Organisations continue to be surprised when they come under attack. Sometimes the attacks can be well organised and led by well-known groups but they can also come from a grassroots level or from motivated individuals. Whatever the source the impact can be devastating.
I gave some of the issues associated with activist attacks attention in my book New Activism and the Corporate Response but the recent frequency of attacks made me think about the forms the attacks can take (part one) and then responses (part two).
There is no one ‘model’ of activism. It comes in many shapes and forms, some more organised than others, some larger than others. What has changed in recent years is the perceived power that online channels have provided. That has certainly made action easier but whether it is more effective is a moot point. ‘Slackivism’, tweeting or signing an online petition, can prove numbers but it does little to show depth of feeling or commitment to an issue. MPs, for instance, complained about receiving letters / emails which are all the same. As a result, they are ignored.
As with other campaigns, if a group can manage an active social media campaign it can be effective. But it can be more difficult for groups to ‘control’ people as well. Many groups have their reputation to worry about and if a social media campaign turns into trolling then the reputation could be damaged.
As well as online, there are many forms that attacks can take. These include:
- Legal – Activists are increasingly looking at legal channels to disrupt their targets. This doesn’t always call for large financial resources on the part of activists but they know that it will cause chaos for their target. The target invariable spends more time, effort and resources fighting the challenge and it will drain the attention of senior management as well.
- The media – There is still nothing better than a good story and if that can be combined with, for instance, citizen journalism, online comment etc. then activists can build and, critically, maintain a story. Media coverage can be used as a calling card to gain members and attract more activists as well. Some activities can be more PR stunts but still raise the profile of an issue.
- Violence – It’s still part of the vocabulary for some and whilst these groups are acting on the edge, at the very least, of what is acceptable, people can often feel threatened and vulnerable. As we seen from some high-profile cases, Twitter can be used to threaten physical violence and the police have intervened. It is also not that long ago that animal rights activists attacked those involved in animal testing.
- Using corporate governance arrangements – Shareholder activism is now part of the lexicon. Activists know if they buy a percentage of shares then they can use that power to raise an issue, secure a speaking slot at an AGM etc. There are also organisations that exist that to advise shareholders on their rights and ability to influence companies.
- Secondary targets – You may not be the primary targets for action but activists are increasingly prepared to put, for instance, supplier relations under the spotlight. If you do business or have a relationship with the target then you too are a legitimate target.
- People power – There is still a large role played by sheer weight of numbers. This may be viewed as an ‘old-fashioned’ forms of activism but protests, marches, blockades, boycotts can be highly effective. Also, do not forget that the activism may not be contained in one country and activists could choose different forms of attack to suit the market. Community action can also be hyper local, not just national.
Just have a think about the forthcoming issues that could elicit an activist campaign – airport expansion, Heathrow already has experience of this as did Stansted; housing as the number of new build is targeted to grow; and membership of the EU with shareholder activism already been suggested to prevent companies speaking out for staying in.
In the second part of this blog, I will look at what organisations can do to protect themselves from activist attacks.