Community as a stakeholder in corporate social and environmental reporting

The notion of organisational stakeholders having a claim in corporate social responsibility is implicit in stakeholder theory. The nature of stakeholder relations, however, has been explored only to a limited extent. Further, the nature of specific stakeholder relationships has received little attention. This paper looks at community as an organisational stakeholder, specifically at the nature of the relationship between the community and the organisation. It focuses particularly on community as a stakeholder in social and environmental reporting. Social and environmental reporting is a method employed by many organisations to provide non-financial information about the company to its various stakeholders. Firstly, the question of how stakeholders are identified is addressed. Definitions and typologies of stakeholders are considered. Existing frameworks for understanding stakeholder relationships are then explored. Importantly, not only are the attributes of the stakeholder considered, but also the attributes of the organisation and of the relationship itself. The relationship between organisation and the community is then constructed. Factors that potentially make up this relationship are identified. A model that postulates the interrelationships between these variables is developed. The potential impact of national culture, particularly in the Australasian region, is considered. Finally, implications for further research are presented.