Title: Managing political pressure - small firms strategies for resource allocation in networks

Authors: Firouze Pourmand Hilmersson

Addresses: School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University, SE-391 82, Kalmar, Sweden

Abstract: This paper investigates how small firms develop political strategies in response to coercive political initiatives. Extant literature has mainly focused on large firms and assumed that small firms are passive adopters of coercive political initiatives. The paper is based on business network theory which is integrated with theory on corporate political strategy. The analytical framework is built around three concepts: political commitments, political knowledge and legitimacy. This framework is used to understand how small firms take strategic political action to change coercive initiatives into support for their businesses. A case from the European agricultural sector shows that instead of passive adaptive behaviour, small firms can influence coercive political initiatives. These findings come with implications for further research and for managers of small firms.

Keywords: small firms; mobilisation; corporate political strategy; network; political knowledge; political commitments; legitimacy; institutional pressure; political pressure; resource allocation; business networks; coercive political initiatives; Europe; agricultural industry; agriculture.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBE.2015.069012

International Journal of Business Environment, 2015 Vol.7 No.2, pp.151 - 167

Received: 27 Mar 2014
Accepted: 29 Aug 2014

Published online: 24 Apr 2015 *

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