IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v32y2023i8p5332-5348.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Firms' responses to environmental misconduct accusations under the condition of contested practice complexity: Evidence from the palm oil production industry

Author

Listed:
  • Breeda Comyns
  • Pierre‐Xavier Meschi
  • Anne Norheim‐Hansen

Abstract

Public accusations of misconduct by environmental organizations exert reputational pressure on firms. The targeted firms are thus faced with the decision of responding accommodatively or defensively. Situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) holds that such accusations require an accommodative response to reduce the reputational threat. However, defensive response behavior is frequently observed, and insights from the sociocognitive perspective explain that corporate conceptualizations of the contested practice (and hence threat) shape targets' responses. We integrate and extend prior research by (1) explicating the need for attention to the condition of contested practice complexity and (2) theoretically developing and empirically testing (using a sample of palm oil producers accused of illegal deforestation by Greenpeace) the impact of targeted firms' engagement in environmental alliances and past environmental misconduct experience, two key manifestation variables of practice meaningfulness. Overall, in line with calls for a more comprehensive understanding, we provide new insights into the question of when and why targeted firms respond accommodatively or defensively to environmental organizations' demands that they change their practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Breeda Comyns & Pierre‐Xavier Meschi & Anne Norheim‐Hansen, 2023. "Firms' responses to environmental misconduct accusations under the condition of contested practice complexity: Evidence from the palm oil production industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5332-5348, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:32:y:2023:i:8:p:5332-5348
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.3419
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3419
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.3419?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lisa Melander, 2017. "Achieving Sustainable Development by Collaborating in Green Product Innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1095-1109, December.
    2. Dima Jamali & Tamar Keshishian, 2009. "Uneasy Alliances: Lessons Learned from Partnerships Between Businesses and NGOs in the context of CSR," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(2), pages 277-295, January.
    3. Mooweon Rhee & Pamela R. Haunschild, 2006. "The Liability of Good Reputation: A Study of Product Recalls in the U.S. Automobile Industry," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(1), pages 101-117, February.
    4. Paolo Antonetti & Ilaria Baghi, 2021. "When Blame-Giving Crisis Communications are Persuasive: A Dual-Influence Model and Its Boundary Conditions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(1), pages 59-78, August.
    5. Glenn Hoetker, 2007. "The use of logit and probit models in strategic management research: Critical issues," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 331-343, April.
    6. Breeda Comyns & Elizabeth Franklin-Johnson, 2018. "Corporate Reputation and Collective Crises: A Theoretical Development Using the Case of Rana Plaza," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 159-183, June.
    7. Ki‐Hoon Lee & Ji‐Whan Kim, 2011. "Integrating Suppliers into Green Product Innovation Development: an Empirical Case Study in the Semiconductor Industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(8), pages 527-538, December.
    8. Tera L. Galloway & Douglas R. Miller & Kun Liu, 2023. "Guilty by Association: Spillover of Regulative Violations and Repair Efforts to Alliance Partners," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(3), pages 805-818, January.
    9. Ragnar E. Löfstedt & Ortwin Renn, 1997. "The Brent Spar Controversy: An Example of Risk Communication Gone Wrong," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 131-136, April.
    10. Laufer, Daniel & Coombs, W. Timothy, 2006. "How should a company respond to a product harm crisis? The role of corporate reputation and consumer-based cues," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 49(5), pages 379-385.
    11. Soundararajan, Vivek & Brown, Jill A. & Wicks, Andrew C., 2019. "Can Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives Improve Global Supply Chains? Improving Deliberative Capacity with a Stakeholder Orientation," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 29(3), pages 385-412, July.
    12. Pamela S. Barr, 1998. "Adapting to Unfamiliar Environmental Events: A Look at the Evolution of Interpretation and Its Role in Strategic Change," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(6), pages 644-669, December.
    13. Tera L. Galloway & Douglas R. Miller & Kun Liu, 2023. "Correction to: Guilty by Association: Spillover of Regulative Violations and Repair Efforts to Alliance Partners," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(3), pages 819-819, January.
    14. Sara Hajmohammad & Stephan Vachon, 2016. "Mitigation, Avoidance, or Acceptance? Managing Supplier Sustainability Risk," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 52(2), pages 48-65, April.
    15. Ulrich Wassmer & Raymond Paquin & Sanjay Sharma, 2014. "The Engagement of Firms in Environmental Collaborations : Existing Contributions and Future Directions," Post-Print hal-02313050, HAL.
    16. A. J. Guerber & Vikas Anand & Alan E. Ellstrand & Matthew A. Waller & Iris Reychav, 2020. "Extending the Situational Crisis Communication Theory: The Impact of Linguistic Style and Culture," Corporate Reputation Review, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(2), pages 106-127, May.
