Broadening the stakeholder base : Rio Tinto's business with communities programme

Developing long term Business with Community partnerships is becoming an increasingly strategic means of realising corporate citizenship, in one form or another. Many companies in Australia, and elsewhere, are rushing into this, often with disastrous results. One company which has been at the forefront of developing such partnerships, in ways to avoid some of the rushed disasters we are seeing right now, is Rio Tinto, with its Business With Communities Programme established for the last six years in Australia. At the heart of this programme is an approach to strategic corporate citizenship which has nothing to do with altruism, philanthropy or corporate generosity to the community. It is a serious exercise, driven by stakeholder dialogue, in building social capital in the communities in which Rio Tinto operates.<br>