Med ordet som verktyg - En studie om dialogen som påverkansverktyg för institutionella ägare
Socially Responsible Investments (SRI) and Active Ownership have become increasingly important concepts when it comes to the corporate governance of investors today. Institutional owners highlight the importance of engaging in dialogue, in their pursuit to influence the companies to become sustainable. However, stakeholders and academia are requesting more insight into the workings of these dialogues, concerning their purpose, design and function. This study attempts to increase the existing knowledge of dialogue as a tool for active engagement, used by institutional investors in Sweden. The performed study is based on interviews with five public and private Swedish institutional investors, an SRI consultant firm as well as representatives from two NGOs. By applying a theoretical framework consisting of the corporate governance concepts of Exit and Voice and Stakeholder theory, this study examines what influences the institutions in their choice to enter into dialogue with a company, as well as what influences the design of the dialogue. Empirical findings show a few underlying factors that explain the institutions strong tendency to choose dialogue. Furthermore, the study finds a number of factors that influence how the dialogue is carried out: concerning the question to outsource the dialogue or not as well as on how long a dialogue can proceed until the investor divests its shares.