Stakeholder management

It appears that CSR presupposes a social context which is relevant to the success of the organization. The social context can be seen as burdonsome, producing more complexity and being a potential source of conflict. But it can at the same time be seen as enriching in the production of content and more solid in terms of achieving bases for decisions and processes.
It can not be denied that stakeholder management can be complex (although ways can be found to manage the complexity). It is not so much that more parties have to be managed, but that more parties announce themselves as sources of management (this is where CSR connects with leadership development).
Stakeholder management requires that one can face the possibility that one is wrong in one’s point of view and or decisions, and that one is more or less able to discuss relevant matters with an open and at the same time decisive attitude (decisive, because dialogues often lead to frustration when it does does not lead to anything concrete).

Corruption
Corruption is an international phenomenon. It may have different shapes and forms in different parts of the world, but the underlying problem is rather universal.
Corruption can be defined as a kind of deal where individuals are persuaded, typically through the offering of personal gain, to deviate from what can formally and/or professionally be expected from them.
Corruption takes on many forms. It happens when in a legitimate business deal one of the parties shows an offer off the table which would greatly expedite the offer that is on the table. It happens when someone contracting for a local government has some work done on the house of one of the officials in that local government. It happens when someone brings a business contact into an embarrassing situation. The bottom line is always that a deal is made, explicitly or implicitly, whereby one partner tempts another partner into behavior that he or she is not supposed to show, thereby corrupting the proper conduct of that partner.
Corruption is sometimes seen as intrinsic to certain cultures. This, however, ignores the fact that it is rather universal. Certain cultures may have customs which can be perverted towards corruption, but the concern about corruption with people in those cultures should tell us that the step towards corruption is not recognized as a legitimate part of the culture.
Some people think that corruption is pretty victimless. This is a mistake. When a contractor builds a part of town with substandard quality, which is made possible by corrupting government officials, and then some natural disaster causes more victims in that part of town than otherwise would have fallen, there are noticeably victims to corruption. When corruption is pervasive in a certain country and as result no one invests in the economy of that country, everyone in that country, and especially the poor, is victimized. And there are other examples to be found by just looking at the press.

Some managers are defeatist when it comes to corruption, realizing the magnitude and impact of the problem. However, there are things to be done about it. Examples can be found with Transparency International.

In terms of assistance, consultancy can better take the form of solution focused consulting than of traditional consultancy, especially when it comes to issues in developing countries. The standard approach of the major consultancy firms would involve a gap analysis and then the development of a major project to overcome the gap. The downside of that approach shows that the process takes years to offer any gratifying result, which is especially not ideal when politicians who typically want to have result to show in a relatively short period and that sizeable costs have to be met long before any result is there. The solution focused approach also starts with a gap analysis, but then it does not develop a plan to bridge the gap, but only a plan to narrow it somewhat and, opnce that has been accomplished, another plan for yet further narrowing. It involves steps which are immediately connected to results which encourage a further step. Assistance, such as from a consultant, is limited to what it may take to make just a simple step.

Glass ceilings

 Companies which settle in other countries and hire local staff sometimes invite the suspicion of having glass ceilings within their career structures. At home those glass ceilings may be detrimental to the opportunities of women or members of various kinds of minorities, while in the international context they pertain to less career opportunities for local staff; or at least, the appearance of it.

Diversity in standards

The suspicion sometimes rises that a company from country A operating in country B will favor employees from country A, especially when country A is more developed than country B. This is sometimes really the case, for whatever reason, and sometimes not more than a suspicion. If it is really the case, the company had better be ready to explain why this is so. If it is only a suspicion, the resulting distrust can be just as damaging. Better communication would appear to be called for, although this may be only a first step.

Discrimination

 Discrimination means litterally that distinctions are made, but it has come to mean that unjust distinctions are made between people. "Why are people like that always chosen for the better jobs and not other people?".

We may not always talk in those terms, but apparently we do expect some degree of justice also within organizations.

Choices have to be made. There needs to be a choice about who will fill a particular position, who will be on the team and who will not, who will be taken into account. In itself, there is nothing wrong with making choices (you could say that rather there is a problem when people do not make choices). But there may well be a problem if those choices are not made with integrity and transparency. In other words, when choices are made, do you make them for the reasons you claim to make them and can you be held accountable for those choices?

Discrimination may take different forms. It may occur, intentionally or unintentionally, as the company hires personnel. It may also occur amongst the personnel that has been hired. And it probably occurs in other ways as well. Presumably, being aware of your choices and being transparent with them can be part how to move away from it.

Child labor

One problem with child labor is that it is temting, often even compelling, for a company to respond to objections from its consumers, for instance in Europe, in such a way that they increase the problem: they ban child labor from the processes of its suppliers, with the result that the children involved will have to look for alternative sources of income and often end up in activities that are more harmful to their health and development (crime, prostitution, etc.).

Responsiveness to cultural diversity

Cultural diversity is in management often seen as a complication, a problem even, and that can be understandable. Yet, this perspective is revealing a characteristic of management, traditionally at least, in that what is seen as diverging from the norm is thereby seen as a problem. I does not have to be.

I do not want to downplay the problematic aspects of cultural diversity, such as in the communication and cohesion within an organisation. Still, it can also be turned around. An organisation that truly is able to treat its employees as the collective talent that makes up the organization's potential also sees the richness in perspectives, motives and experiences that come with cultural diversity. It may benefit in terms of knowledge generation, emergent strategy and responsiveness to the outside world.

Codes of conduct

Codes of conduct are more and more used by multinational organizations to give guidelines to their staff in working in new markets and cultures. They allow the companny to express the company identity - in a time of globalization and increasing competition, this is the more valuable - and they show stakeholders, including staff, what at least to expect from the company.

But then the matter is about communication the code and making it operational, as a true tool and a clear message. That prooves to be far from easy.

International developments and local growth

Communication