How important are corporate dialogues?
Much of the hard work of socially responsible investing takes place through corporate dialogues. More often than not, dialogues are meetings between concerned shareholders and company officials where issues are discussed and points-of-view shared, but dialogues also may take place by phone, letter, or e-mail. Dialogues are rarely one-time events, but usually a series of discussions or communications taking place over an extended period of time, sometimes years. Dialogues and shareholder resolutions are closely connected. It is not uncommon for the filing of a shareholder resolution to be the impetus for a company to begin serious dialogue with shareholders.
