Managing external pressures through corporate diplomacy

Today's corporations face many demands from a plethora of different stakeholders, which are often incongruous. While shareholders demand a decent return on their investment, employees demand safe and well-paid jobs, communities stress upon their tax revenues and public pressure groups call for more social and environmental responsibility. Corporations thus require a great deal of corporate diplomacy to prioritise and - where necessary and possible - reconcile these different demands. This paper describes a framework for managerial/corporate attitudes and external pressure levels. Four case studies illustrate varying attitudes towards corporate diplomacy determine the outcome of controversies over genetically modified food products.