IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v18y2009i2p108-121.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Governance from below: contesting corporate environmentalism in Durban, South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • James Van Alstine

Abstract

Multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in developing countries face increasing social and environmental risk. Previous work on how MNCs seek to mitigate these risks has often failed to recognize the complexity and interaction between international, home and host country governance mechanisms. Here, however, changes in corporate environmental behaviour at the site level are evaluated in terms of the dynamics of local and cross‐scale institutionalization processes. The subject of the paper is the contestation of industrial pollution at Shell's Sapref oil refinery in Durban, South Africa. Using a novel research design, institutional and organizational theory is combined with social network analysis to explore how and why Sapref's environmental performance has changed over time. The analysis highlights mechanisms of institutional change and how MNC environmental performance can be contested and constructed from the bottom up, thus calling into question the effectiveness of the global environmental governance processes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Suggested Citation

  • James Van Alstine, 2009. "Governance from below: contesting corporate environmentalism in Durban, South Africa," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 108-121, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:18:y:2009:i:2:p:108-121
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.639
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.639
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.639?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. Andrew J. Hoffman & William Ocasio, 2001. "Not All Events Are Attended Equally: Toward a Middle-Range Theory of Industry Attention to External Events," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(4), pages 414-434, August.
    2. Ralph Hamann & Nicola Acutt, 2003. "How should civil society (and the government) respond to 'corporate social responsibility'? A critique of business motivations and the potential for partnerships," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(2), pages 255-270.
    3. David L. Levy & Peter J. Newell, 2002. "Business Strategy and International Environmental Governance: Toward a Neo-Gramscian Synthesis," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 2(4), pages 84-101, November.
    4. Magali Delmas & Michael W. Toffel, 2004. "Stakeholders and environmental management practices: an institutional framework," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 209-222, July.
    5. D. Eleanor Westney, 1993. "Institutionalization Theory and the Multinational Corporation," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Sumantra Ghoshal & D. Eleanor Westney (ed.), Organization Theory and the Multinational Corporation, chapter 3, pages 53-76, Palgrave Macmillan.
    6. Andy Gouldson & Rory Sullivan, 2007. "Corporate environmentalism: tracing the links between policies and performance using corporate reports and public registers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tiancheng Chi & Zheng Yang, 2024. "Trends in Corporate Environmental Compliance Research: A Bibliometric Analysis (2004–2024)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-28, June.
    2. Uwafiokun Idemudia & Cynthia Kwakyewah & Judy Muthuri, 2020. "Mining, the environment, and human rights in Ghana: An area of limited statehood perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(7), pages 2919-2926, November.
    3. Clive Barnett, 2014. "What Do Cities Have to Do with Democracy?," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(5), pages 1625-1643, September.
    4. Daniel Reimsbach & Rüdiger Hahn, 2015. "The Effects of Negative Incidents in Sustainability Reporting on Investors’ Judgments–an Experimental Study of Third‐party Versus Self‐disclosure in the Realm of Sustainable Development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 217-235, May.
    5. Van Alstine, James & Barkemeyer, Ralf, 2014. "Business and development: Changing discourses in the extractive industries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 4-16.
    6. Chia‐Hao Ho & Steffen Böhm & David Monciardini, 2022. "The collaborative and contested interplay between business and civil society in circular economy transitions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(6), pages 2714-2727, September.
    7. Francisco J. García‐Rodríguez & José León García‐Rodríguez & Carlos Castilla‐Gutiérrez & Silvério A. Major, 2013. "Corporate Social Responsibility of Oil Companies in Developing Countries: From Altruism to Business Strategy," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(6), pages 371-384, November.

