For some years now, the world has begun to see a change in political values; these values are not purely moral, but they intervene in social relations and have caused evident changes in the ways in which governments and companies respond to communities and their people. These political values and their intervention in social relations expose (for some time now) the new needs, anxieties, demands and trends that today's society requires; They are values that begin as political - because of the way they enter the system - and quickly become social - because of the forms they take in reality and adapt to behaviour - they are the ones that are generating the patterns of socialisation and participation not only of communities but also of companies and governments and, in turn, are setting the roadmap for what will perhaps be the way of interacting from today onwards.
It is this new reality that has led economic, political and social clusters to question their place today and the ways in which they must maintain their relationships and interact within a multi-faceted and multi-faceted set of visions that now force specificities for which many are unprepared. Change that was once seen as, among other things, highly localised, has become a wave of great magnitude that attracts others nearby, shifting global tides. Social movements are no longer focalised, dissatisfaction is no longer centred on a city, individual political recognition is no longer the sole characteristic of the most democratic and decision-making values are no longer the preserve of the few, which has led the company to become a social-political actor, to change its dynamics and to seek a new position from which to position itself as strategic and to establish the basis for sustainable leadership.
This has forced business to question its role in society and its responsibility as a part of it, resulting in the expansion of the idea that it is business that is called upon to be mediator, conciliator and promoter of social development.
Why is the company called upon to be a mediator?
Social movements are a right of individuals to express themselves and have become the most evident form of social outcry and one of the most effective political checks and balances. Communities and society in their use of rights and participation have begun a shift that cuts across the public and private spheres. It is in situations of social unrest and conflict that the company, as a pivot between the state and the community, must mediate with reasons and clear positions. The company is the place where the community unites around a space or an objective that has first been exposed to a local, national or international government; the company is, in short, the precise arena to reconcile between what is required and what is administered, and to find common ground between the two following parts of the state.