ABSTRACT
Alignment is defined in this book as ‘a mutually rewarding relationship between a company and its key stakeholders, enabling the firm to realize its purpose’. Managers can select a road map that either stresses negotiation or confrontation. Implementing these road maps can be carried out in two different styles. One is called a rational approach, in which corporate leadership convinces stakeholders that they are receiving an offer so beneficial that it can’t be refused, a tactic most pertinent for consumers. A second style of working is the normative approach, in which the organization stresses the advantages of alignment by showing how it serves a social purpose. This is more useful with a variety of stakeholders with different interests. Both approaches, however, rely greatly on corporate communication to articulate and project the mutually rewarding benefits of alignment. (See Figure 7.1.)