    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. Van Alstine, James & Barkemeyer, Ralf, 2014. "Business and development: Changing discourses in the extractive industries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 4-16.
    2. Li Chang & Wenjing Li & Xiaoyan Lu, 2015. "Government Engagement, Environmental Policy, and Environmental Performance: Evidence from the Most Polluting Chinese Listed Firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 1-19, January.
    3. Farida Saleem & Yingying Zhang-Zhang & Muhammad Imran Malik & Alawiya Allui, 2020. "Revisiting Stakeholder Theory and Environmentalism: Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-20, October.
    4. Yi Quan & Huiying Wu & Sihai Li & Sammy Xiaoyan Ying, 2018. "Firm sustainable development and stakeholder engagement: The role of government support," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1145-1158, December.
    5. David Ervin & JunJie Wu & Madhu Khanna & Cody Jones & Teresa Wirkkala, 2013. "Motivations and Barriers to Corporate Environmental Management," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6), pages 390-409, September.
    6. Andrew Ngawenja Mzembe, 2016. "Doing Stakeholder Engagement Their own Way: Experience from the Malawian Mining Industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(1), pages 1-14, January.
    7. Glen Dowell & Thomas Lyon, 2024. "Beliefs Matter: Local Climate Concerns and Industrial Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the United States," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 194(3), pages 609-632, October.
    8. Cody Jones, 2013. "Moving Beyond Profit: Expanding Research to Better Understand Business Environmental Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(6), pages 1-29, June.
    9. Ian Peacock & Emily Ryo, 2022. "A study of pandemic and stigma effects in removal proceedings," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(3), pages 560-593, September.
    10. Chin‐jung Luan & Chengli Tien & Pei‐hua Wu, 2013. "Strategizing Environmental Policy and Compliance for Firm Economic Sustainability: Evidence from Taiwanese Electronics Firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(8), pages 517-546, December.
    11. Ni, Dan & Jiwen Song, Lynda & Zheng, Xiaoming & Zhu, Jinlong & Zhang, Mengyi & Xu, Lingxiao, 2022. "Extending a helping hand: How receiving gratitude makes a difference in employee performance during a crisis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 967-982.
    12. Bárbara Galleli & Elder Semprebon & Joyce Aparecida Ramos dos Santos & Noah Emanuel Brito Teles & Mateus Santos de Freitas-Martins & Raquel Teodoro da Silva Onevetch, 2021. "Institutional Pressures, Sustainable Development Goals and COVID-19: How Are Organisations Engaging?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-21, November.
    13. Heyes, Anthony & Lyon, Thomas P. & Martin, Steve, 2018. "Salience games: Private politics when public attention is limited," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 396-410.
    14. Nigel Martin & John Rice, 2010. "Analysing emission intensive firms as regulatory stakeholders: a role for adaptable business strategy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(1), pages 64-75, January.
    15. Zhang, Hongjuan & Young, Michael N. & Tan, Justin & Sun, Weizheng, 2018. "How Chinese companies deal with a legitimacy imbalance when acquiring firms from developed economies," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(5), pages 752-767.
    16. Toru Yoshikawa & Lai Si Tsui-Auch & Jean McGuire, 2007. "Corporate Governance Reform as Institutional Innovation: The Case of Japan," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(6), pages 973-988, December.
    17. Gao, Shuai & Cai, Wenjia & Liu, Wenling & Wang, Can & Zhang, ZhongXiang, 2014. "Corporate Preferences for Domestic Policy Instruments under a Sectoral Market Mechanism: A Case Study of Shanxi Province in China," Working Papers 249496, Australian National University, Centre for Climate Economics & Policy.
    18. Jim Andersén, 2023. "Green resource orchestration: A critical appraisal of the use of resource orchestration in environmental management research, and a research agenda for future study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5506-5520, December.
    19. Yi-Min Chen, 2008. "How Much Does Country Matter?," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 31(4), pages 404-435, October.
    20. Tammy E. Beck & Donde Ashmos Plowman, 2009. "Experiencing Rare and Unusual Events Richly: The Role of Middle Managers in Animating and Guiding Organizational Interpretation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(5), pages 909-924, October.

    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:18:y:2009:i:2:p:108-121. 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.