

Central point of contact for engaging with civil society, are actors such as NGOs, grass roots organizations, government agencies or international organizations who can formulate and represent stakeholder claims. How to respond to such claims, what characteristics constitute a dialogue, what the pitfalls and difficulties in establishing mutually beneficial relationships are and how they can be overcome are some of the questions this course is aiming to answer.

This course is highly interactive, delivering a joint learning experience to enhance the reflective capacity of participants and to develop an understanding for constructive response to stakeholder claims.

Course duration:	Flexible delivery in 20 - 30 classroom hours, as individual lectures or block seminar

Faculty:	Dr. Ernst von Kimakowitz

Download course descripion:	Stakeholder_dialogue_course_syllabus_eng.pdf

Download slide deck:	Stakeholder_dialogue_slide_deck_print_version.pdf