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CALL FOR PAPERS

The Role of Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) in the Business – Government – Society Interface

Third Colloquium on Corporate Political Activity, in Paris (France)

May 22-24, 2008

And Business & Society Special Issue

CPA Colloquium Background

This is a call for papers for the third international research colloquium on Corporate Political Activity (CPA). The first one was held in Tampere, Finland in February 2004 ("New Directions in CPA Research"). The second one was held in Amsterdam, Netherlands in February 2006 ("The Internationalization of Corporate Political Activity"), and led to a special issue in Business & Society, the leading journal in the social issues in management field.

This colloquium series is interdisciplinary and particularly welcomes contributions from the business disciplines, sociology and political science. Paper submissions are open to all. However, this is an invitation-only event based on double-blind review and selection of the best submitted papers. The goal is to keep the number of participants at a reasonable level in order to ensure rich and fruitful interaction.

Topic Background: The Role of Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) in the Business-Government-Society Interface

Over the past several decades, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have grown in number, size and stature, and have become important actors influencing the conduct of business, including business-government interactions and the broader role of business in society.  NGOs, which have been defined broadly as non-state, non-firm actors, may include environmental groups, business associations, labor unions, human rights organizations, consumer groups, church and religious groups, academic institutions, think tanks, trade and industry associations, grassroots not-for-profit organizations, and many others. There is a rich and established record of business research that addresses the interactions between companies and other institutional and societal actors-chief among them, governments.  Theoretical research streams such as stakeholder theory implicitly incorporate NGOs are relevant stakeholders.  Nevertheless, there is very little research that explicitly examines the growing impact of NGOs on the business, government, and society interface. 

The events surrounding the effort to launch a new round of multilateral trade negotiations at Seattle in December of 1999, the protests at the World Bank meetings in the Spring of 2000, and the ongoing demonstrations by nongovernmental organizations at the meetings of the World Economic Forum and elsewhere, underscore the increasing activism and visibility of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).  NGOs have emerged as important stakeholders in discussions over the terms and conditions under which business, government, and multilateral institutions manage the process of globalization, one of the most vexing issues facing public policy-makers, corporate executives, and broader societal interests around the world.  At the same time, NGOs affect business by undertaking research, organizing boycotts, and often highlighting the shortcomings of multinational corporations in terms of social, ethical, and environmental responsibility.  Yet these impressions are only the most public, and often the most negative images of NGO activism.

NGOs increasingly work directly and indirectly with companies and governments to influence corporate behavior, particularly where that behavior has a tangible social or environmental impact.  Indeed, some corporations have developed competitive advantages by partnering with NGOs, improving their public perception and reputation, and in some cases, actual performance as a result.

Research on the role, operation, and strategies of NGOs in the international relations and nonprofit management fields has a rich and extensive record (cf. Brinkerhoff and Brinkerhoff, 2002; Florini, 2003; Fox and Brown, 1998; Hulme and Edwards, 1997; Lindenberg and Bryant, 2002; Powell, 1987; Salamon, 1987). In addition, there are several nascent efforts that have begun in management research (Dahan, Doh & Guay, 2006; Doh & Teegen, 2003; Rondinelli & London, 2003; Schepers,2006; Teegen, Doh & Vachani, 2005; Yaziji, 2005).  These include exploration of the broader role of NGOs in the process of global management and policy (Doh & Teegen, 2003; Teegen, Doh, & Vachani, 2005) and practitioner-oriented literature that provides guidance regarding corporate-NGO interactions, especially cooperative or collaborative partnerships (Hess, Rogovsky, & Dunfee, 2002; Pearce & Doh, 2005; Rondinelli & London, 2003; Yaziji, 2005). To date, however, there have been few systematic efforts within the business management domain to fully explore the constructs and contexts relevant in understanding the role of NGOs in business, government and political relations, and in society more broadly. Nor has there been much conversation on this topic between business disciplines and other social sciences, such as political science, sociology, or economics. The potential for cross-fertilization is largely unexplored.

For this Special Forum, we welcome theoretical, empirical and review/integration contributions that focus on the roles of NGOs in the business-government-society interface. 

General Themes

Among the general themes that could be addressed in this colloquium and special issue are efforts to:

·         Evaluate the relevance of existing models, theories, and frameworks of business and management in light of the growing relevance and/or influence of NGOs in business, government and society.

