Hostname: page-component-6766d58669-6mz5d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-25T02:30:10.299Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Evolution of Shell’s Stakeholder Approach: A Case Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Jane Wei-Skillern
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Shell’s efforts to integrate the stakeholder management approach into its business practice worldwide involved the gradual development of a long-term, comprehensive strategy. This paper draws on stakeholder management theory and Shell’s experience to identify critical factors that contribute to the process of institutionalizing the principle of stakeholder management in a global company. A key lesson to be drawn from the case is the necessity of ensuring that the process allows for continuous learning, adaptation, and refinement.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 14 , Issue 4 , October 2004 , pp. 713 - 728
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Agle, B., Mitchell, R., and Sonnenfeld, J.. 1999. “Who Matters to CEOs? An Investigation of Stakeholder Attributes and Salience, Corporate Performance, and CEO Values.” Academy of Management Journal 42(5): 507–25.Google Scholar
Ansoff, H. 1984. Implanting Strategic Management (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall).Google Scholar
Arlow, P., and Gannon, M. J.. 1982. “Social Responsiveness, Corporate Structure and Economic Performance.” Academy of Management Review 7: 235–41.Google Scholar
Ashforth, B., and Gibbs, B. W.. 1990. “The Double-Edge of Organizational Legitimation.” Organization Science 1: 177–94.Google Scholar
Aupperle, K., Carroll, A., and Hatfield, J.. 1985. “An Empirical Examination of the Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and Profitability.” Academy of Management Journal 28(2): 446–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brummer, J. 1991. Corporate Responsibility and Legitimacy: An Interdisciplinary Analysis (New York: Greenwood Press).Google Scholar
Clarkson, M. B. E. 1991. “Defining, Evaluating, and Managing Corporate Social Performance: A Stakeholder Management Model.” In Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy, ed. Post, J. E. (Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press): 331–58.Google Scholar
Clarkson, M. B. E.. 1995. “A Stakeholder Framework for Analyzing and Evaluating Corporate Social Performance.” Academy of Management Review 20: 92–117.Google Scholar
Cochran, P., and Wood, R.. 1984. “Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance. Academy of Management Journal 27(1): 42–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DiMaggio, P. J., and Powell, W. W.. 1983. “The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organization Fields. American Sociological Review 48: 147–60.Google Scholar
Donaldson, T., and Preston, L.. 1995. “The Stakeholder Theory of the Corporation: Concepts, Evidence, Implications.” Academy of Management Review 20: 65–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeman, R. E. 1984. Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach (Boston: Pitman).Google Scholar
Greening, D. W., and Gray, B.. 1994. “Testing a Model of Organizational Response to Social and Political Issues. Academy of Management Journal 37: 467–98.Google Scholar
Harrison, J., and St. John, C.. 1996. “Managing and Partnering with External Stakeholders. Academy of Management Executive 10(2): 46–60.Google Scholar
Jones, T., and A. Wicks, A. 1999. “Convergent Stakeholder Theory.” Academy of Management Review 24(2): 206–21.Google Scholar
Livesey, S. 2001. “Eco-Identity as Discursive Struggle: Royal Dutch/Shell, Brent Spar and Nigeria.” The Journal of Business Communication 38(1): 58–91.Google Scholar
Livesey, S.. 2002. “The Discourse of the Middle Ground.” Management Communication Quarterly 15(3): 313–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Livesey, S., and Kearins, K.. 2002. “Transparent and Caring Corporations? A Study of Sustainability Reports by the Body Shop and Royal Dutch/Shell.” Organization and Environment 15(3): 233–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Metzger, M., Dalton, D., and Hill, J.. 1993. “The Organization of Ethics and the Ethics of Organization.” Business Ethics Quarterly 3: 27–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miles, R., 1987. Managing the Corporate Social Environment: A Grounded Theory (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall).Google Scholar
Mirvis, P. 2000. “Transformation at Shell: Commerce and Citizenship.” Business and Society Review 105(1): 63–84.Google Scholar
Mitchell, R., Agle, B., and Wood, D.. 1997. “Toward a Theory of Stakeholder Identification and Salience: Defining the Principle of Who and What Really Counts.” Academy of Management Review 22: 853–86.Google Scholar
Paine, L. S. 1999a. “Royal Dutch/Shell in Transition (A).” Case No. 9-300-039 (Boston: Harvard Business School Case Services).Google Scholar
Paine, L. S.. 1999b. “Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (A).” Case No. 9-399-126 (Boston: Harvard Business School Case Services).Google Scholar
Post, J., Preston, L., and Sachs, S.. 2002. Redefining the Corporation: Stakeholder Management and Organizational Wealth (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Business Books).Google Scholar
“Principles of Stakeholder Management.” 2002. Business Ethics Quarterly 12(2): 257–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Savage, G., Nix, T.Whitehead, C. and Blair, J.. 1991. “Strategies for Assessing and Managing Organizational Stakeholders. Academy of Management Executive 5(2): 61–75.Google Scholar
Shell International. 1998. Profits and Principles—Does There Have to be a Choice? The Shell Report.Google Scholar
Shell International. 1999a. People, Planet, and Profits, An Act of Commitment: The Shell Report.Google Scholar
Shell International. 1999b. Sustainable Development—Making it Happen. Report to Employees.Google Scholar
Shell International. 2000. People, Planet, and Profits: The Shell Report.Google Scholar
Shell International. 2001. People, Planet, and Profits: The Shell Report.Google Scholar
Vance, S. 1975. “Are Socially Responsible Corporations Good Investment Risks?” Management Review 64(8): 18–24.Google Scholar
Wang, J., and Dewhirst, H. D.. 1992. “Boards of Directors and Stakeholder Orientation.” Journal of Business Ethics 11: 115–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wartick, S. 1992. “The Relationship between Intense Media Exposure and Change in Corporate Reputation.” Business and Society 31(1): 33–49.Google Scholar
Weaver, G., Trevino, L., and Cochran, P.. 1999. “Integrated and Decoupled Social Performance: Management Commitments, External Pressures, and Corporate Ethics Practices. Academy of Management Journal 42(5): 539–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wheeler, D., Fabig, H., and Boele, R.. 2002. “Paradoxes and Dilemmas for Stakeholder Responsive Firms in the Extractive Sector: Lessons from the Case of Shell and the Ogoni.” Journal of Business Ethics 39(3): 297–318.Google Scholar
Wood, D. 1991. “Corporate Social Performance Revisited.” Academy of Management Review 16: 691–718.CrossRefGoogle Scholar