This module introduces participants to the concept of
corporate social responsibility; its theoretical underpinnings
and practical applications around the world. Participants
will understand the development of the CSR concept and
how business, civil society and governments have approach
the concept. Differences in CSR between nations and cultures
are explained, to illustrate the challenges of managing
CSR at national and global levels. Strategic, sustainability
and values-based approaches to CSR are described. Participants
will comprehend the relationship of CSR to risk, reputation,
governance and innovation. The common stakeholder groups
and typical CSR issues of each stakeholder are illustrated.
Module 2
Managing CSR issues – Banking
industry case study
This module is based on a 20 year study from 1981-2001
of newspaper reports about relationships between the
four Australian banking majors ( Commonwealth Bank, ANZ,
National Australia Bank and Westpac) and their most vocal
stakeholders over that period (employee unions, consumer
groups, business groups, farmer groups and shareholder
groups). This rigorous analysis by Dr Elizabeth Dougall
of over 11,000 systematically sampled articles from the
Australian Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald, The
Australian, Brisbane Courier Mail and The Age showed
that there are four dimensions of the public opinion
environment that need to be understood and managed. The
analysis also showed that the banks pursued a generally
similar communications strategy, in attempting to downplay
and neutralise activist claims. In response, stakeholders
escalated their criticisms and the volume of negative
newspaper coverage increased.
Workshop participants will understand how to interpret
the public opinion environment and examine differences
in the nature of the coverage of the four banks, to gain
insight into the efficacy of communications strategies
with activist stakeholders. Participants will discuss
these key questions:
- What does this data suggest to you about
the best way to “manage” issues?
- What communications tactics could avoid stakeholder conflict and promote
cooperation?
- How can companies in the same industry differentiate themselves by their
CSR strategy given the sameness of issues and activist groups?
Module 3
The CSR Communications Framework
Research shows that corporate social responsibility
is a key driver of an organisation’s reputation,
yet public trust in corporations has never been lower.
Two out of three people think large companies don’t
really care about the social and environmental impact
of their actions. What’s more, they don’t
think companies should talk too much about their good
deeds either. It’s self-serving and not very credible.
Based on change management and communications best practice
and a range of studies of CSR communications, this module
presents a three-step framework to solve the paradox
of CSR communications: how to communicate your organisation’s
CSR programs and achievements without appearing self-serving
and risking stakeholder cynicism. The framework shows
how to use effective CSR communications to build employee
engagement and corporate reputation.
Workshop participants will understand the role of communications
in CSR, learn about CSR communications strategies and
tactics that work, and identify pitfalls that can create
expectation gaps and credibility holes. Participants
will discuss these key questions:
- How should we communicate with our stakeholders that we are doing good
things?
- When should we use direct and when should we use indirect communications?
- How can we get the most benefit from our corporate social initiatives?
- How can I make our CSR communications credible?
- What is the best way of communicating our CSR achievements to investors?
- Which stakeholders should be our primary focus for communications about
CSR?
Module 4
Understanding Stakeholder Engagement (introductory)
Successful organisations today realise that their
prosperity depends on one critical, intangible resource – their
relationships with stakeholders. This is a resource
that you cannot buy or sell. You must develop and nurture
it over time. Doing the right thing for your organisation
as well as its many stakeholders, whose demands and
needs often conflict, is complex and challenging. This
module introduces the concept and practice of stakeholder
engagement. Participants will understand stakeholders
as a type of organisational constituency on whom the
fortunes of the organisation may rise or fall. Stakeholder
engagement is presented as a core capability for socially
responsible organisations. The module contrasts traditional
and new views of the stakeholder organisation and shows
how stakeholders can create or mitigate new forms of
risk for organisations. Participants will understand
how stakeholders introduce issues to the organisational
environment, the phases of an issue lifecycle and the
role of stakeholder engagement in managing issues.
The module culminates in a stakeholder mapping exercise,
based on pioneering research by Professor James Post,
which enables participants to understand and map their
stakeholders within three dimensions of their organisation’s
environment: its resource base, industry structure
and socio-political arena.
