Lobbying and the responsible firm: Agenda‐setting for a freshly conceptualized field

Abstract

“Responsible lobbying” is an increasingly salient topic within business and management. We make a contribution to the literature on “responsible lobbying” in three ways. First, we provide novel definitions and, thereby, make a clear distinction between lobbying and corporate political activity. We then define responsible lobbying with respect to its content, process, organization, and environment, resulting in a typology of responsible lobbying, a conceptual model that informs the rest of the paper. Second, the paper provides a thematic overview of the current literature underpinning lobbying and the responsible firm, and the underlying paradigms informing this literature. Third, the paper makes specific suggestions for a future research agenda, ending with a consideration of methodological implications of such research.

The interplay of corporate social responsibility and corporate political activity in emerging markets: The role of strategic flexibility in non‐market strategies

“…Despite their unique contents, corporate social responsibility and corporate political activities play complementary roles (Boddewyn & Buckley, ; den Hond et al, ; Liedong et al, ). However, they should be aligned since misalignments between social and political practices may result in unfavorable outcomes (Anastasiadis et al, ; den Hond et al, ; Lock & Seele, ; Singer, ). As such, while the positive effect of corporate social responsibility practices on financial performance can have diminishing returns in the case of excessive philanthropic activities (Gao & Hafsi, ; Wang & Qian, ), corporate political activities including too many political and bureaucratic connections can lead to a corrupt image which may have negative financial consequences (Doh et al, ; Rajwani & Liedong, ).…”

“…Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate political activities were considered as separate practices with no linkage whatsoever (Ahammad, Tarba, Frynas, & Scola, ; Anastasiadis, ; Frynas, Child, & Tarba, ; Mellahi, Frynas, Sun, & Siegel, ). However, a new stream of non‐market research suggests that the interaction between corporate social responsibility and corporate political activities leads to better economic performance because of their complementary nature (Anastasiadis, Moon, & Humphreys, ; Boddewyn & Buckley, ; den Hond, Rehbein, de Bakker, & Lankveld, ; Fooks, Gilmore, Collin, Holden, & Lee, ; Liedong, Rajwani, & Mellahi, ; Rodrigo, Duran, & Arenas, ; Singer, ). Frynas et al () who articulate the need for an integration of corporate social responsibility and corporate political activities in non‐market studies state that “the lack of integration of the political and social domains of non‐market strategy research manifests itself inter alia in the failure to understand the substitution effects between company political and social strategies” (p. 560).…”

Buyer Engagement and Labour Conditions in Global Supply Chains: The Bangladesh Accord and Beyond

“…The third approach, advocacy, has received scant attention in the literature on global supply chains. While there is emerging research on ‘responsible lobbying’ seeking to promote social good through public policy means (Anastasiadis et al., ), such phenomena in developing country contexts have been neglected. Although brands are often portrayed as culprits, some of them are playing the role of labour rights advocates.…”

Conceptualizing data‐deliberation: The starry sky beetle, environmental system risk, and Habermasian CSR in the digital age

“…In this vein, den Hond et al () highlight that PCSR can be misaligned with firms’ (P)CSR strategy (Anastasiadis, ; den Hond et al, ). Hussain and Moriarty (, p. 532) therefore caution that corporations should not be perceived as equal deliberators and voters, but as “advisors, providing information and support to the relevant members of the public, namely, citizens and their representatives.” Center of the CPA stream are demands for responsible lobbying (Anastasiadis et al, ; Lock & Seele, , ).…”

“…Overall, past research provides detailed insights into the wide‐ranging political influence of corporations, going along with self‐regulatory behavior and voluntary initiatives to overcome governance gaps, or to avoid stricter state regulation via CPA (Anastasiadis et al, ; Scherer et al, ). Thus, while an expanded understanding of politics and corporations is well‐established in recent research, the political influence and responsibilities of corporations in functioning states beyond CPA have received little attention.…”