Looking Through the Eyes of Others: assessing mutual expectations and experiences in order to shape dialogue and collaboration between business and NGOs with respect to CSR

What are the main differences in expectations between NGOs and companies who interact with each other with respect to corporate social responsibility (CSR)? This is the leading question for a research project within the framework of the Dutch National Research Program on CSR (2003–2004). The research starts with the observation that companies and NGOs are increasingly interacting regarding CSR. Exploring the mutual expectations in the early stages of an interaction can deliver valuable information about the possibilities for cooperation. In order to study these expectations and experiences, a web-based tool is developed. The application of this tool results in the relevant gaps between mutual expectations and the comparison of expectations expressed in the beginning of the interaction with the actual experiences.