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Stakeholder panels are only likely to be of value when clear ground
rules govern their establishment and they are given a real say in
corporate decisions.
That is the conclusion of a joint study from the British think-tank AccountAbility and the French consultancy Utopies into the experience of businesses that have convened such panels to review social and environmental policies.
The study, which looked at panels established by Areva, BT, BP, EDF, Camelot, Gaz de France, Ford, Nike and Vodafone, concluded that they ‘do work’, and that all parties felt they had ‘strengthened the links between business strategy and societal issues’. However, AccountAbility and Utopies say that from the outset, detailed consideration should be given to the way panels are constituted, who is going to serve on them, and what their ground rules should be.
The report, Critical Friends, says panels will work only as ‘a forum for dialogue and mutual learning which feeds into corporate decision-making’ rather than just a place for interested parties to air views.
Alan Knight, head of standards at AccountAbility, said: ‘the increasing use of panels has made it important to understand how they can contribute to better corporate government, reporting and accountability.’
A company should review a panel’s progress regularly and ‘make any changes necessary to its make-up and operation to enable it to deliver against its evolving purpose’.
The study says it is often useful for panels to start by discussing issues where there is already consensus, allowing trust to develop before members move on to more controversial topics.
It recommends that companies:
consider whether an external facilitator would help in the early stages
make sure panellists are provided with plenty of background material, site visits, research results and training
involve senior executives when responding to panel suggestions
always inform members of progress or changes made.
That is the conclusion of a joint study from the British think-tank AccountAbility and the French consultancy Utopies into the experience of businesses that have convened such panels to review social and environmental policies.
The study, which looked at panels established by Areva, BT, BP, EDF, Camelot, Gaz de France, Ford, Nike and Vodafone, concluded that they ‘do work’, and that all parties felt they had ‘strengthened the links between business strategy and societal issues’. However, AccountAbility and Utopies say that from the outset, detailed consideration should be given to the way panels are constituted, who is going to serve on them, and what their ground rules should be.
The report, Critical Friends, says panels will work only as ‘a forum for dialogue and mutual learning which feeds into corporate decision-making’ rather than just a place for interested parties to air views.
Alan Knight, head of standards at AccountAbility, said: ‘the increasing use of panels has made it important to understand how they can contribute to better corporate government, reporting and accountability.’
A company should review a panel’s progress regularly and ‘make any changes necessary to its make-up and operation to enable it to deliver against its evolving purpose’.
The study says it is often useful for panels to start by discussing issues where there is already consensus, allowing trust to develop before members move on to more controversial topics.
It recommends that companies:
consider whether an external facilitator would help in the early stages make sure panellists are provided with plenty of background material, site visits, research results and training involve senior executives when responding to panel suggestions always inform members of progress or changes made.Super Featured
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