Joint management‐stakeholder committees – a new path to stakeholder governance?

Heiko Spitzeck, Erik G. Hansen, David Grayson, Lutgart Van den Berghe
2011 Corporate Governance : The international journal of business in society  
Purpose -This paper describes the emerging practice of Joint-Management-Stakeholder-Committees (JMSCs) in which corporate executives take decisions in collaboration with stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach -To identify firms involving stakeholders in their governance arrangements, we analysed 51 companies regularly participating in the Business in the Community´s Corporate Responsibility Index in the UK. We then analyzed the data provided by the index as well as corporate reports to
more » ... te the impact of JMSCs on corporate decisionmaking. Findings -This research finds that JMSCs strongly influence corporate governance mechanisms such as monitoring, measurement as well as policy development of firms. Research limitations/applications -Our analysis builds on corporate responses given to the questionnaire sent by the Corporate Responsibility Index as well as corporate reports. Future research is encouraged to triangulate findings with stakeholder opinions on the effectiveness of JMSCs. Practical implications -JMSCs prove to be an effective tool to involve stakeholders in corporate decision-making processes. Due to their effectiveness JMSCs are more likely to create trust between firms and their stakeholders. Originality/value -This paper is the first empirical investigation into the effectiveness of engaging stakeholders in Joint-Management-Stakeholder Committees, demonstrating the impact and effectiveness of such engagement.
doi:10.1108/14720701111176975 fatcat:umbicqa2vbgnjabpm3gd5kbrwy