Summary in English and Afrikaans / CSR has become a priority for many key businesses, particularly in light of codes of practice such as the 2009, The King Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa 2009 (often referred to as King III Report). Effective CSR is dependent on efficient communication between and with stakeholders and businesses, yet the quality of these communications is seldom evaluated. While the literature emphasises the importance of stakeholder engagement, little attention is given to the communication processes used during stakeholder engagement. This study asserts that Integrated Communication (IC) offers a multi-pronged approach for engaging with an organisations’ diverse stakeholders and, when incorporated holistically, aligns CSR throughout an organisation. This study uses a framework drawn from IC theory as a means of analysing the efficiency of stakeholder engagement within Anglo American South Africa (AASA), a company explicitly dedicated to CSR. A single embedded case study research design is employed, including a review of main CSR documents used by AASA, interviews with key communications staff, as well as a focus group on site with key staff members. The research revealed that although AASA is in many ways doing a laudable job in terms of stakeholder engagement, there are key points at which their efforts break down. This is due, in most part; firstly to a lack of integrated awareness throughout the broader business of what constitutes its stated CSR agenda; and secondly to a lack of executive power within the communications department of the business. It is suggested that by following the proposed IC framework, and investing key communications personnel with executive power rather than merely supportive responsibility, the effectiveness of AASA’s stakeholder engagement would be improved. This would improve the likelihood of an effective strategic CSR’s success, and be of value to the organisation. / Korporatiewe Maatskaplike Verantwoordelikheid (KMV) het 'n prioriteit geword vir baie belangrike besighede, veral in die lig van gedragskodes soos die 2009 derde King verslag oor korporatiewe bestuur. Effektiewe KMV is afhanklik van doeltreffende kommunikasie tussen en met belanghebbendes en besighede, maar die gehalte van hierdie kommunikasie is selde geëvalueer. Terwyl die literatuur beklemtoon die belangrikheid van die betrokkenheid van belanghebbendes, is min aandag gegee aan die kommunikasie- prosesse wat gebruik word tydens die betrokkenheid van belanghebbendes. Hierdie studie voer aan dat Geïntegreerde Kommunikasie (GK) 'n multi-ledige benadering bied vir die aangaan met organisasies se diverse belanghebbendes en, wanneer holisties opgeneem, lyn 'n organisasie deurgaans in met KMV. Hierdie studie maak gebruik van 'n raamwerk wat uit GK teorie as 'n middel van die ontleding van die doeltreffendheid wat met belanghebbendes binne Anglo American Suid-Afrika (AASA) uitvloei, 'n maatskappy uitdruklik gewy aan KMV. 'n Enkele navorste gevallestudie is gebruik, insluitend 'n oorsig van die belangrikste KMV dokumente, onderhoude met sleutel kommunikasie personeel sowel as 'n fokusgroep met belangrike personeel op die terrein. Die navorsing toon dat alhoewel AASA is in baie maniere om 'n lofwaardige werk in terme van die betrokkenheid van belanghebbendes handhaaf, is daar belangrike punte waarop hul pogings kort kom. Dit is te danke oorsaaklik; eerstens 'n gebrek aan geïntegreerde bewustheid regdeur die breër organisasie wat sy verklaarde KMV agenda uitmaak, en tweedens 'n gebrek van die uitvoerende gesag in die kommunikasie-afdeling van die besigheid. Daar word voorgestel dat die voorgestelde GK raamwerk kruis organisatoriese bewustheid van AASA se KMV agenda sou bevorder, en die organisasie dwing om belangrike kommunikasie personeel te belê met uitvoerende gesag eerder as bloot ondersteunende verantwoordelikheid. Dit sal op sy beurt die doeltreffendheid van AASA se betrokkenheid verseker. Die waarskynlikheid van strategiese KMV se sukses te verbeter, en van waarde wees vir die organisasie as geheel. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)

This thesis addresses corporate approaches to CSR stakeholder engagement in the pharmaceutical industry in the UK and Germany. Its objective is to undertake mainly exploratory qualitative research to investigate how the selected sample manages CSR. The data was primarily accessed and collected from senior executives within major pharmaceutical companies. Multiple research methods were employed to gather rich new empirical evidence which focuses on the CSR practices and perceptions of CSR managers in both countries. To examine how this 'sensitive' sector responds to what could be termed the 'CSR Challenge', a critical realist perspective and six codes were chosen to map the practices and to compare similarities and differences between the two countries. This research contributes to the academic literature in this field by filling significant gaps in an area which was previously under-investigated. Ultimately, the findings are employed to examine a prespecified framework which was originally developed by the author based on secondary data in separate research. Overall, the results inform, re-examine, and improve this recently published framework. The updated explanatory framework which results from the research is the main conceptual contribution of the thesis. It serves as a management tool which includes the contextual factors which influence decision-makers' practices and perceptions portrayed as a set of inter-related management steps. This new conceptualisation is designed to be of practical use for decision-makers when managing their stakeholder engagement activities. As a result, this research is essentially applied and normative in nature. In addition, this work presents an original contribution to the literature in its field which should be of interest to academics.

