Stakeholders and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): A New Perspective on the Structure of Relationships

This paper analyses the characteristics of relationships between stakeholders and corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stakeholders. Previous researches on relationships between enterprises and stakeholders have demonstrated two characteristics, of ‘restriction’ and ‘transaction’, but they do not appear to shed much light on recent developments. This is partly due to the new trend of corporate dialogue with stakeholders, aimed either at addressing social issues or with a view to acquiring a positive perception through such dialogue; we see this process as one of ‘value creation’. Stakeholder dialogue is more established in Europe, where CSR has developed most extensively, than elsewhere. Today, European enterprises are moving towards a standardized system to formalize and evaluate the value of stakeholder dialogue. Japanese opinion, however, is not always in favor of such standardization, as in Nonaka' Knowledge Creation Theory, which argues that all innovation is produced through a creative process of solving contradictions and conflicts, rather than through applying objective processes. This paper discusses the context of stakeholder dialogue and the Japanese perception of its application.