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In this study, the strategies of companies regarding social media and stakeholder dialogue and engagement are central. Based on insights from previous studies, it showed that organizations used little opportunities for stakeholder dialogue on social media. Since dialogue is a condition to create engagement, it is of importance for a follow-up study. Therefore, 10 respondents from leading European companies were interviewed and asked about strategies regarding stakeholder dialogue and related topics. From the results, we can conclude that engaging in dialogue with stakeholders on social media is still underdeveloped. Organizations are not only missing opportunities but also take risk not pursuing the opportunities social media offer.

The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical analysis of CSR communication posted on the websites of 70 companies listed on the main stock markets in German-speaking countries, the so-called DACH region. The results of this analysis offer answers to questions that are currently being discussed in the CSR literature, namely, on the importance attributed to stakeholder information vs stakeholder dialogues in (online) CSR communication.

Using a quantitative content analysis, the study examines the extent to which leading German, Austrian and Swiss companies are meeting communication and CSR-related requirements, especially regarding stakeholder dialogue and overall stakeholder involvement.

Drawing on Morsing and Schultz’s (2006) theoretical insights concerning stakeholder engagement, this study shows that current CSR communication primarily provides information for stakeholders and contains only a few elements of consultation with stakeholders. In addition, no elements indicating stakeholder involvement in decision processes were found. Data analysed in 2004, 2007, 2012 and 2016 for the German DAX companies allowed for comparisons over time. A closer examination of these data revealed increasing professionalism in CSR communication, especially in the provision and presentation of information. Regarding information clarity and opportunities for dialogue, however, the results show low progress. The criteria set developed for the study provides guidance for how companies can improve their CSR communication, but the findings on the long-term slow progress in stakeholder involvement, in some aspects even a decrease in dialogue, also raise questions about the (perceived) use of online CSR dialogues for companies.

Communication is viewed from a strategic instrumental perspective. The empirical analysis focusses on the technical possibilities offered by the internet to make CSR communications and reporting available and understandable to stakeholders and to promote dialogue with and among stakeholders.

By focussing on online CSR communication in the DACH region, this study contributes to the current state of research and offers several recommendations for practitioners; it particularly provides critical reflection on online stakeholder dialogues and related paradigms (constitutive vs functionalistic perspective).

Societal developments and stakeholder awareness place responsibility and legitimacy high on corporate agendas. Increased awareness heightens focus on stakeholder relations and dialogue as key aspects in corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate identity and corporate communication scholarship, but the question remains how can dialogue be initiated and maintained? The purpose of this paper is to establish a framework for conceptualizing dialogue.

Through a review of CSR, corporate identity, corporate communication and stakeholder literature, a framework is developed taking into account the different stakes held by key stakeholder groups, i.e. consumers, investors, employees, non‐governmental organization and suppliers. Based on the discursive terms of form and script, we argue that different stakes condition different dialogical types.

The paper argues that the stakeholder orientations of the CSR, corporate identity and corporate communication disciplines can aid in strengthening dialogue. It is thus suggested that dialogue may be strengthened by constructing a framework which links the stakes held by key stakeholder groups to specific dialogue forms and scripts.

The practical implication of articulating stakeholder dialogue as scripted interaction is that organizations seeking to engage stakeholders strategically must understand and respect conventions and expectations.

The paper's contribution is to expand the notion of dialogue within communication research and to provide organizations with a framework for understanding stakeholder involvement in identity relevant issues of responsibility and legitimacy.

Dialogue has been an elusive concept for academics when it comes to its definition within organisational contexts. In spite of the vast amount of academic research, it is not easy to find concrete proposals – both from theoretical and empirical standpoints – that analyse how companies manage dialogue processes with their stakeholders. The aim of this chapter is to fill this gap by highlighting the role of dialogue in strategic decision-making processes. In order to achieve this purpose, this work is structured into two parts. Firstly, multidisciplinary literature regarding how Public Relations and Management studies research on dialogue is reviewed. Secondly, the chapter presents a managerial proposal of dialogue for decision-making processes called the IDEA model. This chapter aims to scale back the theoretical fragmentation of the concept of dialogue while looking into its practicality based on an original proposal for scholars and practitioners.

The purpose of this study is to identify which stakeholder dialogue approach has the best outcomes. Moreover, it is investigated how stakeholder dialogue practices are linked to the quality of stakeholder management and the maturity of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy.

Twelve CSR managers of 11 French enterprises are interviewed.

Four different types of stakeholder dialogue are identified and their characteristics, as well as the opportunities and risks connected to each approach, are discussed.

Only a limited number of enterprises operating in France are studied. More research is needed to ensure the generalisability to other countries and to identify the prevalence of each dialogue type.

Proactive companies manage their stakeholders in a mutually beneficial way and receive more stakeholder support on strategic issues. They discuss issues material to stakeholders, include a wide range of stakeholders and organise frequent meetings. This approach, the Hanoï Dialogue, has the best outcomes and is, therefore, best practice.

Stakeholder dialogue is key for the development of CSR strategies which truly benefit society.

Although stakeholder dialogues become empirically more relevant, most researchers conduct single-case studies of good practices and do not systematically compare a range of practices.

