Social legitimacy, reputation and stakeholders as elements of corporate diplomacy

Abstract

The current multiplicity of international actors has expanded the scope of diplomatic activities. Corporate diplomacy arises in a context in which transnational corporations must attend not only to their economic interests, but to their relationship with different sectors of society, ranging from host governments to the population of the territory in which they intend to operate. The purpose of this article is to analyze the concept of corporate diplomacy, its evolution and the main elements that current literature and studies attribute to the activities of this type of diplomacy. After the analysis, it is pertinent to determine that among the main elements of corporate diplomacy are the search for legitimacy to operate, the protection of the reputation of corporations and the relationship with interest groups.