WALKING THE TALK: AN ANALYSIS OF CORPORATE ACTIVISM BY DUTCH LARGE COMPANIES

Companies are increasingly pressured to perform corporate activism (CA). Through CA, companies use their power to drive institutional changes within society. Despite the sharp increase in CA, little research investigates its societal relevance. This research is a first step in bridging CA and institutional theory. It aims to investigate the different CA strategies used by Dutch large companies to pursue institutional changes. A content-analysis is performed of 11 companies’ annual reports. The research found that companies overwhelmingly use persuasive and bottom-up strategies, by setting the norm for appropriate behavior and trying to convince smaller parties of their norms and values. The data suggest companies may achieve higher impact by pursuing top-down strategies for institutional change.