ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at why some managers do choose to increase their community engagement (ce) activities, to understand what drives their decisions. Managers are also deeply suspicious of information that comes from companies such as Ben & Jerry's, which they regard as being 'outside the mainstream'. The disbeliever, for example, dismisses the many public opinion surveys confirming that a high proportion of consumers say that they would switch their purchasing to buy products made in ethical ways by ethical companies. Relevance is perhaps the most important foundation on which the disbeliever can challenge the data. This combines several possible elements, including accuracy, materiality and applicability. Hopefully people will also discover new elements that can usefully be added to the scorecard, and so improve people ability over time to navigate critical conversations to an effective conclusion. At the heart of most conversations with disbelievers is a debate over the quality of the evidence.
