Public engagement: How accountability can still mean profitability in the digital age

"The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits."

Conversation and collaboration makes customers and brands influential

Emerging from “Dell Hell”

It's been a rule of business for generations that most companies assume they are in a struggle.

They assume their interests are different from the rest of their environment's:

• Employees have an interest in higher salaries and more benefits

• Customers have an interest in lower prices and better service

• Governments have an interest in higher taxes and greater regulatory restrictions

• Shareholders have an interest in receiving greater profits from investments

The Internet gives an opportunity to escapethe “struggle”

It encourages and enables people to gather in common interest rather than opposition.

"CEOs need to engage critics - it's even possible there is a justifiable gripe that the CEO needs to be made aware of. I can't promise I'll win a critic round but I'll never stop trying and I'll become better informed in the process.“

- Don Elgie, CEO Creston

Left 4 Dead: Winning respect

Authority is dispersing. We’re moving from a shareholder to stakeholder society

Trust in traditional authority figures is falling:

• In some countries, trust in the CEO has fallen below 20%.

• The credibility of corporate advertising (13%) and corporate websites (24%) has dropped

• Meanwhile, people trust the credibility of Internet searches (35%) as much as newspapers (34%) to find new information

• So it’s not surprising people need to hear something between 3-5 times on average before they believe it’s true

Source: Edelman Trust Barometer 2009

Addressing stakeholder concerns

Photograph: Jake Perks

Engaging employees

Shareholder value is only part of the equation

Business can behave responsibly, accountably and openly and by engaging stakeholders still benefit the bottom line.

…In other words, to sell the proposition make sure what you say and what you do match.

“What you’re doing speaks so loud I can’t hear what you’re saying.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson