Buffering and bridging as environmental strategies of firms
分析了企业应对环境问题的两种基本战略：缓冲与桥接，通过壳牌布伦特斯帕案例展示了战略随时间演变的过程，并指出高层管理者的合作态度是选择战略的关键因素。
Companies are often confronted with important strategic issues, such as environmental concerns. Generally, they react in one of two basic ways: buffering the enterprise or bridging the issue. Insight into the factors determining the choice between those two generic strategies is important for managers. Three recent and mutually related analytical frameworks from corporate communication and management theory are discussed and exemplified by the Shell Brent Spar case. This case shows the development of two generic environmental strategies over time: initial buffering of the firm from external stakeholders, and later a shift towards a bridging strategy. On the basis of our theoretical and empirical analysis, it appears that top management's attitude regarding cooperation with external stakeholders plays a key role in choosing bridging versus buffering strategies. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.