Abstract
Since the 1990s, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have been increasingly involved in defining and solving social and environmental problems related to business activities. Extant literature analysing NGOs mobilization in corporate contexts, commonly characterizes NGOs' influence strategies as either confrontational or collaborative. Our research aims to bring a more nuanced view of these theoretical dichotomies, in particular we seek to better understand the possible mixed approaches, using both confrontation and collaboration, that can take place within one strategy. Empirically we focused on different strategies of influence conducted by three of the world's most recognized Environmental NGOs : World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth (FoE), in the same economic sector, the soybean agribusiness. The study looks specifically at the individual progress of these strategies, as well as the similarities and differences between them. Our analysis shows firstly that NGOs strategies develop in an interrelated and dialectic process, building on each other achievements and shortcomings. Second, we showed that the impact of individual strategies often involve a hybrid approach between collaboration and confrontation. This approach can take two distinct forms : a progressive dynamics (from confrontation to cooperation) or dual one (simultaneous cooperation and confrontation). These initial results contribute globally to the emerging NGO-Business literature, and speak to current attempts that seek to overcome static and dyadic approaches of NGO-Business relations.