Toward Stakeholder Dialogue

The motivation of this study arises from increasing demands to include stakeholders in the decision-making of institutions of higher education. The focus is on the regional stakeholder relationships of Finnish universities. The study explores the themes and contexts that determine these relationships. It studies the dimensions of responsible academic work in the respective region and why, where and how university-stakeholder dialogues take place and how they succeed. Regional engagement is evaluated through the involvement of stakeholders in the life of the academy.Responsible academic work from the point of view of the region was seen to mean that the university fulfils its responsibilities towards the state, the students, and the region. The responsibilities towards the region were two-fold: to respond to concrete needs, and to take a visionary role. In stakeholder dialogues the main elements of success were trust, commitment, and personal relationships. The book provides interesting reading for researchers and managers in the field of higher education, as well as in the fields of communication and relationship management.