Article Abstract:
Issue management is now being harnessed to assist corporations in the pursuit of their strategic goals. The result is an approach to issue management which can be called "competitive cooperation": competitive, because a company's issues management performance will have a material impact on its competitiveness, measured by achievement of corporate objectives; cooperative, because diverse issue agendas require issue-by-issue coalition building, even with traditional adversaries. This article illustrates the emergence of "competitive cooperation" by examining two companies (Monsanto and Gulf) which, since 1980, underwent strategic repositioning, added greater focus to their issue management programs, and adopted a cooperative approach to issue management. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
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Article Abstract:
Many of the most crucial problems facing management today arise from fundamental changes in the traditional relationship between business and society. An effective response to these challenges requires a functional integration of public issues management and corporate strategic planning - an integration few companies have achieved. This article describes some of the recent initiatives taken in public issues management and strategic planning at General Motors to improve its ability to respond to those challenges. Several examples of public policy issues are analyzed within the context of the competitive strategies of the worldwide automobile companies. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
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Article Abstract:
This article examines the history of issues management and assesses its current status at several large U.S. companies. Issues management is currently experiencing an identity crisis based on the conflicting interests of issues management as a process for filling a void in corporate decision making versus issues management as a professional activity for enhancing public policy involvement, corporate social performance, and strategic management. The future of issues management rests with the resolution of this identity problem. Issues managers need to reassess their purposes and objectives, definitions of success, and assumptions and techniques. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
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