§  Isolate the impact of NGOs on business, and investigate the potential relevance of NGOs as moderators or mediators in the business-government relations bargaining framework and as important actors in influencing the political strategies of corporations

·         Discuss the relevance of NGOs for established theoretical perspectives in business, government, and society, notably theories of corporate social responsibility and performance, and stakeholder and stewardship theories

·         Examine situations and contexts in which NGOs have had or will have a disproportionate impact on business, government, and society and develop hypotheses regarding how and when NGO impacts will be most pronounced

·         Investigate and compare how institutional contexts in different regions and countries affect the role of NGOs in business, government, and society

·         Explore and describe the approaches, strategies, and techniques used by NGOs in society-- especially those related to their interactions with companies and governments and as mediators or moderators of he business-government interface

·          

·         Explore and describe the approaches, strategies, and techniques used by corporations in their interactions with NGOs, especially those in which NGOs may replace or supplant the traditional role of governments

·         Describe how national and inter-governmental bodies and businesses are responding to the emergence of NGO influence, and assess cases demonstrating the material effects of NGOs on business, government and society.

·         Propose avenues for further theoretical, empirical, and practitioner research that focuses on how NGOs may alter the nature and outcomes of businesses' interactions with governments and the broader societies in which they operate.

Possible Topics

Specific topics that could be explored as part of this forum are:

·         How has the growing importance of NGOs affected our understanding of the role of national and international institutions in defining the "rules of the game" for the conduct of businesses?  How might views of business and it role in society motivated by political-economic, legal, and institutional theories need to be modified in light of the emergence of NGOs?

·         How does the rise of NGOs affect the power and resource-based views of business-government bargaining, the stakeholder and stewardship perspectives on the role of business & society, and the ethical and instrumental views of corporate social responsibility?

·         What has been the impact of the increasing involvement of NGOs in legal and regulatory processes as they affect business?  How have the outcomes of legislative and regulatory processes been altered by the insertion of NGOs into the policy framework, especially in the global context? 

·         What have been some of the experiences and outcomes of corporate-NGO collaboration?  Have these relationships replaced, supplanted, or altered the traditional roles of governments in promoting or regulating corporate conduct?

·         How are the structure, organization, and strategies of NGOs determined?  How are they evolving?  What kinds of networks and collaborative strategies have been used by NGOs to increase their reach and their ability to effectively influence corporations?  Does research on social networks and collaborative strategy have relevance for the study of NGOs?

·         Have international NGOs emerged as counterparts or complements to International Governmental Organizations (IGOs) such as U.N. agencies and multilateral developments banks?

·         How can members of civil society not well-organized into NGOs influence the terms of corporate behavior, conduct, and governance?

·         How are different types of NGOs (such as Environmental NGOs, Human Rights NGOs, Poverty Relief NGOs, and others) distinguished in terms of their impact on business?  How do these different types of NGOs cause, operate and respond to changes in the business and policy environments, especially in a global and comparative perspective? 

·         What techniques and tactics employed by NGOs (e.g. education, corporate governance proxies, pressures on governments, protests) are most effective for influencing corporate behavior?  For enhancing social welfare?

·         How have corporations responded to the pressures by NGOs? Which responses may be more or less appropriate/effective depending on the issue, relationship, context, etc.? 

·         How have corporations used relationships with NGOs to improve public perceptions of their activities?  Have such strategies resulted in measurable performance improvements in terms of social and economic impact?

We encourage submissions from a range of methodological approaches and epistemological traditions.  In addition to the topics listed above, we encourage any topical explorations that speak to the general themes of this special issue. We are particularly interested in contributions from various countries and regions and those that employ multi- or inter-disciplinary perspectives. 

Date and Venue of the Colloquium

The third CPA colloquium will take place from Thursday to Saturday, May 22-24, 2008, in Paris, France. The host institution is Sciences Po, a premiere research institution in the social sciences in Europe. Sciences Po is located in the downtown Paris area of Saint-Germain des Prés, a historic and conveniently central location. For more information about Sciences Po, please refer to www.sciences-po.fr/english/index.html as well as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institut_d'Etudes_Politiques_de_Paris

Schedule of the Colloquium and Special Issue

·         The deadline for submission of extended (3-5 page with references) abstracts  is December 14, 2007

·         Final decisions on proposals selected for presentation at the Colloquium will be made by January 4, 2008

·         The deadline for submission of full papers for presentation is April, 25, 2008

·         The colloquium will take place in Paris, France from Thursday morning to Saturday (tentatively 1pm), May 22-24, 2008

·         Each paper will be assigned a discussant who will provide feedback at the colloquium in preparation for possible submission to the Business & Society special issue.

