Green Alliances Research Articles

Green Alliances: Are They Beneficial when Regulated Firms are Asymmetric?

Green Alliances: Are They Beneficial when Regulated Firms are Asymmetric?

What are the environmental capabilities, as components of the sustainable intellectual capital, that matter to the CEOs of European companies?

PurposeEnvironmental capabilities, allowing companies to carry out their productive activities in ways that limit damage to natural environment, are at the heart of the fourth stage of research in intellectual capital. Accordingly, the purpose of this research is to explore firm's current environmental capabilities, disclosed by managers through corporate messages, that participate to the development of sustainable intellectual capital (SIC).Design/methodology/approachWith this in mind, we first conducted a lexical content analysis followed by a thematic content analysis of 241 letters to shareholders from the CEOs of major European companies published in 2016.FindingsThe lexical content analysis reveals that managers of major European companies have developed green alliances to address the energy transition challenge by modifying their manufacturing processes. The thematic content analysis of the CEOs discourse highlights that managerial competencies, continuous innovation and stakeholder integration are key environmental capabilities that matter to CEOs.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the fourth stage of research on IC highlighting the environmental capabilities and resources that are disclosed by companies in their corporate communication. Our results enhance the understanding on how environmental capabilities and resources enhance the human, organizational, technological and relational sustainable intellectual capital.Practical implicationsThis research highlights the importance of green alliances that allow companies to address the challenge of the ecological transition. In this context, the continuous innovation capability seems to be a fruitful way of gaining competitive advantage in this challenge.Originality/valueThis paper provides a detailed description of the environmental capabilities that participate to the development of the human, technological and relational SIC.

Regulators and environmental groups: better together or apart?

AbstractThis paper examines green alliances between environmental groups (EGs) and polluting firms, which have become more common in the last decades, and analyzes how they affect policy design. We first show that the activities of regulators and EGs are strategic substitutes, giving rise to free-riding incentives on both agents. Nonetheless, the presence of the EG yields smaller welfare benefits when firms are subject to regulation than when they are not. In addition, the introduction of environmental policy yields large welfare gains when the EG is absent but small benefits when the EG is already present.

Green Alliances and the Role of Taxation

We examine two alternative strategies that an environmental group can embark when interacting with a firm. The first one which is already discussed in the literature is when the group campaigns against the firm. The second one which has not been modelled in the literature is when the group collaborates with the firm (green alliance) to reduce the cost of the cleaner technology. We look at the case of both options being available for the group in a setting with an environmental tax. One of the main results of the paper argues that for higher taxation the conflict scenario is more likely to happen, implying that collaboration and a more stringent environmental policy are substitutes. This identifies a previously unexamined and possibly adverse effect of public policy on environmental quality because it weakens the impact of the pollution tax on emission intensity. We also characterise the optimal tax that maximises social welfare and find that under pure conflict –when conflict is the only option for the environmentalists– optimal tax is higher than when the group can choose to act against or join forces with the firm, indicating that a less stringent environmental policy is needed in the latter scenario.

Partner‐diversity effects on alliance termination in the early stage of green alliance formation: Empirical evidence from carbon‐emission reduction projects in Latin America

AbstractPartner diversity is a key influencer in interorganizational alliances, and several empirical studies have shown that its outcomes are contingent on alliance‐specific factors. We extend this research as well as the growing literature on green alliances, in which partner diversity is uniquely high. Specifically, we examine partner‐diversity effects on alliance termination in the early stage of green alliance formation. We hypothesize that in this context, size disparity increases termination likelihood, whereas organizational variety and cultural separation have the opposite effect. To test our hypotheses, we use a sample of 366 alliance projects located in Latin America and submitted to the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism for evaluation, validation, and registration from 2004 to 2014. Our findings contribute to several research streams and provide practical guidance for successful formation of alliances focused on environmental protection.

Effective Green Alliances: An analysis of how environmental nongovernmental organizations affect corporate sustainability programs

AbstractWhile corporate sustainability is attaining more spotlight, the role environmental nongovernmental organizations (ENGOs) play in corporate sustainability programs (CSPs) continues to be ambivalent. Some ENGOs take on policing roles towards CSPs, whereas others form “Green Alliances” with corporations to enhance their CSPs. This paper takes a deep dive into CSPs, ENGOs, and communication problems associated with CSPs, namely, reporting inadequacies and greenwashing. Potential angles from which ENGOs can help foster or enhance corporate sustainability are then identified and examined.This empirical study examines several factors to improve corporate sustainability through partnerships with ENGOs. From the survey results, the top areas in which ENGOs can influence CSPs are determined—these include external value creation and the identification and monitoring of corporate negative environmental impact. There is evidence found in support of a correlation between trust in ENGOs and the perceived effectiveness of Green Alliances.

