Stakeholders and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): A New Perspective on the Structure of Relationships
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Stakeholders and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): A New Perspective on the Structure of Relationships Nobuyuki Tokoro Tamagawa University, 6-1-1 Tamagawagakuen, Machida-shi, Tokyo 194-8610, Japan. E-mail: [email protected]
This paper analyses the characteristics of relationships between stakeholders and corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stakeholders. Previous researches on relationships between enterprises and stakeholders have demonstrated two characteristics, of ‘restriction’ and ‘transaction’, but they do not appear to shed much light on recent developments. This is partly due to the new trend of corporate dialogue with stakeholders, aimed either at addressing social issues or with a view to acquiring a positive perception through such dialogue; we see this process as one of ‘value creation’. Stakeholder dialogue is more established in Europe, where CSR has developed most extensively, than elsewhere. Today, European enterprises are moving towards a standardized system to formalize and evaluate the value of stakeholder dialogue. Japanese opinion, however, is not always in favor of such standardization, as in Nonaka’ Knowledge Creation Theory, which argues that all innovation is produced through a creative process of solving contradictions and conflicts, rather than through applying objective processes. This paper discusses the context of stakeholder dialogue and the Japanese perception of its application. Asian Business & Management (2007) 6, 143–162. doi:10.1057/palgrave.abm.9200218 Keywords: stakeholder; restriction; transaction; value creation; dialogue; social context
Introduction Two central developments in the business world towards the end of the 20th century were globalization and the increasing dominance and impact of information technology (‘informaticization’), and these developments have continued to accelerate in the early 21st century. The principal triggers for this increasing globalization and informaticization have been the continuing structural collapse and/or shift to a market economy of the former Communist countries, and, starting in the USA, the IT revolution, based mainly on the spread of the Internet. Attention is thus now being paid to those changes continuing on from Received 2 April 2006; revised 9 August 2006; accepted 10 October 2006
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the 20th century. Among Japanese corporations, Toyota, Honda, and Sony have become increasingly internationalized, and the current situation is such that, to quote the Honda CEO, ‘National borders have no meaning for corporations’ (Nikkei Business, 6 December 2005–2 January 2006, 37). However, when management studies researchers try to establish a profile of business management for the 21st century, do they need to restrict their focus to the twin perspectives of globalization and informaticization in order to investigate the relationship with the performance of financial government, and to assess the issues in increasingly logical terms? The answer is ‘No’ — because, a
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