·         Authors who wish to have their paper considered for the Business & Society special issue must follow the submission procedure below. Submission deadline is September 26, 2008. Authors not attending the colloquium are also welcome to submit papers for the special issue.

·         It is envisioned that the special issue of the Business & Society journal will appear in early 2009.

Conference organizers plan to secure sponsorship to partially offset the travel costs of the participants/ presenters. All potential corporate and academic sponsors are welcome to contact Jonathan Doh.

Procedures for Submitting Abstracts and Papers for the Colloquium

Please submit 3- page abstract (with references) electronically to Jonathan P. Doh, Villanova School of Business, Villanova University (jonathan.doh@villanova.edu).  The abstract deadline is December 14, 2008.

For formatting purposes, please follow the Business & Society Submission Guidelines and Style Guide for Authors in the back of the Journal's most recent issue or Submission Guidelines on the Business & Society website.

References

Dahan, N., Doh, J.P., & Guay, T.R. (2006). The role of multinational corporations in transnational institutional building: A policy-network perspective. Human Relations, 59 (11), 1571-1600.

Doh, J.P., & Guay, T. (2006). Corporate social responsibility, public               policy, and NGO activism in Europe and the United States: An institutional-stakeholder perspective. Journal of Management Studies, 43 (1), 47-73.

Doh, J.P., & Teegen, H. (Eds., 2003). Globalization and NGOs: Transforming business, government, and society. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.

Florini, A. (2003). The coming democracy:  New rules for running a new world. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.

Fox, J.A. & Brown, L.D. (1998).  The struggle for accountability: The World Bank, NGOs and grassroots movements.  Cambridge, MA:  MIT Press.

Hess, N., Rogovsky, & Dunfee, T.W. (2002). The next wave of corporate community involvement. California Management Review, 44 (2), 110-125. 

Hulme, D & Edwards M. (1997).  NGOs, states and donors:  Too close for comfort? New York: St. Martin's Press.

Lindenberg, M. & Bryant, C. (2002).  Going global: Transforming relief and development NGOs.  Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press.

Pearce, J.A. II, & Doh, J.P. (2005). The high impact of collaborative social initiatives. Sloan Management Review, 46 (2), 30-39. 

Powell, W. W. (Ed., 1987). The nonprofit sector: A research handbook. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Rehbein, K. Waddock, S., & Graves, S. B. (2004). Understanding shareholder activism: Which corporations are targeted? Business & Society, 43, 239-267.

Rondinelli, D., & London, T. (2003). How corporations and environmental groups collaborate: Assessing cross-sector collaborations and alliances. Academy of Management Executive, 17 (1), 61-76.

Salamon, L. M. (1987).  Of market failure, voluntary failure, and third-party government:  toward a theory of government-nonprofit relations in the modern welfare state. Journal of Voluntary Action Research, 16 (1&2), 29-49.

Schepers. D.H. (2006). The impact of NGO network conflict on the corporate social responsibility strategies of multinational corporations. Business & Society, 45 (3), 282-299.

Schuler, D.A., Lenway, S. & Eden, L. (2006). Multinational corporations through the uneven development lens. In S.C. Jain and S.Vachani (Eds). Multinational Corporations and Global Poverty Reduction. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

Teegen, H., Doh, J.P., & Vachani, S. (2004). The importance of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in global governance and value creation: An international business research agenda. Journal of International Business Studies, 35 (6), 463-483. 

Wilts, A. (2006). Identities and preferences in corporate political strategizing. Business & Society, 45 (4), 441-463.

Yaziji, M. (2004). Turning gadflies into allies. Harvard Business Review, 82 (2), 110-115.        

Jonathan P. Doh

Herbert G. Rammrath Chair in International Business

Director, Center for Global Leadership

Associate Professor of Management

Villanova School of Business

Villanova University

800 Lancaster Ave.

Villanova, PA 19085

USA

610-519-7798

jonathan.doh@villanova.edu