Publications
Publications
- December 2016
- Strategic Management Journal
Through the Mud or in the Boardroom: Examining Activist Types and Their Strategies in Targeting Firms for Social Change
By: Charles Eesley, K. A. DeCelles and Michael Lenox
Abstract
We examine the variety of activist groups and their tactics in demanding firms’ social change. While extant work does not usually distinguish among activist types or their variety of tactics, we show that different activists (e.g., social movement organizations vs. religious groups and activist investors) rely on dissimilar tactics (e.g., boycotts and protests vs. lawsuits and proxy votes). Further, we show how protests and boycotts drag companies “through the mud” with media attention, whereas lawsuits and proxy votes receive relatively little media attention yet may foster investor risk perceptions. This research presents a multifaceted view of activists and their tactics and suggests that this approach in examining activists and their tactics can extend what we know about how and why firms are targeted.
Keywords
Citation
Eesley, Charles, K. A. DeCelles, and Michael Lenox. "Through the Mud or in the Boardroom: Examining Activist Types and Their Strategies in Targeting Firms for Social Change." Strategic Management Journal 37, no. 12 (December 2016): 2425–2440.