Publications
Publications
- March–April 2024
- Harvard Business Review
How Companies Should Weigh in on a Controversy: A Better Approach to Stakeholder Management
By: David M. Bersoff, Sandra J. Sucher and Peter Tufano
Abstract
Executives need guidance about managing their organizations’ engagement with societal issues—including hot-button topics such as gender, climate, and racial discrimination. Success in this realm does not mean avoiding public controversy or achieving unanimous support among key stakeholders, the authors write. Rather, it results from adhering to certain processes and strategies, which they have derived from recent global survey research along with examples from managerial best practice.
They offer an approach that is anchored in data but sensitive to values and context. It can be helpful in figuring out which issues to address and how; in ameliorating disappointment among stakeholders; and in managing any potential blowback.
Data can tell you what your various stakeholders care about, they write, but judgment is necessary to act in careful consideration of conflicting preferences while being consistent with your company’s values.
They offer an approach that is anchored in data but sensitive to values and context. It can be helpful in figuring out which issues to address and how; in ameliorating disappointment among stakeholders; and in managing any potential blowback.
Data can tell you what your various stakeholders care about, they write, but judgment is necessary to act in careful consideration of conflicting preferences while being consistent with your company’s values.
Keywords
Values and Beliefs; Social Issues; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Judgments; Management Practices and Processes
Citation
Bersoff, David M., Sandra J. Sucher, and Peter Tufano. "How Companies Should Weigh in on a Controversy: A Better Approach to Stakeholder Management." Harvard Business Review 102, no. 2 (March–April 2024): 108–119.