Stakeholder dialogues in environmental management

Issues of sustainability are complex and collaborative processes have become an increasingly popular method for confronting them. This is particularly noticeable within corporate environmental management, specifically within the widely adhered to environmental management system ISO 14001:2015 where the stakeholder perspective has been added. To gain this perspective some organizations conduct voluntary stakeholder dialogues concerning their environmental conduct. The aim of this study is to provide insight into this understudied area as well as develop our understanding of what quality can mean in these types of stakeholder dialogues. Using a case study approach, this was addressed by investigating the stakeholder dialogues performed by a Swedish corporate organization within the frames of their ISO 14001 system. The results show, that when evaluated based on their ability to create symmetrical two-way communications, it is possible to conduct qualitative stakeholder dialogues even in settings where stakeholders are not given final decision-making power. Furthermore, the study argues that the quality of the dialogues, especially in the context of CSR, are also contingent on the performance of the stakeholder analysis