Ethical Community Stakeholder Engagement in the Global Environment: Strategies and Assessment

July 6, 2015

Researchers Lan Ni (left) and Qi Wang

Although it sometimes has been claimed to be too ideal, symmetrical and ethical communication appears to be the most critical among all engagement strategies examined in increasing the effectiveness of community stakeholder engagement for both stakeholders and organizations. We made this statement as two authors, Dr. Lan Ni and Dr. Qi Wang, presented our research on community ethical stakeholder engagement in the global environment at the 65th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association in San Juan, Puerto Rico in May 2015. This project was in collaboration with Maria De la Flor and Renato Penaflor and was funded by the Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication at Penn State.

In an increasingly global environment, lack of stakeholder engagement from multinational companies can result in opposition from local communities and a loss of “social license,” which in turn, will slow down economic growth and expansion. Our study examined the perceptions of local community members on the stakeholder engagement strategies of multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in Peru as well as the relationship outcomes of such engagement.

Results of our study indicated that among the different engagement strategies, symmetrical/ethical communication is the most critical, whereas mediated communication is the least effective in increasing the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement for both stakeholders and organizations. In the process of stakeholder engagement, uncertainty reduction plays a more important role than anxiety reduction in increasing perceived control mutuality and trust.

Based on these findings, we have recommended that an MNC should first conduct extensive research on the local community to establish a clear ethical identity that unites its interest with that of the local stakeholders. MNCs should also uncover effective communication channels to allow for the intended symmetrical communication. Instead of investing in print media, interpersonal channels should be used more extensively. Most important, the willingness to adapt to the local community’s needs helps reduce skepticism and build trust in the long run. Ethical stakeholder engagement appears to be the most effective strategic framework to sustain an MNC in a foreign land full of historical and contemporary social conflicts.

We would like to thank the Arthur W. Page Center for the funding for this study. If you want to know more about the results of our work, please feel free to contact Lan Ni at lni@uh.edu.

  • LAN NI, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Valenti School of Communication, University of Houston
  • QI WANG, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of communication, Villanova University