Accountability-based participatory corporate governance and corporate social responsibility

Accountability-based socially responsible participatory corporate governance situates the corporation as a responsible member of an ongoing community. An ethic of accountability provides a framework that stipulates the rights and responsibilities of the various parties. A corporation is granted the right to employ society’s economic assets in providing goods and services, investment opportunities and employment opportunities so as to ultimately facilitate the long-term viability of a democratically governed society in a sustainable manner. In exercising this right, the corporation accepts the responsibility to account to society for the use of its assets. Those to whom an account is given have a responsibility to provide thoughtful, relevant and practical evaluation criteria, and the state or other authoritative body has a responsibility to provide the necessary implementation infrastructure and oversight. Accountability-based participatory corporate governance goes beyond traditional “stakeholder management” to actively engage and respond to the concerns of the various interested constituencies. Taking pluralism seriously means that the corporation is accountable for its actions to those affected. By being aware of and participating in pluralistic engagements, heretofore unrecognized possibilities for the design, implementation and evaluation of accountability systems may become apparent. What is being proposed is not a panacea, but pragmatic suggestions for anticipated improvement in participatory governance and corporate social responsibility and a suggested framework for engaging in an ongoing dialogue and debate regarding participatory governance and corporate social responsibility.