Práticas de responsabilidade social e sustentabilidade são desenvolvidas por empresas como forma de responder às contestações da sociedade. Em especial as de engajamento com stakeholders. No entanto, são baseadas em teorias estratégicas da administração e não garantem resultado satisfatório do ponto de vista das melhorias socioambientais. Com o intuito de avaliar a qualidade dessas práticas para a promoção da sustentabilidade, um estudo multidisciplinar comparado entre teorias de administração e de comunicação apontou para diferentes modelos de engajamento chamados desenhos de interação. Baseado na pensamento comunicacional de Deetz foi possível identificar desenhos de interação - Colaboração, Diálogo e Democracia Generativa - com propensões suscetíveis a sustentabilidade, pois geram criatividade e relações de mútuo benefício aos stakeholders. / Corporate social responsibility and sustainability practices are developed by companies in order to address stakeholder claims. The stakeholder engagement practices are especially interesting. They are based on managerial and strategic theories and have not performed environmentally well lately. In order to evaluate the quality of those practices to promote sustainability, a multidisciplinary study took place. Communication and management theories were compared and different types of engagement, named interaction designs, were identified. Based on Deetz communication theories it was possible to understand specific designs - Collaboration, Dialogue and Generative Democracy - and its propensities to promote sustainability, due to their ability to generate mutual benefits and creativity.

The purpose of this study was to show how organizations involved with the Hearst Ranch Conservation Easement negotiations might have used the feedback loop characteristic of two-way Symmetrical communication theory to reach consensus on the Hearst Ranch Conservation Agreement. Conservation easements are complex situations and each has separate and distinct goals, constraints, compromises, funding mechanisms, and public values. This study analyzed public documents from seven different organizations that provided input in the public consultations regarding the Hearst Ranch Conservation Easement, which completed in 2005. This study concluded that one of the communication methods adopted during the Hearst Ranch Conservation Negotiation was Hunt and Grunig’s two-way symmetrical communication theory.

