Public relations for stakeholder and societal engagement

Public relations uses relationship building and stakeholder engagement to pursue organizational objectives. This chapter describes how stakeholder theory provides a foundation for understanding organization-stakeholder engagement processes. Engagement connects management with external and internal stakeholders to understand and make decisions based on shared interests and value creation. Organizations also are expected to engage with society as a whole to create value through corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. Ethical engagement with stakeholders and society should benefit the social evaluation of the organization.