On the use of multi-stakeholder governance in institutional crises

Abstract

Institutional crises might affect the credibility of companies but also a specific sector. This study illustrates that organizations purposively engage in multiple partnerships, across different institutional levels, and in multiple steps to restore legitimacy in a system. To illustrate this argument, we analyse how Brazilian multinational beef processors reacted following a Greenpeace’s report release in between 2009 and 2015 at two levels. This embedded case study was carried out with field visits, 30 interviews with multiple stakeholders and secondary data analysis. Findings show that it started at institutional level with selecting key stakeholders to set sustainable standards for beef production. Then, multiple partnerships at the value chain level at the Amazon region to promote the change. This study contributes to an systemic understanding of multi-stakeholder governance as the actual changes happen in value chain describing the process of interconnecting and linking these two levels of analysis (institutional and value chain).