We have developed a range of approaches that focus on delivering actionable findings and enabling clients to understand stakeholders' views of their organisations' responsibilities and priorities for the future. They include:

Stakeholder review / benchmarking research: evidence to feed in to your strategy

• measure perceptions and expectations across a range of their key stakeholders
• benchmark perceptions against key competitors
• track stakeholder opinions over time.

This type of research is typically conducted by structured questionnaires, administered face-to-face or by telephone. It can cover several stakeholder groups (such as government, the media, non-government organisations (NGOs), suppliers, customers, employees, etc) and can be conducted on a local, national or international basis. Clients use this approach to provide evidence to back up their strategy, demonstrate progress in shifting stakeholder perceptions over time and inform their strategy for different markets/audiences.

Multi-client benchmarking studies - British public & NGOs / experts: cost-efficient answers to specific questions

We run two regular multi-client studies devoted to corporate responsibility issues. Several companies participate in each study, sharing the costs and some benchmarking data, making this a cost effective way to track an organisation's reputation for responsibility compared to that of its competitors. Clients have the flexibility to add their own tailored questions if required at standard rates, to measure attitudes towards specific issues or initiatives. The studies are:

• Corporate Responsibility Study among the British Public - running since 1990, this is a nationally representative study of some 2,000 British adults devoted to measuring perceptions and expectations about corporate responsibility. It includes findings for your customers.
• Study among Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and corporate responsibility experts - running since 2004, this gives an expert view of company performance and detailed suggestions for improvements. It comprises a targeted sample of 40 charities and campaigning organisations, think tanks, membership organisations, consultants and other commentators. 

More information on these studies, and details of our suite of multi-client reputation research studies among audiences such as MPs, the media and business leaders, are available here.

Developing initiatives and non-financial reporting: test and refine your communications

• explore in-depth reactions and the factors underlying opinions
• provide feedback on proposed initiatives and communications - from concept stage to detailed drafts
• assess alternative propositions and scope likely future scenarios.

This type of research is typically conducted by group discussions, individual depth interviews or workshop sessions. It usually focuses on particular target audiences for the communication or initiative in question (eg cause marketing initiative, charity partnership, local community project, other employee or customer-facing scheme), and can cover a range of stakeholder groups as required (such as customers, employees, government, the media, non-government organisations (NGOs), suppliers, etc) and can be conducted on a local, national or international basis. Clients use this approach to test and refine proposed initiatives and communications, review existing reports and inform revisions, and gain in-depth insight on the expectations of their target audiences. 

Stakeholder dialogues: analyse stakeholders' expectations

• explore in-depth stakeholder expectations and prompt constructive debate
• encourage consideration of corporate responsibility issues in the context of business realities
• prioritise future actions and gain detailed feedback on next steps.

This type of research is typically conducted in round-table discussion sessions among expert opinion-former audiences, often with the participation of company representatives. We provide expert facilitation and independent reporting of dialogue sessions. Clients use this approach to analyse stakeholder expectations, encourage further consideration of difficult/controversial issues and provide evidence of stakeholder engagement for non-financial reports.

We also conduct a wide range of research projects on stakeholder opinions of corporate responsibility issues. Other recent projects include: a local community study measuring the views of local residents and local opinion formers about a prominent local company; exploratory research among a company's employees to develop a new volunteering initiative; exploratory research among the British public to assess the appeal of sustainable financial products; and a study among institutional investors to measure their views of a company's sustainability strategy.