Stakeholder engagement: Building participatory and deliberative spaces in subsistence markets

Corporate practices often affect poor communities in subsistence markets yet these consumers are not always consulted as legitimate stakeholders. Both subsistence communities and firms can benefit from more inclusive and democratic corporate engagement with stakeholders. Toward this end, a deliberative democratic approach to stakeholder engagement is proposed for more equitable exchanges among firms and their stakeholders in subsistence markets. Building participatory spaces can activate marginalized communities to influence constructively the corporate actions that affect their well-being and firms can gain valuable insights for strategic decision making. Four practical methods and applications for improving participation and deliberation are examined and evaluated. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.