Module 5
Understanding stakeholder relationships
Prerequisite: Understanding stakeholder engagement (introductory)
This module analyses the nature of stakeholder relationships,
presents a range of stakeholder relationship maintenance
strategies for evaluation and discussion and introduces
participants to the outcomes that are achievable from
high quality stakeholder relationships. Based on ground-breaking
research on organisation-public relationships by Professor
James Grunig, participants will understand the nature
of organisational relationships, when and how they form,
and how they are measured. Four dimensions of stakeholder
relationships are analysed: trust, control mutuality
(joint acceptance of power distribution), commitment
and satisfaction. The module culminates with an applied
measurement exercise that enables participants to gain
insight into the four relationship dimensions and consider
how the component elements of relationships interact
with one another.
Module 6
Predicting stakeholder action
Prerequisite: Understanding stakeholder engagement (introductory)
This module enables participants to understand what
makes stakeholders matter to organisations, when they
are likely to act and the key elements required for effective
stakeholder management frameworks. Participants will
comprehend the nature of the stakes that stakeholders
have, including material, political, affiliative and
informational stakes. They will learn how to prioritise
management’s attention to stakeholders through
a framework based on identifying and classifying stakeholders
according to their attributes of power, legitimacy and
urgency, based on the seminal work of Professors Ron
Mitchell, Bradley Agle and Donna Wood. They will understand
how stakeholders attempt to influence organisations through
two key strategies based on the resources that stakeholders
either have or can with-hold. Participants will understand
the role of interests and identity in influencing stakeholder
action. They will discuss the principles and actions
that organisations must adopt to manage individual and
multiple stakeholder relationships in a fair and balanced
way. This module concludes with an exercise in stakeholder
identification and salience mapping that encourages participants
to consider evolution-triggering future events that will
require changes in management approaches to stakeholders.
Module 7
Integrating stakeholder engagement
Prerequisite: Understanding stakeholder engagement (introductory)
This module introduces participants to the strategies,
systems and structures to get buy-in and to embed stakeholder
engagement in their organisation. It examines the role
of leadership, culture, corporate community involvement,
CSR structures, performance management systems and codes
of business conduct in ensuring both the mind-set and
the behaviours required of a stakeholder-focused organisation.
Using case studies from a range or organisations, the
module illustrates best practice in embedding stakeholder
engagement in large organisations.
Participants will discuss these key questions:
- How is stakeholder engagement managed in your organisation?
- How does your organisation engage employees in planning and implementing
stakeholder engagement activities?
- What formal and informal structures for stakeholder engagement are operating
inside your organisation and how do these work?
- How does your organisation’s performance management system track
and measure stakeholder engagement activities?
Module 8
Understanding stakeholder coalitions
Prerequisite: Understanding stakeholder engagement (introductory)
This module introduces criticisms of traditional models
of stakeholder engagement by presenting and analysing
newer forms of stakeholder organising such as networks,
coalitions and swarms. Depending on the density and strength
of the stakeholder network, organisations may pursue
one of four stakeholder engagement strategies: negotiator,
subordinate, commander and independence, but which of
these strategies is sustainable? How do groups at the
fringe of stakeholder networks acquire importance and
what is the role of information technology in these new
forms of organising? Using case studies to demonstrate
how leading companies have engaged fringe stakeholders
to develop innovative solutions to shared problems, this
module encourages participants to think outside the square
when planning and managing stakeholder engagement.
Module 9
Introduction to Stakeholder Dialogue
Prerequisite: Understanding stakeholder engagement (introductory)
This module introduces participants to the nature, purpose
and outcomes of stakeholder dialogue and shows how it
differs from other forms of communication. Participants
will learn how to design a structure for dialogue, when
to use dialogue rather than other forms of communication,
and the risks and rewards of dialogue. The role and process
of multi-stakeholder learning dialogues in defining shared
visions and goals is introduced. A guided dialogue exercise
that shows how to identify mutually held goals as a basis
for co-operative action with stakeholders.
