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CCCA_V5No2_StakeholderEngagement-FIN.qxd:CCCA_V1No1_DriversSeat-FIN.qxd R 5/5/11 11:57 PM Page 23 Cover eputations are precious,and take a lot of effort to build and maintain.In today’s business climate,in which information flows freely,managing stakeholders — whether these are customers, suppliers, investors, government officials or neighbouring com- munities — has become a pillar of risk management at many companies.And increas- ingly, general counsel are being called upon to play a leadership role in this area. Stakeholders today are far more sophisticated, saysTara Addis, principal with Addis & Associates in Toronto, a consultancy on stakeholder engagement practices.“There’s a greater expectation of companies to be transparent and accountable.” In the past,Addis says,communication between a company and its stakeholders was mostly a “one-way dialogue.” Now, there is an “expectation for involved decision- making and direct two-way engagement.” Today, companies that don’t know what their stakeholders want are the most vulnerable.“From a legal perspective, you must really listen to these expectations and respond accordingly.” Goodwill hunting Stakeholder engagement is more than a risk-management strategy — it positions companies for the future. By Pablo Fuchs In her role as a consultant, Addis helped Mississauga-based pharmaceutical firm, AstraZeneca Canada Inc., design and execute its company-wide stakeholder engage- ment strategy.The company’s general counsel, Bill Charnetski, says implementing the strategy four years ago has providedAstraZeneca with key intelligence about the expec- tations its stakeholders have.“We could be focusing on ourselves and talking at others, but we feel it’s better to ultimately build integrated collaborative solutions that drive business success,” he says.“All issues relating to health care are complex and require the best thinking at the table, from all perspectives, to come up with the best solutions.” By engaging governments,physicians and patients,Charnetski says,these stakeholders feel they are involved in the discovery and delivery of innovative medicines.This,in turn, ÉTÉ 2011 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 23