Green Alliances: How Does Ecophilosophy Shape the Strategies of Environmental Organizations?

The relationship between environmental organizations and the corporate sector has gradually shifted toward the collaborative end, resulting in a broad array of “green alliances.” In this paper, we focus on the strategies whereby environmental organizations seek to collaborate with private companies. In particular, we explore whether the ecophilosophy of an environmental organization—i.e., a set of values, attitudes, and beliefs about the natural environment—influences the selection of collaborative strategies. To address this question, we conducted two case studies of environmental organizations with a diverse ecophilosophy—namely, Greenpeace and WWF. In the cases, we covered a broad spectrum of collaborative strategies while also taking into account contextual factors with a possible influence on strategy selection. Building on our findings, we argue that ecophilosophy drives the selection of collaborative strategies and at the same time provides the lenses through which environmental organizations make sense of their operating context. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings and by suggesting directions for future research on environmentalist-business collaboration.

Límites de la cooperación internacional ambiental : el caso del Programa Piloto para la Protección de los Bosques Tropicales de Brasil

Beyond its many achievements, an analysis of the green alliances of the Pilot Program for the Protection of the Tropical Forests of Brazil (PPG7, Portuguese acronym), as well as the conflicts present in its creation and implementation, of the results achieved, and of the circumstances in which it came to an end, demonstrate that the PPG7 contributed little to the conservation of the forest, the institutional strengthening of the Amazon region, or its sustainable development. This is due to its neoliberal conception and institutional limitations. Trapped in the local, between risks and opportunities created by agribusiness in the Amazon, the PPG7 forgot the outstanding role of the national state in developing regions. Effective international cooperation on the environment will require new concepts of effectiveness, cooperation that is less top-down, and strengthening of the sustainability movement.

Green Alliances: How Does Ecophilosophy Shape the Strategies of Environmental Organizations?

The relationship between the environmental movement and the corporate sector has gradually shifted toward the collaborative end, resulting in a broad array of “green alliances”. In this paper, we adopt the perspective of environmental organizations and focus on the strategies whereby they seek to collaborate with private companies. In particular, we explore whether the ecophilosophy of an environmental organization—i.e., a set of values, attitudes, and beliefs about the natural environment—influences the selection of collaborative strategies. To address this question, we conducted two case studies of environmental organizations with a diverse ecophilosophy—namely, Greenpeace and WWF. In the cases, we covered a broad spectrum of collaborative strategies while also taking into account contextual factors with a possible influence on strategy selection. Building on our findings, we elaborate on the relationships between the ecophilosophy, operating context, and collaborative strategies of environmental organizations. We conclude by suggesting directions for future research on environmentalist-business collaboration.

Organizational Legitimacy and the Strategic Bridging Ability of Green Alliances

ABSTRACTAlliances with environmental non‐governmental organizations may benefit multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in developing countries where uncertain socio‐cultural and institutional conditions present higher investment risks. Such ‘green alliances’ can provide strategic bridging services by interceding between MNCs and distant, yet important, stakeholders. From an institutional perspective, strategic bridging success may depend on stakeholder perceptions of alliance legitimacy. In this study the relationship between alliance legitimacy and strategic bridging ability is explored through the case of the Turtle Village Trust in Trinidad and Tobago. Findings suggest that bridging success occurs when organizational legitimacy peaks; that new alliance partners temporarily weaken legitimacy; and bridging with every new targeted stakeholder requires continued acquisition of legitimacy based on their respective values. MNC decisions to form alliances that bridge targeted stakeholders on their behalf should therefore consider the potential of the alliance to acquire and accumulate organizational legitimacy without which strategic bridging efforts may be futile. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Les « alliances vertes » entre les entreprises et les associations de protection de l'environnement : une réelle réconciliation ou une « instrumentalisation » réciproque ?

Les « alliances vertes » entre les entreprises et les associations de protection de l’environnement se fondent sur des relations d’intérêt mutuel et incluent différentes formes de coopération. Malgré leurs promesses de résultats win-win, elles peuvent également générer des effets pervers. Après avoir identifié des éléments de définition et de typologie des alliances vertes, nous étudions les principaux déterminants de l’adhésion des entreprises et des associations environnementales à ce type de partenariat et les risques d’instrumentalisation (réciproque) au sein ou par rapport aux alliances. Afin de rendre notre propos plus concret, nous présentons deux alliances vertes se référant à des échelles géographiques différentes, l’une entre Pollution Probe et le distributeur Loblaws (Canada), l’autre entre le WWF et la multinationale des matériaux de construction, Lafarge (France). Quelques implications en termes de politique économique sont mises en évidence.

‘New Green’ Pragmatism in Germany – Green Politics beyond the Social Democratic Embrace?

