TY - JOUR

T1 - Why companies fail to respond to climate change

T2 - collective inaction as an outcome of barriers to interaction

AU - Finke, Tobias

AU - Gilchrist, Alan John Patterson

AU - Mouzas, Stefanos

N1 - This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Industrial Marketing Management. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Industrial Marketing Management, 58, 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2016.05.018

PY - 2016/10

Y1 - 2016/10

N2 - The urgent need to combat climate change is now globally accepted. Collective action at a global level is the key ability to respond to the threat of climate change. No individual company alone has the necessary resources and capabilities to tackle the unprecedented challenge of climate change. Companies need to engage in give-and-take exchange relationships with other companies to address climate change. Research on how companies interact with each of their counterparts to respond to the challenge of climate change is limited. Existing research on climate raises questions about 1) how companies interact in response to climate change and 2) why companies fail to craft collective responses to climate change? In an attempt to shed light on these questions, we use the network approach as a theoretical perspective to account for the ever-increasing connectivity and interdependence in the business landscape and theorize on the consequences these phenomena may have for the study. The study is based upon an empirical investigation of public-private networks in Germany. Findings indicate that companies fail to collectively respond to climate change due to the multiplicity of interests of actors involved in the network which is aggravated by 1) economic reasoning; 2) weak actor bonds; and 3) differing perceptions of the rules of the game. As such, the present study contributes to our understanding of collective responses to the ever evolving challenge of climate change.

AB - The urgent need to combat climate change is now globally accepted. Collective action at a global level is the key ability to respond to the threat of climate change. No individual company alone has the necessary resources and capabilities to tackle the unprecedented challenge of climate change. Companies need to engage in give-and-take exchange relationships with other companies to address climate change. Research on how companies interact with each of their counterparts to respond to the challenge of climate change is limited. Existing research on climate raises questions about 1) how companies interact in response to climate change and 2) why companies fail to craft collective responses to climate change? In an attempt to shed light on these questions, we use the network approach as a theoretical perspective to account for the ever-increasing connectivity and interdependence in the business landscape and theorize on the consequences these phenomena may have for the study. The study is based upon an empirical investigation of public-private networks in Germany. Findings indicate that companies fail to collectively respond to climate change due to the multiplicity of interests of actors involved in the network which is aggravated by 1) economic reasoning; 2) weak actor bonds; and 3) differing perceptions of the rules of the game. As such, the present study contributes to our understanding of collective responses to the ever evolving challenge of climate change.

KW - collective inaction

KW - business networks

KW - climate change

U2 - 10.1016/j.indmarman.2016.05.018

DO - 10.1016/j.indmarman.2016.05.018

M3 - Journal article

VL - 58

SP - 94

EP - 101

JO - Industrial Marketing Management

JF - Industrial Marketing Management

SN - 0019-8501

ER -