The Dilemma of NGO-Corporate Alliances in the Global Commons

• In Event: Discourses of Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics In Uncertain Times

Abstract

This research explores the right-right-right ethical dilemmas faced when NGOs and corporations form alliances to mobilize stakeholder capital. Right-right-right decisions seek to balance a corporation’s economic, social, and cultural responsibilities. Guided by research that demonstrates the centrality of some social issues, this study investigates how NGO-corporate alliances accumulate capital and create a form of social issue agenda setting. The Susan G. Komen Pink Ribbon campaign is offered as an abbreviated case study.

Authors

• Amy O'Connor, North Dakota State University

• Michelle Shumate, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign