ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the experiences of a single firm: the multinational oil company Royal Dutch/Shell. Shell has been widely recognised by academics and practitioners alike as a leader in the process of stakeholder engagement. The chapter focuses on the interviews and documentary evidence collected to reflect on Shell's experience and that of its stakeholders. It also focuses on one particular example of stakeholder engagement: Shell's productive ongoing dialogue with two human rights organisations, Amnesty International and Pax Christi International (PCI). In December 1995, in the wake of Saro-Wiwa's execution, PCI—a Catholic lay organisation devoted to promoting world peace, human rights and economic justice—wrote to Shell asking the company to speak out on human rights in Nigeria. As Shell struggled to understand and respond to societies changing expectations, several non-governmental organisations (NGO) recognised Shell's crisis as an opportunity to pursue their own objectives. Engaging in an open, interactive dialogue carried risks and rewards for both Shell and its NGO stakeholders.
