Full Details

Monday, March 2

New Views on Stakeholder Engagement: Insights from Tethered Fates
Center for Sustainable Business Lecture Series
Time:
5:00 pm to 6:30 pm
Presenter:
Dr. Shareen Hertel, Heinz Foundation Visiting Fellow
Location:
Mervis Hall 117 -- 3950 Roberto Clemente Drive
Sponsored by:
Global Studies Center along with Center for Sustainable Business
Cost:
Free and Open to the Public
Contact:
Veronica Dristas
Contact Email:
dristas@pitt.edu

Global supply chains link consumers, brands, manufacturers, workers, and local community members as "stakeholders" with significantly different levels of risk and benefit. When harm occurs in the course of business activity, prevailing approaches to stakeholders consultation are typically driven by companies, without significant input from people at the grassroots level.

This talk reveals where stakeholder consultation is taking place globally; how the process unfolds at the community level; and what types of innovation might be possible but are currently missed by "top-down" approaches to consultation. Hertel's talk features analysis of quantitative data from over 7,000 companies worldwide; she finds extractive companies across all regions tend to consult more heavily than light manufacturing companies, and corporations determine the mode, scope and content of the practice regardless of sector or region.

The talk also features original interview data from paired case studies in two manufacturing towns in the Dominican Republic where collegiate apparel is produced. Hertel reveals local peoples' insight on the limits of existing approaches to stakeholder dialogue along with their ideas for how better to diagnose problems, predict future challenges, and forge solutions to ongoing violations of economic rights.

Shareen Hertel is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Connecticut, jointly appointed with the university's Human Rights Institute.