From stakeholder concern to social issue: A social network analysis of Coca-Cola in Kerala, India

Using a longitudinal single-case design, this study traces the events leading to the premature shut-down of a Coca-Cola plant in Kerala, India, in 2004, following charges of over-exploitation and pollution of ground water resources by the Adivasis (an indigenous people living in the plant's vicinity). The local-level protests which began in late 2001 gradually snowballed into a nationwide controversy on the issue of water ownership.; This controversy provides an ideal setting to examine how a stakeholder concern can transform into a social issue through stakeholder action. Using network theory to examine the firm-stakeholder environment, a preliminary framework was developed to explain how marginalized stakeholders unable to redress their issues directly with the firm, can attempt to influence other stakeholders to act against the firm. A successful influence strategy results in a shared understanding ("frame alignment") of the issue among stakeholders, resulting in action against the firm. Frame alignment among multiple stakeholders can transform the original stakeholder concern into a social issue with serious consequences for firm performance and reputation.; The preliminary framework was examined using the qualitative longitudinal data collected from key stakeholders. Stakeholder networks were also constructed at four points of time to examine how changing stakeholder alignments shift the level of analysis from firm to the organizational field. Results indicate that the aggrieved stakeholder (the Adivasis) was able to achieve frame alignment with multiple stakeholders around their situation---specifically that Coca-Cola was responsible for the water situation and needed to be shut down. Frame alignment was more likely when a frame similar to the focal stakeholder's orientation (for e.g., legal frame with regulatory stakeholders, social frame with social activists) was used. Action against the firm by multiple stakeholders was found to shift the level of analysis to the organizational field, and transform the stakeholder issue into a social issue.; By examining the stakeholder side of the firm-stakeholder relationship, this study shows how network theory and frame alignment together can explain stakeholder mobilization. This study reinforces what management theorists have long advocated---that firms must carefully monitor the network of relationships among their stakeholders to avoid unwelcome "surprises."...