Businesses that thrive in the 21st century will be those that are smart about engagement. These businesses are the best at adapting to changing societal concerns, expectations, risks and opportunities and they know how to generate sustainable outcomes.

However, while many companies talk a lot about stakeholder engagement, very few do it in a way that genuinely contributes to business success. In many cases companies engage the wrong people on the wrong issues at the wrong time; they plan too much and do too little; they slide into PR-mode or they undermine relationships by creating...