University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Three essays on corporate responses to social movement activism

Minefee, Ishva

Content Files
MINEFEE-DISSERTATION-2017.pdf

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/98146

Description

Title
Three essays on corporate responses to social movement activism
Author(s)
Minefee, Ishva
Issue Date
2017-07-13
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Bucheli, Marcelo
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Bucheli, Marcelo
Committee Member(s)
  • Clougherty, Joseph
  • Leblebici, Huseyin
  • Mahoney, Joseph
  • Shah, Sonali
Department of Study
Business Administration
Discipline
Business Administration
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Date of Ingest
2017-09-29T16:38:09Z
Keyword(s)
  • Organizational impression management
  • Social movement activism
Abstract
This three-essay dissertation addresses two central research questions: (1) ‘how do firms defend themselves when targeted by social movement activists?’ and (2) ‘why do firms respond differently to activists’ demands?’ Essay 1 is a single-case study of Royal Dutch/Shell’s rhetorical responses to anti-apartheid activists’ demands for the firm to divest from, or sever its ties to, South Africa in the late 1980s. Building on the findings from the first essay, Essay 2 is an examination of Coca-Cola, Inc.’s covert, or secret, funding of a front group that intended to defame the audiences (e.g., social activists, legislators) putting anti-soda pressures on the firm in the early 2000s. I address the second research question in Essay 3. Specifically, I develop and test theory regarding the factors that influenced American firms’ differential responses to anti-apartheid activists’ pressures for divestment from South Africa in the late 1980s. This dissertation contributes to the academic literature in the following ways. Essays 1 and 2 are the first examinations of defamation as a plausible strategy in firms “defensive repertoire” when they are targeted by external audiences such as social activists and legislators. Essay 3 is the first study to show that differences in firms’ substantive commitments to marginalized or repressed stakeholders in a host country influence the divestment decision. Overall, this dissertation offers new insight into the ways firms defend themselves as well as the factors that influence firms’ differential responses to social movement activism.
Graduation Semester
2017-08
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/98146
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2017 Ishva Minefee

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