The end of the millennium is a useful time to stop and reflect, to review and maybe to ask some big questions. This paper asks a very big question indeed for the accountancy profession ‐ ‘What might corporate reporting look like in the 21st Century ?’ This paper looks at issues surrounding the likely future of corporate reporting in the digital age. The Royal Society of Arts Tomorrow’s Company Inquiry (1995) is used as a possible model of corporate information needs in the next millennia. The implications of the model for corporate accounting and information systems are examined. A move from shareholder reporting, to stakeholder reporting and finally to stakeholder dialogue is envisaged. The model raises a number of problems and the use of digital technology is considered as a partial solution to some of these problems.

To identify the applicability of social auditing as an approach of engaging stakeholders in assessing and reporting on corporate sustainability and its performance.

Drawing upon the framework of AA1000 and the social auditing studies, this paper links stakeholder engagement, social auditing and corporate sustainability with a view to applying dialogue‐based social auditing to address corporate sustainability.

This paper identifies a “match” between corporate sustainability and social auditing, as both aim at improving the social, environmental and economic performance of an organisation, considering the well‐being of a wider range of stakeholders and requiring the engagement of stakeholders in the process. This paper suggests that social auditing through engaging stakeholders via dialogue could be applied to build trusts, identify commitment and promote co‐operation amongst stakeholders and corporations.

This research requires further empirical research into the practicality of social auditing in addressing corporate sustainability and the determination of the limitations of dialogue‐based social auditing.

Social auditing has been identified as a useful mechanism of balancing differing interests among stakeholders and corporations in a democratic business society. The application of social auditing in developing and achieving corporate sustainability has apparently practical implications.

This paper examines the applicability of dialogue‐based social auditing in helping business to move towards sustainability. Social auditing as a process of assessing and reporting on corporate social and environmental performance through engaging stakeholders via dialogue could be applied to build trusts, identify commitment and promote cooperation amongst stakeholders and corporations.

The aim of this paper is to develop and test a theoretical framework, grounded in managerial and organisational theories of dialogue, through which organisations can take decisions in relation to the most appropriate crisis response strategies for handling social media stakeholders.

The theoretical framework is developed through a conceptual analysis of literature on dialogue, social media and crisis communication. The theoretical framework is then tested in eight different international organisations experiencing a crisis. For each case, different web contents, such as organisations' status updates/posts, links, videos published on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, were analysed using a rhetorical research approach.

The analysed organisations apply different online dialogue strategies according to crisis types and in combination with specific crisis response strategies. Most of the organisations investigated carry on those dialogue strategies suitable to develop consensus (concertative), guide conversations on specific topics or issues (framing), find solutions to the crisis collectively (transformative). Concertative strategies were often associated with informative crisis response strategies, framing strategies with denial and justification crisis response strategies and transformative strategies with corrective actions.

By using a dialogic perspective in setting up online conversations with their external stakeholders, the paper proposes a theoretical model to explain companies' decisions in carrying on online dialogues during critical situations and thus contribute to the body of knowledge on online crisis communications.

The proposed model can support crisis communicators to manage dialogue's aims and dimensions differently by taking into account both contextual and situational conditions.

By integrating management studies on dialogue into crisis communication and social media literature, the authors intend to offer an alternative thinking of organisations' decision-making in relation to crisis response strategies and social media stakeholders.

The mere generation of foresight results is not sufficient in itself to influence research policy. Research policy makers need specific information and insight on how the structured view of the future provided by foresight affects their strategic planning. Therefore, deriving the maximum benefit from foresight activities requires a carefully designed and actively driven transfer process of foresight results into research policy making. This paper aims to present such a process (“strategic dialogue”) and illustrate it with recent examples from Germany.

The authors compare strategic dialogues with existing dialogue instruments and investigate the relevance of their theoretical foundations to transferring foresight results into research policy making. They capture the lessons learnt from such dialogues in a seven‐step process that can be adapted to specific situations. Specific success factors are identified and linked to the process.

Strategic dialogues have proved to be an effective and efficient instrument for achieving the transfer of results from strategic processes such as foresight into research policy making. They ensure that foresight results are processed into a form that is directly useful as an input for policy development. They also help to create a joint vision for the future and to shape supporting infrastructure measures.

The transfer of foresight results into research policy making has not featured prominently so far in discussions of foresight efforts and methods. However, it is a crucial element in ensuring that such activities have maximum impact.

This paper aims to investigate how relational connectivity can enhance accountability through non-financial reporting regulation in Europe. The paper contributes to the mandatory disclosure literature and provides practical implications for the application of the EU Directive 2014/95/EU.

A case study research methodology is used, analyzing how a listed Italian insurance company embraces a dialogic communication approach with stakeholders along 2018.

From a theoretical standpoint, this paper enhances the scholarly understanding of the relevance and role of the concept of relational connectivity as a mean for effectively enhancing accountability, providing some prerequisites for effectively implementing relational connectivity. From a practical perspective, results address the criticism related to the directive 2014/95/EU guidelines in effectively helping the organization toward enhancing accountability. Through a case study, results show how companies can achieve in practice the goal of enhancing corporate accountability.

The paper is original, as it addresses the topic of relational connectivity applied to the EU Directive 2014/95/EU. Results contribute to the development of the understanding of the mandatory disclosure in a dialogic perspective. Additionally, the paper addresses a case study showing how the analyzed company used relational connectivity to engage an effective dialogue with stakeholders.