Module 10
Introduction to CSR Performance Measurement
This module introduces participants to the fundamentals
of measuring corporate social responsibility. A CSR performance
measurement framework is presented, the Heart of CSR
Performance Measurement. Derived from the balanced scorecard
approach and the Performance Prism, The Heart of CSR
Performance Measurement shows how to integrate CSR principles,
strategies, processes, capabilities and outcomes. Traditional
methods of measuring social performance and their relationship
to strategic planning are classified and reviewed. Participants
will understand how measurement serves several purposes
for organisations; check, communicate, confirm and compel
progress. They will learn how to critically evaluate
the vast array of CSR measures available to understand
their quality and usefulness in a given organisational
context. The role of tangible and intangible indicators,
and leading and lagging indicators of CSR are reviewed.
The module concludes with an exercise in which participants
map their organisation’s current approach to CSR
measurement onto the CSR performance measurement framework
to identify what, how and why CSR is currently measured
in their organisation and identify gaps that should be
addressed.
Module 11
Measuring CSR Capabilities
Prerequisite – Introduction to CSR Measurement
CSR capabilities are the critical internal resources
that ensure your organisation can understand and meet
its social responsibilities, adapt to changing societal
values and expectations, and build mutually beneficial
stakeholder relationships. This module introduces a validated
capability framework and metric, CSR Management Capacity™,
developed by Dr Leeora Black as a measurement and management
tool designed to assess and improve an organisation’s
mastery of the five CSR capabilities: stakeholder engagement,
value attuned communication, dialogue, ethical business
behaviour and social accountability. Participants will
understand the concept of organisational capabilities,
how they predict and contribute to performance, and how
they operate within an organisation’s structure
and culture. The method for measuring CSR capabilities
is explained and contrasted with methods for measuring
other aspects of CSR.
Case study material is used to illustrate the concepts
and methods. Participants will discuss the role of CSR
capability measurement in achieving multiple purposes
of check, communicate, confirm and compel progress. The
value of this information to stakeholders such as investors,
NGOs and management is examined.
Module 12
Measuring Social Capital
Prerequisite – Introduction to CSR Measurement
The concept of social capital and its relationship to
social performance is explained. The module introduces
a validated social capital metric, the Stakeholder 360,
a measurement and management tool designed to assess
and improve the quality of a company’s relationships
with its stakeholders, developed by Dr Robert Boutilier.
Participants will understand the three dimensions of
social capital; talking, trusting and thinking and how
these contribute to high quality stakeholder relationships.
The method for measuring social capital is explained
and contrasted with other methods for measuring social
performance. Case studies from Australia and around the
world are presented and participants are encouraged to
reflect on the strategic value of the information uncovered
by the Stakeholder 360, with particular reference to
social risks and opportunities that may be exposed. The
value of this information to stakeholders such as investors,
NGOs and management is examined.
Module 13
Ready to Report
Many organisations are considering whether they should
publish a stand-alone CSR or sustainability report. This
module is ideal for organisations considering the pros
and cons of a separate report and for organisations that
have decided to report and are beginning their planning.
This module examines the reasons for reporting, the place
of reporting within general CSR communications and activity,
the emerging global architecture for reporting and assurance
and elements of a good social report. Participants will
examine a range of first reports to consider questions
such as, should we use the Global Reporting Initiative
(GRI) framework or the AA1000 assurance process? What
is the relationship of our reporting to stakeholder engagement
and what indicators should we report on? What legislative
and regulatory factors do we need to consider?
Module 14
ExperienceCSR
The ultimate CSR strategy workshop, this module uses
a web-based video game to introduce participants to the
fundamentals of creating a CSR change management program.
ExperienceCSR places learners in the role of CSR Advisor
to SkyTech, a hypothetical company that is struggling
to define its role as a corporate citizen. While considering
issues of business ethics, the environment, employee
relations, human rights, and community investment, participants
must successfully create and implement a CSR strategy
that appeals the company's various stakeholders. Working
in teams, learners learn fast what works, what doesn’t
and why. Participants receive immediate feedback on their
decisions from a range of stakeholders, enabling them
to learn from their mistakes in cyberspace, rather than
at the “school of hard knocks”! This one-day
program requires access to high-speed internet.
