The Game Has Changed: A New Paradigm for Stakeholder Engagement

Abstract

For business operators, the game has changed in terms of relationships with significant stakeholders—including employees, customers, and suppliers. The traditional business beliefs that brought success in the past will not bring success in the future. Whether you call today’s business environment the “new normal,” the “not normal,” or just plain unsettling, you have probably noticed that the old ways aren’t working. People are skeptical about their relationships with business, and a new approach is needed. As Albert Einstein postulated, “Problems that are created by our current level of thinking can’t be solved by that same level of thinking.” In this paper, I explain the paradigm shift in thinking that is required for business to survive and prosper in the “new normal” that is taking shape.