AbstractCoalitions with left-of-centre parties have traditionally been regarded as the only viable option for Green parties that have shed their stance of radical opposition. The German Greens are investigated as a case study putting this assumption into doubt. Historical analysis of their relationship with the Social Democratic Party reveals how they slipped into life-threatening dependency on the latter. A survey of consecutive reinterpretations of the positioning formula ‘Neither right, nor left but ahead’ maps the struggle for an independent Green identity. An appraisal of recent debates about Conservative– Green alliances investigates the basis for Green coalition politics beyond the Social Democratic embrace.

Green Syndicalism: An Alternative Red-Green Vision

Most approaches to Red and Green (labour and environmentalist) alliances have taken Marxian perspectives, to the exclusion of anarchism and libertarian socialism. Recent developments, however, have given voice to a 'syndical ecology' or what some within the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) call 'green syndicalism'. Green syndicalism highlights certain points of similarity between anarcho-syndicalism (revolutionary unionism) and radical ecology. These include, but are by no means limited to, decentralisation, regionalism, direct action, autonomy, pluralism and federation. The article discusses the theoretical and practical implications of syndicalism made green.

‘Green alliances’ of business and NGOs. New styles of self‐regulation or ‘dead‐end roads’?

AbstractIn recent years, so‐called green alliances between NGOs and business have become popular phenomena, both in practice as well as in academic literature. This is striking, as it concerns collaborative partnerships of agencies whose relationships were quite antagonistic in the past. The question then is how stable and effective these alliances can be, amongst others, in contributing to—or even substituting—environmental policy‐making and regulation. To answer this question, the history and (potential) effectiveness of green alliances are analysed from a political modernization and policy arrangement perspective. With that, this paper has a strong theoretical focus. The intention is not to analyse empirical cases thoroughly, but to theorize about the history, strengths and weaknesses of green alliances. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Green Alliances: Conflict or Cooperation in Environmental Policy?

Environmental partnerships (‘green alliances’) between NGOs and business, provide an additional policy option which can make a variety of contributions to environmental protection and ultimately, to sustainable development. Yet despite the potential policy significance of such partnerships, our knowledge of, what works and what does not work, and or how best to design such partnerships, remains very limited. From the author's own empirical work and from the broader analytical and empirical literature, this article seeks to identify the circumstances in which such partnerships can most beneficially be formed, their major commercial and environmental benefits, and the design factors which will influence their success.

Environmental NGO-business collaboration and strategic bridging: a case analysis of the Greenpeace-Foron Alliance

Environmental NGO–business collaborative partnerships, commonly called green alliances, are encouraging corporate enviropreneurship, entrepreneurial innovations that address environmental problems and result in operational efficiencies, new technologies and marketable ‘green’ products. Aside from offering environmental, scientific and legal expertise, environmental NGOs can provide linkages to other societal stakeholders, referred to as strategic bridges, to support enviropreneurial initiatives. This article focuses on the linkage capabilities of environmental NGOs by developing an extended strategic bridging framework that articulates necessary process contingencies and engagement strategies for building effective bridges with environmental stakeholders. Propositions are advanced and tested in an analysis of the alliance between Greenpeace and Foron Household Appliances in Germany during 1992–93 for the marketing of an environmentally responsible refrigerator. Stakeholder characteristics and partnership outcomes reveal managerial implications and conceptual extensions of strategic bridging in green alliances, and future research directions are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Exploring Green Alliances

This paper examines the phenomenon of "green alliances" between businesses and their suppliers, competitors and other stakeholders. The concept of a "green alliance" is explored as a form of green marketing strategy and different types of alliance are set out. Drawing on stakeholder theory and the networks model of industrial markets, critical environmental interdependencies between organizations are identified and examined. An exploratory case study covering a range of such interdependencies is reported, with issues of alliance motives, and of inter- and intra-organizational relationships and cultures examined in considerable detail. Issues identified as critical to the alliance process include the congruity of bonds between various alliance actors, resources and activities, and the cultural mediation between diverse stakeholder factions. The implications of these findings for environmental change and for green marketing management are discussed.

Green alliances: building new business with environmental groups

‘Green alliances’, partnerships between businesses and environmental groups, can be effective strategies for integrating corporate environmental responsibilities with market goals. They are an outgrowth of an emerging philosophy called ‘Market-based Environmentalism’ which advocates making ecology attractive to businesses via market incentives. This article describes the conceptual underpinnings of the market-based perspective and illustrates how green alliances, specifically, are helping companies to develop ecologically-protective programmes which can lower costs and build differentiation advantages. A typology of green alliances is presented to explain different ways firms can achieve such advantages. Green alliances are a new strategic domain, and some have encountered positioning and relationship management problems. Recommendations are offered on how corporations can successfully ally with environmentalists to push competitive frontiers into the 21st century.

Green alliances: Strategic relations between businesses and environmental groups

Green alliances: Strategic relations between businesses and environmental groups