8 - Environmental Groups

Summary

Environmental groups are important stakeholders because they strengthen the collective voice of their constituents and because they can enhance company value, such as with environmental partnerships, and harm company value, such as with activist campaigns and boycotts. An effective environmental strategy needs to be tailored for environmental group stakeholders and reflect their own strategic needs. Environmental groups compete to provide collective goods and need their own advantage in acquiring supportive stakeholders. An important challenge in responding to activist campaigns is assessing the campaign’s strengths and negotiating terms for a solution that preserves company values. The case of Timberland CEO Jeff Swartz’s response to a Greenpeace campaign against his company illustrates the information and negotiation challenges in many activist campaigns. Environmental partnerships, in contrast, are an opportunity for a company and its environmental group partner to produce triple bottom line outcomes. Important keys to success are finding synergies in the resources that partners contribute and assuring that each side will follow through on its commitments.