After Lunch Webinar: Emilio Marti – How can shareholders create a positive impact on the environment and society?

By reviewing over 20 years of research in management, finance, sociology, and ethics/sustainability, we provide a comprehensive overview over how shareholders can create a positive impact on the environment and society. We unpack how portfolio screening (“exit”) and shareholder engagement (“voice”) create impact. In addition to these two well-known impact strategies, we identify a third impact strategy that we call “field building”. Field building is possible because companies are always embedded in fields, which include not only companies, but also all the stakeholders with which companies interact frequently (regulators, consumers, media, etc.) and the assumptions, norms, and rules that guide fields. Field building means that shareholders influence companies indirectly by influencing the (1) stakeholders and/or (2) assumptions, norms, and rules that surround companies. Based on recent examples (two of which are from the Netherlands), we illustrate five field building tactics: (1) Shifting other investors’ evaluation of issues, (2) Sharing expertise, (3) Delegitimizing certain business activities, (4) Establishing voluntary standards, and (5) Supporting regulatory changes. Our research paper is available open access. For a summary of the key insights, see also our Harvard Business Review article.