    17. Jonathan Bundy & Farhan Iqbal & Michael D Pfarrer, 2021. "Reputations in flux: How a firm defends its multiple reputations in response to different violations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(6), pages 1109-1138, June.
    18. Hashemi, Seyed Hamid & Karimi, Amir & Tavana, Madjid, 2015. "An integrated green supplier selection approach with analytic network process and improved Grey relational analysis," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 178-191.
    19. Marie Racine & Craig Wilson & Michael Wynes, 2020. "The Value of Apology: How do Corporate Apologies Moderate the Stock Market Reaction to Non-Financial Corporate Crises?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 485-505, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pierre‐Xavier Meschi & Anne Norheim‐Hansen, 2020. "Partner‐diversity effects on alliance termination in the early stage of green alliance formation: Empirical evidence from carbon‐emission reduction projects in Latin America," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 250-261, January.
    2. Peter S. Hofman & Constantin Blome & Martin C. Schleper & Nachiappan Subramanian, 2020. "Supply chain collaboration and eco‐innovations: An institutional perspective from China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2734-2754, September.
    3. Enrique Acebo & José‐Ángel Miguel‐Dávila & Mariano Nieto, 2021. "External stakeholder engagement: Complementary and substitutive effects on firms' eco‐innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2671-2687, July.
    4. Mahdiloo, Mahdi & Saen, Reza Farzipoor & Lee, Ki-Hoon, 2015. "Technical, environmental and eco-efficiency measurement for supplier selection: An extension and application of data envelopment analysis," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 279-289.
    5. Andersén, Jim, 2021. "A relational natural-resource-based view on product innovation: The influence of green product innovation and green suppliers on differentiation advantage in small manufacturing firms," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    6. Yunhui Zhao & Chuanli Zhao & Yi Guo & Hongyan Sheng & Taiwen Feng, 2021. "Green supplier integration and environmental innovation in Chinese firms: The joint effect of governance mechanism and trust," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 169-183, January.
    7. Anne Norheim-Hansen & Pierre-Xavier Meschi, 2021. "De-Escalate Commitment? Firm Responses to the Threat of Negative Reputation Spillovers from Alliance Partners’ Environmental Misconduct," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(3), pages 599-616, October.
    8. Norheim-Hansen, Anne, 2023. "Green supplier development: What’s in it for you, the buyer?," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 101-107.
    9. Li, Huashan & Bapuji, Hari & Talluri, Srinivas & Singh, Prakash J., 2022. "A Cross-disciplinary review of product recall research: A stakeholder-stage framework," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    10. John R. Busenbark & Nathan T. Marshall & Brian P. Miller & Michael D. Pfarrer, 2019. "How the severity gap influences the effect of top actor performance on outcomes following a violation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(12), pages 2078-2104, December.
    11. Lisa Melander, 2018. "Customer and Supplier Collaboration in Green Product Innovation: External and Internal Capabilities," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 677-693, September.
    12. Zhi Tang & Sandra Rothenberg & Jintong Tang & Renhong Zhu & Hongxin Zhao, 2023. "Social stratification and the philanthropy engagement strategy: Evidence from Chinese entrepreneurial firms," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 1579-1606, December.
    13. Jagandeep Singh, 2018. "Impact of Automobile Recalls on Stock Prices: A Study in the Indian Context," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 19(2), pages 407-423, April.
    14. Topaloglu, Omer & Gokalp, Omer N., 2018. "How brand concept affects consumer response to product recalls: A longitudinal study in the U.S. auto industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 245-254.
    15. Yijing Wang & Louisa Wanjek, 2018. "How to Fix a Lie? The Formation of Volkswagen’s Post-crisis Reputation Among the German Public," Corporate Reputation Review, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(2), pages 84-100, June.
    16. Ramah Al Balawi & Yuheng Hu & Liangfei Qiu, 2023. "Brand Crisis and Customer Relationship Management on Social Media: Evidence from a Natural Experiment from the Airline Industry," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 34(2), pages 442-462, June.
    17. Zhihui Sun & Dejun Wu & Min Zhang, 2021. "Better late than never? Corporate social responsibility engagement after product-harm crises," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 1209-1259, December.
    18. Chen Zhou & Shrihari Sridhar & Rafael Becerril-Arreola & Tony Haitao Cui & Yan Dong, 2019. "Promotions as competitive reactions to recalls and their consequences," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 702-722, July.
    19. Julia Hartmann & Sebastian Forkmann & Sabine Benoit & Stephan C. Henneberg, 2022. "A consumer perspective on managing the consequences of chain liability," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 58(4), pages 58-89, October.
    20. Aihua Wu & Tianfu Li, 2020. "Gaining sustainable development by green supply chain innovation: Perspectives of specific investments and stakeholder engagement," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 962-975, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:32:y:2023:i:8:p:5332-5348. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.