Shareholder activist campaigns are valuable in diversifying the lines of pressure and advocacy. If a company is only being pressured by external groups, it may not be as convincing as if they were also hearing it from people involved with their company. Hearing it from many distinct and diverse sources gives the sense that it is part of a much larger societal trend in that direction.
MAX CARPENDALE: Shareholder activism is a method of achieving change by buying the shares of corporations and leveraging the rights associated with that partial ownership. It has seen increasing use over the years, including many cases where the principal motivation is the public good, rather than corporate reform to maximise shareholder profit.
Shareholder activism relies on the unappreciated fact that, fundamentally, corporations are owned by their shareholders and there are automatic rights associated with that. It can be seen as the ultimate form of insider activism, since the approach reliably gives you the opportunity to talk directly with company board members…
Shareholder activist campaigns are valuable in diversifying the lines of pressure and advocacy. If a company is only being pressured by external groups, it may not be as convincing as if they were also hearing it from people involved with their company. Hearing it from many distinct and diverse sources gives the sense that it is part of a much larger societal trend in that direction.
In this way, shareholder activism campaigns may work best when they are run alongside other animal advocacy campaigns also pushing for the reform in question. A broader campaign can make shareholders aware of the issue and cause them to form some opinion on it.
A broader campaign creates a sense that social change on the issue is imminent, and so the company might as well get off to an early start on it, rather than being ignominiously forced into that position at a later point. Ultimately, in most cases when shareholder animal activism is successful, it will be because shareholder activism successfully convinces the company that the public is on their side, which will be much easier when the reform in question is generally in the spotlight (Hallaj 2013).
It may also be particularly valuable in allowing specific asks to be introduced and negotiated on. Groups operating on the outside may be able to apply general pressure for reform, but if these efforts are to be successful, groups must at some point sit down and work out the details, while groups working on the outside in a more combative way are less likely to get this opportunity.
As such, there should be collaboration, communication, and coordination between shareholder activists and those running a broader campaign. This can be difficult when the self-interest of each respective group differs, but the ultimate goal of helping animals as much as possible should unify this.
Perhaps the greatest strength of shareholder activism is that it offers a much more certain path to speaking with company executives. Shareholder activism can automatically get you much closer to these decision-makers, as long as rules and regulations are followed and the resolution is reasonable enough. Other campaigns might only achieve this as the end result of much more extensive activism.
In this way, shareholder activism campaigns may work best when they are run alongside other animal advocacy campaigns also pushing for the reform in question. A broader campaign can make shareholders aware of the issue and cause them to form some opinion on it.
A broader campaign creates a sense that social change on the issue is imminent, and so the company might as well get off to an early start on it, rather than being ignominiously forced into that position at a later point. Ultimately, in most cases when shareholder animal activism is successful, it will be because shareholder activism successfully convinces the company that the public is on their side, which will be much easier when the reform in question is generally in the spotlight.
It may also be particularly valuable in allowing specific asks to be introduced and negotiated on. Groups operating on the outside may be able to apply general pressure for reform, but if these efforts are to be successful, groups must at some point sit down and work out the details, while groups working on the outside in a more combative way are less likely to get this opportunity.
As such, there should be collaboration, communication, and coordination between shareholder activists and those running a broader campaign. This can be difficult when the self-interest of each respective group differs, but the ultimate goal of helping animals as much as possible should unify this.
Perhaps the greatest strength of shareholder activism is that it offers a much more certain path to speaking with company executives. Shareholder activism can automatically get you much closer to these decision-makers, as long as rules and regulations are followed and the resolution is reasonable enough. Other campaigns might only achieve this as the end result of much more extensive activism…
Below is a list of some of the main organisations and individuals engaged in shareholder activism relating to animal advocacy or to generally improving practices surrounding animal agriculture (such as environmental or human health concerns):
– World Animal Protection: World Animal Protection has used the Shareholder activism as a tactic against walmart to strengthen their policy on the routine (prophylactic) use of antibiotics on farmed animals (Harsh 2020), as well as against Tesco for supplying pork from pigs from gestation crates in Thailand (see more on this below) (World Animal Protection 2019).
– PETA: PETA lists some of the main targets of their shareholder activism as chemical and pharmaceutical companies who conduct animal testing, including Dow, DuPont and 3M (“Shareholder Campaigns” 2010).
– Carl Icahn: Billionaire financial activist investor who has made some significant forays into social shareholder activism on behalf of animals (see below for more on this).
– Asia Research & Engagement (ARE): ARE conduct shareholder advocacy surrounding animal agriculture and promote alternatives, but do not pursue any activism. They also engage in a significant amount of research to inform their shareholder advocacy.
– The Accountability Board: The Accountability Board conducts higher investment shareholder activism to reform various practices around animal agriculture and promote alternatives.
The overall number of animal activism shareholder proposals is relatively small. Hallaj (2013) reviews animal activism shareholder campaigns prior to the publication date of 2013. They note that the number of shareholder campaigns pursued by the movement has decreased by over 50% from a peak of 37 in 2010 to only approximately 15 proposals in each of 2013 and 2014. SOURCE…
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