Tidigare forskning diskuterar utvecklingen av hållbarhetsredovisningar och hur intressenter på olika sätt engageras i utvecklingen samt innehållet i redovisningen. Det diskuteras även kring betydelsen av intressenters påverkan. Freemans (1984) definition av intressentbegreppet ligger till grund för tidigare forsknings utveckling inom ämnet. Intressentbegreppet är brett och olika forskare har olika definitioner, detta har lett till att begreppet problematiserats.Syftet med studien är att lyfta fram hur hållbarhetsredovisningar förändrats över tid och hur företag engagerar sina intressenter i redovisningarna. Resultatet ska bidra till ökad kunskap om företags sätt att engagera sina intressenter i sina hållbarhetsredovisningar. För att besvara syftet och forskningsfrågorna har vi använt oss av en innehållsanalys där vi analyserat information från hållbarhetsredovisningar och hemsidor samt en ordanalys.Studien omfattar tre olika företags hållbarhetsredovisningar från 2008 och 2013 och information från deras hemsidor som behandlar intressenter och deras hållbarhetsarbete. Den innefattar även GRIs riktlinjer som ligger till grund till företagens hållbarhetsredovisningar. Resultatet visar att två av företagen som ingår i studien har utvecklat sin kommunikation med sina intressenter under de analyserade åren, detta blir tydligt genom antalet gånger deras olika intressentgrupper framkommer i ordanalysen i 2008 respektive 2013 års redovisningar. Företagen har identifierat sina intressenter i sina hållbarhetsredovisningar på olika sätt och även förklarat hur de engagerar dem i sitt hållbarhetsarbete. / Former research discusses the development of sustainability reporting and the way stakeholders are being engaged in the development and the content of the reports. The importance of stakeholders influence is also discussed. Freeman´s (1984) definition of the stakeholder concept sets the foundation for former research within the subject. The stakeholder concept is broad and different researchers define the concept differently, which results in a problematization of the concept.The purpose of this study is to enhance the development of sustainability reporting over time and how companies engage their stakeholders in the reports. The result will contribute to higher knowledge about the company’s ways to engage their stakeholders in their sustainability reports. To answer our purpose and research questions we´ve used a content analysis where we analyzed information from sustainability reports, websites and carried out a word analysis.The study includes three different companies’ sustainability reports from 2008 and 2013 and information from their websites which includes stakeholders and their sustainability work. The study also includes GRI´s guidelines which sets the foundation for the company’s sustainability reports. The result shows that two of the companies that are included in the study have developed their communication with their stakeholders during the years that were analyzed. This becomes clear by the amount of times their different stakeholder groups are mentioned through a word analysis in the reports from 2008 and 2013. The companies have identified their stakeholders in their sustainability reports in different ways and also described how they engage them in their sustainability work.

Adequate water for ecosystems and humans is at a premium as the global population increases and the climate changes. Coping with these impacts requires tools to improve water governance and water management through legal or policy mechanisms. Water governance generates laws, policies, and rulings and water management implements those laws, policies, and rulings and rulings through management decisions. A key concern of water governance is balancing human and ecosystem water needs. Effective governance that promotes sustainable use of water resources to maintain ecosystem integrity is challenging. Many regions do not have sufficient resources for water management or water for ecosystems is not protected under traditional legal mechanisms. The challenge of improving water governance for ecosystems is, therefore, twofold. First, there is a need to provide resources that build the capacity of water managers to allocate water to ecosystems. Second, mechanisms to promote effective transformation of environmental flow needs into policy or practice are required. This research provides methods to advance water management by: 1) assessing environmental flow needs through creation of a geospatial database and 2) improving stakeholder engagement through lessons learned from three multi-year stakeholder engagement processes. Appendix A describes the current understanding of the link between hydrology and riparian and aquatic ecosystems in Arizona through synthesis of environmental flow needs. The synthesized information, stored in a geospatial database, can be used by water managers to determine the water needs to maintain riparian and aquatic habitats. Review of 121 studies reveals that there are very few analyses of surface water and groundwater requirements for intermittent or ephemeral river systems, and there are only limited generalizable data for aquatic species. This database can be used to identify critical geographic and topical knowledge gaps, as well as serve as a single place for water and land managers to assess and use the most current research to inform management decisions. Appendix B provides an empirical example of engagement to promote social learning as a way to preserve water for the environment when law does not protect environmental flows. Through 43 focus groups with 226 individuals representing a diversity of interests, we determined that there was common ground on concerns about water conservation, cooperation, financial incentives, and multiple benefits for water use. Through this engagement process, we found that identifying and then building common ground requires attention to details. These details include the process of analyzing qualitative data and methods for displaying complex information, which are not frequently discussed in the social learning or stakeholder engagement literature. Appendix C presents a framework for designing effective stakeholder engagement based on the experiences of the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center in three separate processes that engaged water experts. The proposed framework provides an iterative and flexible approach centered on a bridging organization that can bring people together and keep the engagement process moving forward. As illustrated through an evaluation of the three projects, the proposed framework provides for inclusivity, interactiveness, and flexibility in engagement through guidance by a steering committee and iteratively examining the water resource management problem. While further assessment is necessary, it appears that this framework is general enough to be applicable across projects at three different scales and with three separate sets of goals, yet detailed enough to provide a tangible approach that could aid other processes where the goal is implementing and evaluating expert engagement to solve complex problems and promote social learning. Previous studies on water governance have focused predominantly on the identification of the current problems with governance. However, because humans have an important role in shaping the global water cycle, the time has come to focus on solutions. In order to further water management solutions, a better understanding of the tools needed to manage water for ecosystems and effective methods for co-producing knowledge or encouraging social learning are needed. This research provides a regional example of approaches to advance water management using a tool to assess environmental flows needs and frameworks for promoting common ground and social learning in stakeholder engagement.

