Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society

Volume 22, 2011

Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Annual Meeting

Activists and Business
Examining Networks and Tactics

This paper contains an exploratory study of networks of activist groups operating versus firms to impact norms on corporate social responsibility. It provides some initial examinations of using webmetrics to trace activist networks and tactics. We conducted an empirical study of an organization that acts like the proverbial “spider in the web” in activist networks in the Netherlands: SOMO, the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations. Mapping such an organization, in which networks on several themes related to CSR are coordinated, forms a useful entry point for further research.