Protest Campaigns and Corporations: Cooperative Conflicts?

Kneip, Veronika

doi:10.1007/s10551-012-1585-y

Cited by 23 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…This extension allows the evaluation of evolving assemblages of engagement activities associated with long term, persistent activism campaigns involving reflexive engagements amongst a range of actors across various conflict arenas. Specifically, we develop a conceptual framework that integrates: (i) a typology of external accounting and activist practices; (ii) a typology of the main tactical intentions of social activism (Kneip, 2013) and; (iii) Beck and Wilms's (2004) risk conflict dynamics (see also Power, 2004), in order to differentiate the various states and outcomes within conflict arenas. The key elements of each of these elements are shown in Table 1 below and summarised in the remainder of this and the following section.…”

Section: External Accounts and Social Activismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To develop our conceptual framework further, we may turn to the critical management and organisation studies literatures, where prior studies have also explored discursive struggles between corporations and activists (see, for example, Joutsenvirta, 2011;den Hond & de Bakker, 2007;Kneip, 2013). These studies suggest that engagements surrounding discursive struggles can be divided into stages, which themselves correspond to distinct tactical intentions on the part of those activists involved.…”

Section: External Accounts and Activist Tactical Intentionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Drawing on an institutional theory perspective of activist-firm conflict, den Hond and de Bakker (2007) argue that, before new forms of participation can be institutionalised, there remains the need for existing institutions to be de-legitimised and de-institutionalised. Kneip (2013) builds on this argument to suggest that de-institutionalising and reinstitutionalising stages of an engagement correspond to specific confrontation (de-institutionalising) and co-operative (re-institutionalising) tactical intentions. Kneip also identifies the existence of an additional, intermediate stage, which she refers to as counteraction.…”

Section: External Accounts and Activist Tactical Intentionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Activist and campaigning groups within civil society use external accounting practices to problematise the social and ecological acceptability and legitimacy of the actions of others and create new forms of knowledge and fields of visibility of the actions of institutions. From a social movement perspective, external accounting may therefore be viewed as a form of symbolic activism that can challenge and disrupt the target entity's reputation, power and legitimacy (den Hond & de Bakker, 2007;Kneip, 2013). External accounting can also be viewed as an adaptable form of engagement amongst a range of actors within conflict arenas (Georgakopoulos & Thomson, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Activism, arenas and accounts in conflicts over tobacco control

Thomson

Dey

Russell

2015

Acc Auditing Accountability J

141

299

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Purpose: To provide theoretical and empirical insights into the effective use of external accounts by social activists in conflict arenas in order to bring about change.Design/methodology/approach: This article presents a longitudinal case study of Action on Smoking and Health UK (ASH) and their use of external accounts and other activist practices during the period 1999 -2010. We explore these practices from the perspective of one organisation engaged in conflict arenas concerning the (un)acceptability of tobacco production, consumption and governance. We conduct our exploration based upon a dynamic conflict arena framework that attends to the range of external accounting and activist practices, tactical intentions and states of conflict used by ASH to confront the tobacco industry and bring about change in tobacco governance. Findings:Our study identifies the use of a diverse range of external accounts and other activist practices. This assemblage of practices was used to confront, counter-act and to co-operate with actors engaged in tobacco-related conflicts. Our evidence suggests that the deployment of different types of external accounts by ASH was aligned to the context of the particular conflict arena involved, and was influenced by the strategy and engagement tactics of the activists and other actors, as well as power dynamics and acceptability of the tobacco governance in the conflict arena. Whilst ASH used different external accounts in specific episodes of activism, these individual accounts also contributed to an emerging holistic account of the unacceptable consequences of tobacco production, consumption and governance.Originality/value: This study provides new theoretical and empirical insights into how external accounts can contribute to the problematisation of governance and development of social and environmental change agendas. The dynamic conflict arena framework developed in this paper creates new visibilities and possibilities for developing external accounting practices and for researching this fast-developing area of social and environmental accounting.

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Section: External Accounts and Social Activismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: External Accounts and Activist Tactical Intentionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: External Accounts and Activist Tactical Intentionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Activism, arenas and accounts in conflicts over tobacco control

Thomson

Dey

Russell

2015

Acc Auditing Accountability J

141

299

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…They can affect firms by changing the mindset of consumers to view the targeted firm in a less positive light, and they can influence consumers' purchase intentions and can also decrease the firm's share value. Second, our findings suggest that cooperative activist groups may provide firms with an exit strategy by helping them enter into a discussion to find a mutually agreeable solution (Kneip 2013). Our experimental findings suggest that a win-win solution is possible, while our event study findings suggest that activists have a window of opportunity during which the firm is acutely aware of the market's perception of its future risk.…”

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 65%

The Effect of Online Protests and Firm Responses on Shareholder and Consumer Evaluation

2017

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Protests that target firms' socially irresponsible behavior are increasingly organized via digital media. This study uses two methods to investigate the effects that online protests and mitigating firm responses have on shareholders' and consumers' evaluation. The first method is a financial analysis that includes an event study which measures the effect of online protests on the target firm's share price, as well as an investigation of the boundary effects of protest characteristics. The second method is an online experiment that assesses the effect of an online protest campaign on consumers' perception and purchase intention, as well as any mitigating effects that a firm's response may have. Contrary to recent studies suggesting that participation in online protests is only token support without any substantive effects, our results show that online protests do hurt. Firms can expect to suffer financial, reputational, and sales damage when an online protest campaign mobilizes consumers successfully. We also show that online protests are more likely to take firms by surprise than offline protests. Firms can exacerbate or reduce the damage by their response. We find that although firms may repair the damage to consumers' purchase intentions, the negative effects on a brand's image are harder to rectify.The results have valuable implications for protest organizers and managers faced with the task of responding.

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Civil Governance in Work and Employment Relations: How Civil Society Organizations Contribute to Systems of Labour Governance

2015

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Civil society organizations (CSOs) attempt to induce corporations to behave in more socially responsible ways, with a view to raising labour standards. A broader way of conceptualizing their efforts to influence the policies and practices of employers is desirable, one centred upon the concept of civil governance. This recognizes that CSOs not only attempt to shape the behaviour of employers through the forging of direct, collaborative relationships, but also try to do so indirectly, with interactions of various kinds with the state being integral. Drawing on evidence derived from UK-based CSOs involved in work and employment relations, four types of civil governance are identified and characterized. By elaborating the concept of civil governance, and demonstrating how different types of civil governance operate, the research extends our knowledge and understanding of how CSOs, as increasingly prominent actors in the field of work and employment relations, operate within, and contribute to, systems of labour governance.

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Protest Campaigns and Corporations: Cooperative Conflicts?

Cited by 23 publications

References 17 publications

Activism, arenas and accounts in conflicts over tobacco control

Activism, arenas and accounts in conflicts over tobacco control

The Effect of Online Protests and Firm Responses on Shareholder and Consumer Evaluation

Civil Governance in Work and Employment Relations: How Civil Society Organizations Contribute to Systems of Labour Governance

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