The Stakeholder Strategy: Profiting from Collaborative Business Relationships

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended!
Review: Ann Svendsen’s critically acclaimed book is one of the first attempts to define a new relationship between business and its employees, customers and communities. Written in a conversational, intelligent style, The Stakeholder Strategy makes the case for collaborative stakeholder relationships and tries to show companies how they can develop and nurture those relationships for mutual benefit. Regardless of whether you think that Svendsen has succeeded or failed in that goal, the book gives plenty of examples, drawn from diverse industries, to support her claims. At the same time, it doesn’t get bogged down by endless source notes; the book provides just enough data to make a point and back it up. The book isn’t a flimsy how-to, nor is it a dry academic tome. It fits comfortably in the middle by incorporating the best of both approaches. We at ... recommend this book to company leaders and managers, as well as anyone — from life-long employee to adversarial activist — who falls under the new definition of a corporate stakeholder.

Rating:
Summary: The Mansion In The Mist
Review: I really enjoyed the book because it made me use my imagination. Set in the 1950s, in a mansion in another world, three characters are required to find a certain object. If they fail, creatures will invade the planet Earth. The story is told by Anthony Monday, the thirteen year-old protagonist, who starts the adventure by accidentally transporting himself to the other world. Once there, Anthony learns of the plot by the antagonistic creatures, who will stop at nothing to take over Earth. Together with the help of his friends, the Eells, the group searches for the solution that will prevent the creatures from reaching their goal. This conflict is decided just at the last moment. I liked this book because it makes the reader follow along and think of solutions to the many problems. Also, many surprises and suspenseful moments are found throughout the story. The only negative comment that I have about the book is that the discussion about the various solutions was too drawn-out. For readers my age, I would highly recommend this book because it was interesting and had a good plot. If you like the R.L. Stine books, this would be a great book for you to read because the authors are very similar. I would only recommend this book to teachers if they enjoy reading science fiction.

Rating:
Summary: A framework for a holistic approach to stakeholder relations
Review: This book is essential reading not only for community relations managers but for any corporate manager responsible for corporate strategy and for developing relationships with a company's key stakeholders. Svendsen provides a practical, easy-to-follow, step-by-step approach to all phases of building collaborative relationships. The book is filled with useful tools, practical tips, case vignettes and charts that summarize key points. The author discusses the critical role of both implicit and explicit "contracts" between stakeholders and companies and emphasizes relationship building as a corporate-wide responsibility. She sees reputation as critical to corporate success and trust as the most important ingredient in building positive stakeholder relations. And, she focuses on the importance of preparing an organization for relationship building by developing a social mission and creating structures and policies that support collaborative relationships with both external and internal stakeholders.