**1. Introduction**

Definitions of cross-sector social partnerships [CSSPs] generally put emphasis on elements such as cross-sectorial collaboration, commitment of resources, problem-solution and social issue [1, P. 18]; [2, P. 14]; [3, P. 3]; [4]. The definitions have to a large extent been used as conceptual frames of reference for understanding, describing, interpreting and developing partnerships as a political tool and innovative form of cross-sectorial collaboration to address social inclusion [5]. Two perspectives seem to dominate the partnership literature: A private organizational perspective (e.g. [1]) and a public governance perspective (e.g. [3]). As a consequence of this, partnerships have also been conceptualized as a stakeholder dialogue (e.g. [6, 7]). The dialogue has been conducted in four "arenas": business-nonprofit, business-government, government-nonprofit, and trisector [5]. According to [5, 8], research on CSSPs is multidisciplinary using conceptual

platforms, e.g. resource dependence, social issues, and societal sector platforms. Within the sub-field of Cross-Sector Social Interactions [CSSI], the focus has for example been on unpacking more generally oriented key processes that lead to success [7, 9–13]. Only more recently, communicative platforms have been used [9, 14–16]; see also the review by [17].

This is surprising in light of the conceptualization of partnerships as a stakeholder dialogue. It is even more surprising that research using empirical evidence is almost non-existing. This paper aims to contribute to the empirical investigation of the communicative aspect of CSSPs. Within the theoretical frameworks of strategic communication and dialogue and by use of an example drawn from a case study, we will answer the following research question:

How can corporations successfully develop Corporate Social Responsibility [CSR] initiatives in partnership-wide meetings with stakeholders organized in a CSSP?

The example we will use is a partnership-wide meeting in a local CSSP in Denmark. The meeting, which becomes apparent in the analysis, not only represents one principal entity with an overall strategic intent to reach a specific outcome but is used strategically by the partnership management in order to establish legitimation towards new organizational practices, i.e. social inclusion through job integration and job retention. We will argue that the structure of the meeting can be seen as the concrete, in-situ practice of strategic communication organized as dialogue. By use of theories within the field of strategic communication and dialogue, we will argue that strategic partnership dialogue is relevant at both a macro and a micro, interactional level in which specific instances of text and talk can be used strategically to establish legitimation. Following a theoretical discussion of the interconnectedness of crosssector social partnerships, strategic communication and dialogue, we outline our theoretical framework and present our analysis. The analytical findings support our argument and conceptual endeavor by illustrating how common understanding of the need for social inclusion is constructed through dialogue at a partnership level.
