Climate change adaptation in the private sector: application of a relational view of the firm

The role of the private sector in fostering climate action is increasingly evident. Yet, little cross-fertilization between climate adaptation and strategy management literature has taken place. This study explores how strategy management theories focused on the role of business relations help to understand the influence of business networks on the adaptive behaviour of firms. As investigated through the business dynamics operating in Jamaica's cassava value chain, companies are exposed to a series of trade-offs generated within their business environment. In particular, networks are shown to generate both opportunities and constraints that affect business adaptive behaviour and to be a mechanism to influence and be influenced by others. Two fundamental network-level actions that businesses can foster to increase their adaptive capacity and maintain local economic development can be drawn from this assessment. First, by effectively managing relationships, business can unlock access to valuable resources for adaptation. Second, the dynamic and interdependent nature of business relationships calls for business adaptation efforts to focus on the development of collaborative and joint problem-solving approaches. The relational strategy management view of climate adaptation introduced in this study opens interesting lines of inquiry on factors shaping the adaptation landscape of businesses.