When in Rome: Environmental NGOss Strategic Adaptation to Foreign Contexts

Abstract

This paper examines the mechanisms by which transnational environmental NGOs learn to strategically adapt their modes of engaging the state to the different institutional contexts in which they operate globally. While transnational NGOs’ strategic formulation is an under-explored concept within social movement theory, we formulate a set of testable hypotheses by drawing inspiration from a related stream of literature within international management that explores how multinational firms overcome the liability of foreignness when expanding globally. We test our hypotheses using a unique longitudinal panel analysis through which we track over twenty years of media-reported interactions between a sample of twenty-four prominent TNGOs and the local governments of 117 distinct countries. We supplement this quantitative approach with qualitative insights derived from survey responses and interviews conducted with fourteen environmentalists within leading transnational NGOs. Our analysis sheds provides valuable insight into the mechanisms by which activist organizations’ tactical flexibility, as a strategic capability, can be developed and honed through experiential learning.