Stakeholder Dialogue at Bertelsmann

Bertelsmann comes into contact with a variety of stakeholders. Dialogue with them is an important part of the strategic further development of CR at Bertelsmann.

As part of CR relevance analyses, Bertelsmann regularly determines which CR topics should be prioritized. In the most recent stakeholder survey, a total of 632 selected stakeholders shared their views on CR at Bertelsmann: Internally, selected top executives and experts from the corporate divisions were surveyed, while externally they included business partners, potential employees, investors, bankers, CR experts, journalists and political decision-makers. The core of the survey was the evaluation of 19 CR topics – internally according to their relevance for the business and externally according to their relevance for the stakeholders. All corporate divisions participated in the survey, which was coordinated by the Bertelsmann CR Council. Based on the survey results from the corporate divisions, the Group Executive Board adopted eight Bertelsmann CR priorities. The Bertelsmann CR Program (2021–2023) serves to further develop the eight Group-wide CR priorities in terms of content and organization. Strategic objectives, targets, measures, progress indicators and milestones have been defined for specific topics.

List of 8 Bertelsmann Priority CR Topics