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Tailor-to-Target: Configuring Collaborative Shareholder Engagements on Climate Change

Author

Listed:
  • Rieneke Slager

    (Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen, Groningen 9700 AV, Netherlands)

  • Kevin Chuah

    (D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115)

  • Jean-Pascal Gond

    (Bayes Business School, City, University of London, London EC1Y 8TZ, United Kingdom)

  • Santi Furnari

    (Bayes Business School, City, University of London, London EC1Y 8TZ, United Kingdom)

  • Mikael Homanen

    (Bayes Business School, City, University of London, London EC1Y 8TZ, United Kingdom)

Abstract

We study collaborative shareholder engagements on climate change issues. These engagements involve coalitions of investors pursuing behind-the-scenes dialogue to encourage target firms to adopt environmental sustainability practices. Drawing on a unique data set of 553 engagements coordinated by the United Nations–supported Principles for Responsible Investment—and an innovative mixed-methods approach integrating fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis with regression analysis and qualitative interviews—we investigate how four coalition composition levers (coalition size, shareholding stake, experience, local access) combine to enable or hinder engagement success. We find that successful coalitions use four configurations of coalition composition levers that are tailored to target firms’ financial capacity and environmental predispositions, that is, target firms’ receptivity. Unsuccessful configurations instead emphasize single levers at the expense of others. Drawing on qualitative interviews, we identify three mechanisms (synchronizing, contextualizing, overfocusing) that plausibly underly the identified configurations and provide investor coalitions with knowledge about target firms and their local contexts, thus enhancing communication and understanding between investor coalitions and target firms. Our study contributes an emerging “tailor-to-target” theory of collaborative shareholder engagement that extends the literature by showing the importance of designing investor coalitions for effective climate-related engagement and the value of conceiving coalitions as different configurations of the same levers that can fit a target firm’s receptivity. From a practical perspective, our study prompts investors to move beyond one-size-fits-all approaches to instead tailor their engagement strategies to target firms’ receptivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Rieneke Slager & Kevin Chuah & Jean-Pascal Gond & Santi Furnari & Mikael Homanen, 2023. "Tailor-to-Target: Configuring Collaborative Shareholder Engagements on Climate Change," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(12), pages 7693-7718, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:69:y:2023:i:12:p:7693-7718
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2023.4806
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    3. Berle, Erika & He, Wanwei (Angela) & Ødegaard, Bernt Arne, 2025. "The stock market and corporate consequences of ethical exclusions by the world’s largest fund," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    4. Dangl, Thomas & Halling, Michael & Yu, Jin & Zechner, Josef, 2025. "Social preferences and corporate investment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    5. Dong, Yuting & Sun, Ziyuan & Zhou, Yiqiang, 2026. "Not all voices are equal: stakeholder environmental pressures and corporate green innovation strategies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    6. Jicheng Zeng & Yulin Fang & Huifang Li & Youwei Wang & Kai H. Lim, 2025. "Untangling the Performance Impact of E-marketplace Sellers’ Deployment of Platform-Based Functions: A Configurational Perspective," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 36(3), pages 1397-1417, September.
    7. Habermann, Florian & Steindl, Tobias, 2025. "Stock market reactions to a sovereign wealth fund's broad-based public sustainability engagement: European evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).

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