Stakeholder engagement, and specifically employee engagement has proven to have an influence on how companies perform and how value is created in organisations. Within the competitive world where Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) are functioning, employee engagement can be the master key that unlocks better organisational performance. The objective of this study is to research the influence of stakeholder engagement on business performance and value creation, and to identify factors that impact on stakeholder engagement. The processes that are in place to engage with employees and how value are created through employee engagement, are also investigated. Studies have proven that successful employee engagement can have a positive influence on how businesses perform. The various factors that have an influence on employee engagement, are identified, including: • People. • Communication. • Work. • Rewards. • Opportunities. • Quality of life; and • Company practices. The study found that engagement levels in selected SMEs in Gauteng are high and the results, as discussed in Chapter 3, are positive. It proves that a significant percentage of employees are engaged on the following levels: 1. Rational - this indicates how well employees understand their roles and responsibilities in their various companies. 2. Emotional - this level indicates with how much passion employees work and how passionate they are about their organisation. 3. Motivational - this indicates how willing employees are to give more than is expected of them, and how hard they work to perform well on their roles and responsibilities. The results of the study can be used by companies to improve employee engagement and create value in their organisations - it can assist them in building a sustainable, competitive organisation. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

Stakeholder engagement, and specifically employee engagement has proven to have an influence on how companies perform and how value is created in organisations. Within the competitive world where Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) are functioning, employee engagement can be the master key that unlocks better organisational performance. The objective of this study is to research the influence of stakeholder engagement on business performance and value creation, and to identify factors that impact on stakeholder engagement. The processes that are in place to engage with employees and how value are created through employee engagement, are also investigated. Studies have proven that successful employee engagement can have a positive influence on how businesses perform. The various factors that have an influence on employee engagement, are identified, including: • People. • Communication. • Work. • Rewards. • Opportunities. • Quality of life; and • Company practices. The study found that engagement levels in selected SMEs in Gauteng are high and the results, as discussed in Chapter 3, are positive. It proves that a significant percentage of employees are engaged on the following levels: 1. Rational - this indicates how well employees understand their roles and responsibilities in their various companies. 2. Emotional - this level indicates with how much passion employees work and how passionate they are about their organisation. 3. Motivational - this indicates how willing employees are to give more than is expected of them, and how hard they work to perform well on their roles and responsibilities. The results of the study can be used by companies to improve employee engagement and create value in their organisations - it can assist them in building a sustainable, competitive organisation. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

Abstract This thesis presents innovative applications of Multi-Objective Decision Support Systems (MODSS) to forestry decision support. New MODSS methodologies were developed to assess and evaluate forestry practices and finance regimes. The assessment of forestry investments draw on case studies conducted in the Hodgson Creek catchment on the Darling Downs in south Queensland and on the Atherton Tablelands in north Queensland, Australia. MODSS are systems that aid decision-making, in which a set of alternative management options are evaluated against a set of decision criteria. The criteria, that represent the stakeholders’ goals and objectives, are weighted to reflect stakeholder preferences regarding their relative importance. The weighted criteria scores are then aggregated to create an overall measure of option performance. In the first case study, MODSS procedures identified from the literature as being most suitable to forestry and the MODSS software package DEFINITE was used. After a critical review of the first study, a new MODSS was developed to address the particular needs of forestry evaluations and the weaknesses of current