Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Companies around the globe all have one thing in common; they are surrounded by individuals or groups of individuals that can influence the company in one way or another. These individuals and groups of individuals are called stakeholders. This study in concerned with the importance of a company’s awereness of and relationship with which stakeholders surround them. The fact that more companies show awareness of responsible conduct, in particular of the environment and social aspects of management may be a way to build a strong corporate image. It may also be a way to prevent a bad reputation. A company, whose actions do not comply with the frames in society at large could cause problems for the company. Such conflicts in the past have marked the history, based on pressure from stakeholders when companies neglect responsible actions. One example of such conflict, refered to as Brent Spar, took place in the 1990’s, between Shell and Greenpeace. This particular conflict has become a milestone in "corporate greening".

The study has a qualitative approach where individuals from Shell and Greenpeace represent the key stakeholders. To illustrate the problem the case of Brent Spar is used in a literature review. The empirical material has been collected by reviewing litterature on the subject and by examining public documents.

The aim of the study is to describe the influence of an NGO on a company in crise situation. The focus of the study is on the case of Brent Spar, that took place between 1995 and 1998. Interesting for the study is the changes in corporate management before, under and after the interactions with a radical NGO (Greenpeace). Major strategic changes were made as a result of the influence by Greenpeace.

The theoretical material has been collected by scanning current and historic literature on the subject. The theory has its core in the stakeholder model by Mitchell et al. (1997), key results and major conclutions of the study shows a clear development and change in the stakeholder perception. It is clear that Shell changed the company strategy as a consequense of the development at the time. Pressure from society in general and Greenpeace in particular has contributed and caused Shell to rethink their stakeholder perceptions and strategies for major environmental issues. This thesis emphasize the importance of companies’ stakeholder management strategies regarding corporate responsibility issues.