46 Int. J. Innovation and Sustainable Development, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2013 Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. The importance of stakeholder engagement in managing corporate reputations Anria S. van Zyl Department of Accountancy, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa Email: avanzyl@sun.ac.za Abstract: It is becoming increasingly evident that corporations need to communicate clearly with their larger stakeholder communities’ regarding the risks faced by the corporation along with their strategies to mitigate these risks. Stakeholder communities are also increasingly relying on social media to obtain a better understanding of and to inform others regarding the costs and externalities imposed on them by multinational corporations. The aim of this paper is to highlight the risks posed to corporate reputations by self-organising stakeholder activist groups and how a pro-active inclusive and transparent stakeholder engagement process can counteract these risks. Keywords: integrated reporting; stakeholder engagement; sustainability; branding; corporate reputation; activism; greenwashing; blackwashing. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Van Zyl, A.S. (2013) ‘The importance of stakeholder engagement in managing corporate reputations’, Int. J. Innovation and Sustainable Development, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp.46–60. Biographical notes: Anria S. van Zyl is a qualified Chartered Accountant (CA(SA)), currently lecturing Information Systems at undergraduate level at the University of Stellenbosch. She obtained a BAcc (Hons) degree, as well as a Certificate in the Theory of Accounting, at the University of the Free State, South Africa in 2001 and a Master’s degree in Computer Auditing from the University of Stellenbosch in 2008. She is currently completing an MPhil Environmental Management degree at the University of Stellenbosch. 1 Introduction: putting Earth back into the balance sheet The value of dwindling natural resources and the cost of increasing atmospheric pollution should surely be included in the price we are all paying for what we buy and consume? At the moment, these costs often do not appear in anyone’s books …. All of these costs, for which future generations will pay dearly, are given nil values in company accounts. Prince of Wales (2006) The recent global financial crisis, corporate scandals, increased socio-economic inequality, the growing evidence of resource constraints, climate change and changing expectations regarding the roles and responsibilities of public and private organisations; coupled with