MODSS for addressing these needs. Limitations of the Hodgson Creek MODSS included lack of stakeholder engagement in the MODSS development process, inefficient use of the stakeholder time and an excessive work load on the experts in the scoring process. The new MODSS development process included the combined use of weighted sum and Electré aggregation methods, these being compensatory and non-compensatory aggregation methods. This combination of aggregation methods provided a measure of overall option performance and identified the presence of fatal flaws in the options. Various criteria weighting methods were trialled – including rank order methods, the analytical hierarchy process and direct assessments – to assess their utility for defining weights that reflected stakeholder priorities. A new hybrid weighting technique was developed using a combination of rank order methods and direct assessments. A new and innovative process for scoring options and criteria was developed, using an adaption of the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) in conjunction with a new computer-based Group Decision Support System (GDSS). This iterative process involved repeated rounds of individual scoring and group discussions. In the workshop conducted to elicit scores from experts, the GDSS was used to identify criteria where the elicited scores differed and discussions were focused on these criteria. After the discussions the options were rescored against the criteria and discussed further. This analysis was innovative in that uncertainty around the individual option scores was addressed for the first time using MODSS. This new application was developed in a spreadsheet using the risk analysis package @RISK. Evaluations of forestry options were undertaken at various time scales to address the long delay between incurring costs of tree planting and receiving returns from harvest. The various time scales identify the periods in which environmental and social benefits occurred as the trees grow and the economic benefits occurred at clearfell (or selective) harvest. This thesis specifically focuses on situations where measured and modelled data is not available, and seeks to increase the scientific rigour of the use of expert and stakeholder opinion in MODSS. The MODSS analyses revealed that forestry in the case study areas had the potential to offer considerable economic, environmental and social benefits to both landholders and the wider community. However, these benefits (and the associated costs) were not viewed as equally important. The MODSS developed in this study addressed these concerns. The benefits and costs of an option were reflected in its performance against the criteria. The degree of importance of the individual criteria varied from minor to high and overriding all other considerations. Criteria against which an option performed highly (the option’s strengths) were identified, as were criteria against which an option performed poorly (the option’s weaknesses). When these weaknesses occurred in highly important criteria, these were identified as fatal flaws in the option. The first case study in the Hodgson Creek catchment considered eight forestry options against 17 economic criteria, 12 environmental criteria and 12 social criteria. The second case study on the Atherton Tablelands considered 16 forestry options against eight economic criteria, six environmental criteria and five social criteria. The MODSS analysis identified the most preferred forestry options and the strengths and weaknesses of the options. In both case studies the most preferred options were large or medium-sized plantations with monoculture plantings with an element of non-landholder funding, in the form of government funding, joint ventures or land leasing agreements. These options had the highest performance against the economic criteria at all time scales and satisfactory environmental and social performance. Other forestry options that performed well included plantings focused on under-utilised land areas and salinity prevention areas, agroforestry, and selective harvesting of private native forest. These options generally had a higher level of performance against the social and environmental criteria, but lower levels of performance against economic criteria. These plantings would be undertaken for environmental and social reasons and not for financial returns. The application of MODSS developed in this thesis presents a significant scientific contribution to MODSS methodology. This thesis includes: the use of multiple time-periods to address the temporal differences in the delivery of benefits and costs, the use of NGT and a GDSS to provide a process for rapidly eliciting expert opinion, and the use of the combination of Electré and weighted sum aggregation methods to provide an overall measure of option performance and to identify fatal flaws in the options.

