Corporate community involvement

Nick Lakin & Veronica Scheubel, Greenleaf Publishing, hardback,
260 pages. £18.36

Published against a backdrop of changing expectations of community involvement by companies, and with many corporations too often adopting a damaging scatter-gun approach to the topic, this practical step-by-step guide is an invaluable and timely aid for all practitioners involved in this or the closely related but broader field of corporate responsibility.

The book skillfully presents a structured methodology along with many planning tools. And by incorporating a great number of carefully considered and compelling case studies, the authors amply illustrate the need for a strategic and partnership-led approach to corporate involvement – one that aligns the interests of the business with those of local communities.

But perhaps the real value in this book, given the financial and economic havoc reaped by the world banking sector in recent times, is the duty it discharges.

By focusing on the interdependence between corporations and local communities, it serves to further enlighten business leaders on the fundamental truth that the long term competitiveness and sustainability of communities and businesses are inextricably linked.

Philip Greatorex