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From research spanning decades, scholars have shown that society shapes organizations and that organizations shape society. Social activists can force organizations to take stances on social issues, and in turn, those social stances alter the public's understanding of those issues. LGBT marriage benefits are a de facto case. Pro-LGBT social activists created a cycle of targeting firms for benefits, and then firms reflected their claims' legitimacy back through society via satisficing and the media (Briscoe & Safford, 2008). Firms' products hold similar power, where a given product can impact society's perception of an entire category (Negro, Hannan & Rao, 2011). Building on a rapidly growing body of recent research, this symposium extends research on how social activists change firms and invoke social change. Each of the papers presented in this symposium goes deeper into the mechanisms, frameworks, and consequences of social activism. Our goal is to provide fresh, practical insights for academics and practitioners who are navigating the evolving space of socially- conscious management. Using our symposium's empirical papers, we explore firm-linked social change in several contexts, including community-led economic development, climate change, race, and gender. Our symposium ends with a framework to aid in identifying future topics. Rage Against the Machine: The Hidden Effects of Social Activism on Corporate Decision-making Author: Paul Merritt; Cornell U. Author: Tessa Recendes; Penn State Smeal College of Business Author: Forrest Briscoe; Cornell U. From Protests to Profits:Exploring the Unintentional Effects of Social Activism on Entrepreneurship Author: Lei Xu; U. of Missouri-St. Louis Author: Milo Shaoqing Wang; W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State U. Author: Shon R. Hiatt; U. of Southern California Selling Climate Reform: Stretching and Switching Frames in a Cross-Sectoral Network Author: Sara B. Soderstrom; U. of Michigan Author: Todd Schifeling; Fox School of Business, Temple U. Are Identity Movements Competitors or Complements? Shifts in Board Diversity During #MeToo and #BLM Author: Katherine Chen; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Author: Mary-Hunter McDonnell; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Why Do Firms Engage in Activism Despite the Risks? Corporate Sociopolitical Activism as a Signal Author: Maurice Jerel Murphy; U. of Georgia Author: Joanna Reddick; U. of Georgia Author: Michael Pfarrer; U. of Georgia [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Businesses increasingly deal with a complex (geo)political environment, resulting in high uncertainty and ambiguity. Policy uncertainty is generally seen as a barrier to clear decision-making, investment, and production, yet it also presents opportunities for businesses to navigate and potentially exploit this uncertain environment. This raises the question of whether policy uncertainty is a risk, an opportunity, or both. We delve into the key question of what type of firms are more vulnerable to, protected from, or capable of leveraging these uncertainties. In doing so, we first focus on clarifying the concept of uncertainty at different levels (e.g., global, national, industry, firm) and the different types and sources of uncertainty (e.g. financial, regulatory, geopolitical, corporate wrongdoing). In this symposium, the panel will provide insights into different types of uncertainty and their nuances, encompassing domestic and international perspectives. Further, we will discuss methodologies, data, and innovative research designs, setting the stage for addressing the critical questions that will shape the next decade of research on policy uncertainty and firm strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The landscape for sustainability disclosures continues to evolve in response to increased societal demands for accountability and transparency from firms. This presenter symposium seeks to advance organizational scholarship around how firms navigate sustainability disclosures under conditions of uncertainty and ambiguity. The five featured papers propose a theoretical framework for distinct sources of uncertainty in corporate sustainability metrics, examine the predictive power of sustainability ratings in markets with multiple intermediaries, consider how firms' sustainability disclosures differ across venues, analyze when firms choose to voice support for socially contentious issues, and reflect on the circumstances under which shareholder engagement can drive firms to adopt emissions reduction practices. The Uncertainty of Corporate Sustainability Metrics Author: Magali Delmas; U. of California, Los Angeles Do ESG Ratings Predict Firms' Ability To Manage Risk? An Analysis of Five Market Intermediaries Author: Bell Piyasinchai; Cambridge Judge Business School Author: Shon R. Hiatt; U. of Southern California Author: W Chad Carlos; Brigham Young U. Going Above and Beyond? Examining Firms' Sustainability Disclosures Author: Sukanya Roy; Ross School of Business, U. of Michigan Author: Sara B. Soderstrom; U. of Michigan When Do Firms Voice Support for Socially and Politically Contentious Issues? Author: Steven Kofford; Mississippi State U. Author: Ben William Lewis; Brigham Young U. Author: W Chad Carlos; Brigham Young U. How Shareholder Engagement Influences Corporate Disclosure of Climate Change Information Author: Jean-Pascal Gond; City U. London Author: Rieneke Slager; U. of Groningen [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study contributes to a growing body of research on the emergence and growth of new product market categories by focusing attention on market intermediaries and their role in garnering legitimacy for a nascent market category. Although extant research has demonstrated the importance of attaining legitimacy for new market categories, few have considered the tradeoffs associated with such actions. Using the U.S. organic food product category as a context, we explore how one type of market intermediary--a standards-based certification organization--sought to balance the expansion of a nascent market category with retaining its distinctive coherence and identity. Our findings suggest that standards-based certification organizations can expand a market and demarcate clear categorical boundaries, but at a cost to the initial collective identity of the category's members. Our findings hold important implications for the literatures on legitimacy, new category formation and growth, market intermediaries, and movement-driven markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]