Motivating and Mobilising Stakeholder Reshaping of Corporate Climate Behaviour

Unions and employees are, amongst other things, stakeholders, in the behavior of corporations, but the ways in which they and other stakeholders can influence corporate behavior on seemingly non-industrial issues – particularly those relating to the climate crisis – are unclear.  Other stakeholders include other capitals themselves (in particular, finance capital). 

We develop a conceptual framework for analysing the factors that motivate and mobilise effective actor (stakeholder) influence on corporate climate behavior.  Underlying this is an interest in a series of issues: the motivations of and influences on stakeholders; whether and how stakeholders seek to influence corporate climate behavior; modes by which stakeholders coordinate and mobilise to influence influence corporate climate behavior; public policies influences on stakeholder behavior; and facilitators and barriers to stakeholders coordination and mobilisation. 

We develop a framework that looks at both market and non-market outputs, at the decisions of both executives and boards, and which distinguishes influences on motivation (eg information; time horizons; scope of concerns; financial risk and returns; reputation; ideology) and influences on mobilization (eg recognition of  common interest; efficacy; power resources; as well as ideology and the extent of motivation). 

We also look at various levels of engagement by corporations in climate issues, ranging from denial or tokenism through passive and active engagement.  Our ultimate aim is to theorise and enhance mechanisms by which such stakeholders can actively and beneficially influence climate change behavior by corporations.

Empirically, we draw to date upon interviews with some of the actors, including investors and lobby groups/networks associated with them, as well as prior research undertaken into the roles of employees, unions and climate-related NGOs.