Abstract This thesis presents innovative applications of Multi-Objective Decision Support Systems (MODSS) to forestry decision support. New MODSS methodologies were developed to assess and evaluate forestry practices and finance regimes. The assessment of forestry investments draw on case studies conducted in the Hodgson Creek catchment on the Darling Downs in south Queensland and on the Atherton Tablelands in north Queensland, Australia. MODSS are systems that aid decision-making, in which a set of alternative management options are evaluated against a set of decision criteria. The criteria, that represent the stakeholders’ goals and objectives, are weighted to reflect stakeholder preferences regarding their relative importance. The weighted criteria scores are then aggregated to create an overall measure of option performance. In the first case study, MODSS procedures identified from the literature as being most suitable to forestry and the MODSS software package DEFINITE was used. After a critical review of the first study, a new MODSS was developed to address the particular needs of forestry evaluations and the weaknesses of current MODSS for addressing these needs. Limitations of the Hodgson Creek MODSS included lack of stakeholder engagement in the MODSS development process, inefficient use of the stakeholder time and an excessive work load on the experts in the scoring process. The new MODSS development process included the combined use of weighted sum and Electré aggregation methods, these being compensatory and non-compensatory aggregation methods. This combination of aggregation methods provided a measure of overall option performance and identified the presence of fatal flaws in the options. Various criteria weighting methods were trialled – including rank order methods, the analytical hierarchy process and direct assessments – to assess their utility for defining weights that reflected stakeholder priorities. A new hybrid weighting technique was developed using a combination of rank order methods and direct assessments. A new and innovative process for scoring options and criteria was developed, using an adaption of the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) in conjunction with a new computer-based Group Decision Support System (GDSS). This iterative process involved repeated rounds of individual scoring and group discussions. In the workshop conducted to elicit scores from experts, the GDSS was used to identify criteria where the elicited scores differed and discussions were focused on these criteria. After the discussions the options were rescored against the criteria and discussed further. This analysis was innovative in that uncertainty around the individual option scores was addressed for the first time using MODSS. This new application was developed in a spreadsheet using the risk analysis package @RISK. Evaluations of forestry options were undertaken at various time scales to address the long delay between incurring costs of tree planting and receiving returns from harvest. The various time scales identify the periods in which environmental and social benefits occurred as the trees grow and the economic benefits occurred at clearfell (or selective) harvest. This thesis specifically focuses on situations where measured and modelled data is not available, and seeks to increase the scientific rigour of the use of expert and stakeholder opinion in MODSS. The MODSS analyses revealed that forestry in the case study areas had the potential to offer considerable economic, environmental and social benefits to both landholders and the wider community. However, these benefits (and the associated costs) were not viewed as equally important. The MODSS developed in this study addressed these concerns. The benefits and costs of an option were reflected in its performance against the criteria. The degree of importance of the individual criteria varied from minor to high and overriding all other considerations. Criteria against which an option performed highly (the option’s strengths) were identified, as were criteria against which an option performed poorly (the option’s weaknesses). When these weaknesses occurred in highly important criteria, these were identified as fatal flaws in the option. The first case study in the Hodgson Creek catchment considered eight forestry options against 17 economic criteria, 12 environmental criteria and 12 social criteria. The second case study on the Atherton Tablelands considered 16 forestry options against eight economic criteria, six environmental criteria and five social criteria. The MODSS analysis identified the most preferred forestry options and the strengths and weaknesses of the options. In both case studies the most preferred options were large or medium-sized plantations with monoculture plantings with an element of non-landholder funding, in the form of government funding, joint ventures or land leasing agreements. These options had the highest performance against the economic criteria at all time scales and satisfactory environmental and social performance. Other forestry options that performed well included plantings focused on under-utilised land areas and salinity prevention areas, agroforestry, and selective harvesting of private native forest. These options generally had a higher level of performance against the social and environmental criteria, but lower levels of performance against economic criteria. These plantings would be undertaken for environmental and social reasons and not for financial returns. The application of MODSS developed in this thesis presents a significant scientific contribution to MODSS methodology. This thesis includes: the use of multiple time-periods to address the temporal differences in the delivery of benefits and costs, the use of NGT and a GDSS to provide a process for rapidly eliciting expert opinion, and the use of the combination of Electré and weighted sum aggregation methods to provide an overall measure of option performance and to identify fatal flaws in the options.