Managing corporate affairs to a stakeholder agenda

The focus of corporate affairs practice is on the interests of the organisation served by the corporate affairs practitioner, and on how these interests can be sustained, furthered and protected. However, effective corporate affairs practice recognises that corporate interests must be reconciled with other interests, such as those of the community or special interest groups, but this recognition leads to a number of practical problems. These problems relate to the identification of other interests which must be taken into account, and to weighting other interests in management decision‐making. This paper looks at some of these practical corporate affairs management problems and draws on the author's experience to suggest ways in which they can be managed.