Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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Browsing Graduate Theses and Dissertations by Author "Adae, Eric"

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    Beyond Corporate Profits: Reminiscing about the future of CEO activism in Ghana
    (University of Oregon, 2020-12-08) Adae, Eric; Sheehan, Kim
    This dissertation offers an inquiry into the nascent phenomenon of CEO activism. It addresses gaps in CEO activism research, including a dearth of non-Western contexts, the dominance of modernist perspectives, the omission of women activist CEO voices, and lack of conceptual models. It applies alternative theoretical lenses of Caritas, Ubuntu, Africapitalism, and postmodernism to examine CEO activism in Ghana. Data were collected through long interviews with a total of 24 men and women activist CEOs, and data underwent hermeneutic phenomenological thematic analysis. Employing a process model, the dissertation argues for the CEO Activism Development Model that explains the temporality, activity and flow of important junctions in the buildout of activist stances by CEOs, including motivations, issues, tactics, effects, and CEO activism safeguards. Findings suggest CEO activism in Ghana is motivated by factors previously unarticulated in the literature. Brand activism typologies adequately describe the causes/issues advocated by activist CEOs in Ghana, while extant CEO activism tactic clusters proved insufficient for the full gamut of activist CEOs tactical repertoire in Ghana. Three classes of the effects of CEO activism emerge, namely societal functions, and positive and negative outcomes for corporations and individual CEO activists. A typology comprising six classes of CEO activism safeguards is presented. Findings advance perspectives of non-Western society CEO activists; policy implications are discussed, and guidelines presented for activist CEO campaigns. This dissertation internationalizes scholarly inquiry on the CEO activism phenomenon for the public relations literature while extending CEO activism research; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI), corporate social responsibility/sustainability, postmodern values, and the insider activist perspectives to also include Caritas, Ubuntu philosophy, and Africapitalism. It contributes to the fields of process studies of change in organization and management, the upper echelons perspective, and sustainability transitions.