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Understanding power-related strategies and initiatives : the case of the European Commission green paper on CSR

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Date
17/12/2019
Author
Contrafatto, Massimo
Ferguson, John
Power, David
Stevenson, Lorna Ann
Collison, David
Keywords
Corporate social responsibility policy
Green paper
Institutional politics
Power-infused dynamics
Social and environmental accounting and reporting
HD28 Management. Industrial Management
HF5601 Accounting
JN Political institutions (Europe)
T-NDAS
BDC
R2C
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Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretically informed analysis of a struggle for power over the regulation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social and environmental accounting and reporting (SEAR) within the European Union. Design/methodology/approach The paper combines insights from institutional theory (Lawrence and Buchanan, 2017) with Vaara et al.’s (2006) and Vaara and Tienar’s (2008) discursive strategies approach in order to interrogate the dynamics of the institutional “arena” that emerged in 2001, following the European Commission’s publication of a Green Paper (GP) on CSR policy and reporting. Drawing on multiple sources of data (including newspaper coverage, semi-structured interviews and written submissions by companies and NGOs), the authors analyse the institutional political strategies employed by companies and NGOs – two of the key stakeholder groupings who sought to influence the dynamics and outcome of the European initiative. Findings The results show that the 2001 GP was a “triggering event” (Hoffman, 1999) that led to the formation of the institutional arena that centred on whether CSR policy and reporting should be voluntary or mandatory. The findings highlight how two separate, but related forms of power (systemic and episodic power) were exercised much more effectively by companies compared to NGOs. The analysis of the power initiatives and discursive strategies deployed in the arena provides a theoretically informed understanding of the ways in which companies acted in concert to reach their objective of maintaining CSR and SEAR as a voluntary activity. Originality/value The theoretical framework outlined in the paper highlights how the analysis of CSR and SEAR regulation can be enriched by examining the deployment of episodic and systemic power by relevant actors.
Citation
Contrafatto , M , Ferguson , J , Power , D , Stevenson , L A & Collison , D 2019 , ' Understanding power-related strategies and initiatives : the case of the European Commission green paper on CSR ' , Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal , vol. 33 , no. 3 , pp. 559-587 . https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-06-2018-3529
Publication
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-06-2018-3529
ISSN
0951-3574
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited. This work has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies or with permission. Permission for further reuse of this content should be sought from the publisher or the rights holder. This is the author created accepted manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-06-2018-3529
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/19030

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