De-Escalate Commitment? Firm Responses to the Threat of Negative Reputation Spillovers from Alliance Partners’ Environmental Misconduct

Cut Them Loose? Firms’ Response Strategies to Environmental Misconduct by Supplying Firms

“…The study’s findings provide contributions to several literature streams related to inter-organizational dynamics and environmental sustainability. First, we extend the body of research on response strategies to negative spillovers from exchange partners’ misconduct (e.g., Barnett & Hoffman, 2008; Bruyaka et al, 2018; Comyns & Franklin-Johnson, 2018; Jonsson et al, 2009; Paruchuri & Misangyi, 2015; Winn et al, 2008; Yu & Lester, 2008; Yu et al, 2008), by providing new insights into exclusion determinants and contingency factors, in the context of environmental misconduct (Norheim-Hansen & Meschi, 2021). Moreover, prior studies on inter-firm contamination or spillover are, apart from some exceptions (Bruyaka et al, 2018; Norheim-Hansen & Meschi, 2021), set at the industry level (Paruchuri & Misangyi, 2015; Veil et al, 2016)— and responses to the threat of supplier-client spillover have received particularly little attention.…”

“…Stated differently, the decision is difficult and important (Bruyaka et al, 2018), but it has received scarce scholarly attention. Hence, there are recent calls for more research on exclusion determinants and contingency factors (Hajmohammad & Vachon, 2016; Norheim-Hansen & Meschi, 2021).…”

“…From this perspective, it has been argued that firms are less likely to exclude those suppliers that provide critical resources and where there is high supplier-firm interdependence (Hajmohammad & Vachon, 2016). Conversely, high interdependence has also been found to have the opposite effect when misconduct is highlighted in the public domain by pressure groups, due to negative reputation spillover concerns (Norheim-Hansen & Meschi, 2021). Accordingly, Murillo-Luna et al (2008) conclude that when firms face pressure on environmental issues (e.g., from activists) they perceive it at a broad level rather than associating the pressure with one stakeholder group (Freeman et al, 2018).…”

Making Sense of Stigmatized Organizations: Labelling Contests and Power Dynamics in Social Evaluation Processes

“…Finally, our findings provide new insights for managers aiming to understand when and how interactions between stakeholders can exacerbate positive and negative evaluations of their organization, when stakeholders will cut ties, and how they may act after public endorsement has been withdrawn (Norheim-Hansen & Meschi, 2020). By increasing our understanding of how individuals and organizations "think and act when faced with ethical situations" (O'Fallon & Butterfield, 2005, pp.…”

If It Works Here, How Can We Make It Work Anywhere? Reputation Transfer Across Borders.

“…Prevailing literature on reputation transfer or reputation spillover has mostly focused on the transfer of reputation between different organizations. With few positive exceptions (Paruchuri, Pollock, & Kumar, 2019), scholarly attention has mostly been directed towards analyzing reputation spillover in negative or crisis situations (Norheim-Hansen & Meschi, 2020). Generally, the transfer of intangible organizational resources, such as corporate reputation, across national borders remains conceptually and empirically under-researched.…”