Online research in philosophy

This empirical study examines corporate responses to activist shareholder groups filing social-policy shareholder resolutions. Using resource dependency theory as our conceptual framing, we identify some of the drivers of corporate responses to shareholder activists. This study departs from previous studies by including a fourth possible corporate response, engaging in dialogue. Dialogue, an alternative to shareholder resolutions filed by activists, is a process in which corporations and activist shareholder groups mutually agree to engage in ongoing negotiations to deal with social issues. (...) Based on a unique dataset of resolutions filed by member organizations of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility from 2002 to 2005 and the outcomes of these resolutions, our analysis finds that corporate managers are more likely to engage in dialogue with shareholder activists when the firm is larger, is more responsive to stakeholders, the CEO is the board chair, and the firm has a relatively lower percentage of institutional investors. (shrink)

This paper contains a short outline of the rationale behind a workshop aimed at seeking connections between corporate social responsibility and corporate political activity. Two ‘provocateurs’ gave their view on these connections. After this kick-off two groups of ~10 persons each engaged in lively discussions on these connections, identifying a range of issues for further research and an interest in keeping this issue on the agenda.

The conventional view of the relationship between ratings of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and responses to activist shareholder resolutions is that firms with low CSR ratings are likely to resist activist’s pressures to change corporate policies and behavior. By contrast, firms with high CSR ratings are more likely to support such activist shareholder efforts. In the IABS discussionsession and this paper, we argue that the conventional view of corporate responses to shareholder resolutions is inadequate to explain the motivations, strategies, and (...) tactics of firms when they respond to activist shareholders. (shrink)

Due to continual challenges in their external environment, corporations are facing an increased demand for public participation and stakeholder inclusion. As aresult, companies are seeking ways to improve communication with their stakeholders. The emergence of the Internet has provided new corporate channelsfor offering information to stakeholders. This paper suggests that the information contained in company web pages reflects strategic information about the company. In addition to offering information to the public, web pages signal which issues a company holds as strategically (...) important. The objective of this paper is to begin the process of examining how companies express their understanding of multiple stakeholder interests and their efforts to include stakeholders in their strategy documents. The theoretical premise of this paper draws from the strategic management and the stakeholder literatures. The empirical section examines the content of the web pages of two companies from the pulp and paper industry. Based on the results of meaning making analysis, we synthesize the content of the strategy documents with three dimensions: strategic actors, strategic activities, and strategic actions. (shrink)

The objective of this study is to evaluate empirically a firm’s political relationships with elected officials. A general premise is that firms with certaincharacteristics are in a better position for developing political relationships and gaining benefits from these relationships. We draw upon the resource dependency, resource based, and political strategy choice literatures to consider certain factors that lead firms to seek political relationships with elected officials. We test a model drawing upon measures from each of these areas on a sample (...) of large companies with U.S. operations. (shrink)

This workshop brought together people who are interested in or concerned about the course syllabus. Participants’ concerns and discussion centered on issues such as: 1) the purpose of the syllabus; 2) writing objectives for the course; and 3) evaluation of a syllabus.