ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how collaborative approaches to conflict management have become part of sustainable and responsible business practices. Participants have found that working with stakeholders can improve their reputations and even enhance business opportunities. The vast majority of the companies interviewed had been involved in some full collaborative efforts with stakeholders. The majority of the conflicts identified had at their root stakeholder concern about the impacts, environmental and/or social, of the companies' activities on the communities in which they operate. The scope of the research was restricted to the experiences of Canadian companies in industries dependent on natural resources, because they are often the focus of conflicts with external stakeholders over environmental and social issues. Participants' areas of responsibility vary and include: public, government, regulatory, aboriginal, and/or community affairs or relations, communications, sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, ethics, environment and other operational areas.
