Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effective Shareholder Engagement: The Factors that Contribute to Shareholder Salience

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Institutional investors are increasingly becoming active owners through voting their shares and engaging in dialogue with investee companies to improve corporate environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) performance. This article applies a model of stakeholder salience to the shareholder context, analysing the attributes of power, legitimacy and urgency, to determine the factors that are likely to enhance shareholder salience. It is found that a strong business case and the values of the managers of investee companies are likely to be the most important contributors to shareholder salience.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

AGM:

Annual general meeting

CEO:

Chief executive officer

ESG:

Environmental, social and corporate governance

NGO:

Non-governmental organisation

OECD:

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

PRI:

Principles for Responsible Investment

SRI:

Socially responsible investment

References

  • Agle, B.R., Mitchell, R.K. and Sonnenfeld, J.A.: 1999, ‘Who matters to CEOs? An investigation of stakeholder attributes and salience, corporate performance, and CEO values’, Academy of Management Journal 42(5), 507-525.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etzioni, A.: 1964, Modern organizations, (Prentice-Hall, NJ).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Finance Norway: 2006, ‘Two Companies – Wal-Mart and Freeport – are Being Excluded from the Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global’s Investment Universe’, Ministry of Finance Norway, http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/fin/Press-Center/Press-releases/2006/Two-companies---Wal-Mart-and-Freeport---.html?id=104396. Accessed 10 Oct 2007.

  • Mitchell, R.K., Agle, B.R. and Wood, D.J.: 1997, ‘Toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: defining the principle of who and what really counts’, Academy of Management Review 22(4), 853-886.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • PRI Initiative: 2007, ‘PRI Report on Progress 2007’, Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative, New York.

  • PRI Initiative: 2008, ‘PRI Report on Progress 2008’, Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative, New York.

  • PRI Initiative: 2009, ‘PRI Report on Progress 2009’, Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative, New York.

  • Ryan, L.V. and Schneider, M.: 2003, ‘Institutional investor power and heterogeneity’, Business and Society 42(4), 398-429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, R.: 2001, Institutions and Organizations: Second Edition, (Sage, London).

    Google Scholar 

  • Suchman, M.C.: 1995, ‘Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches’, Academy of Management Review 20(3), 571-610.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, D.J.: 1991, ‘Corporate social performance revisited’, Academy of Management Review 16(4), 691-718.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    E. James M. Gifford

Authors
  1. E. James M. Gifford
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. James M. Gifford.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gifford, E.J.M. Effective Shareholder Engagement: The Factors that Contribute to Shareholder Salience. J Bus Ethics 92 (Suppl 1), 79–97 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0635-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0635-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation