Coping With Procedural Uncertainty: Firms' Procedural Framings and Political Strategies in the Context of Switzerland's Mission‐Driven Energy Policy

Abstract

The “green energy” futures advanced in recent mission‐driven (environmental) policies (MDPs) entail considerable procedural uncertainties, leaving the concrete means through which firms may achieve such futures underspecified. Exploring how incumbents address such procedural uncertainty and how this impacts their political strategies, we conducted a comparative case study of Switzerland's four leading electric utilities' interpretations and policymaking influences during the formulation phase of Switzerland's mission‐driven “EnergieStrategie 2050” policy. We inductively developed a novel cultural‐cognitive perspective, which suggests that incumbents mobilize “procedural framing” (past‐future vs. future‐present framing) for coping with procedural uncertainties of a novel MDP. If incumbents mobilize a past‐future (vs. future‐present) framing, they regard the proposed MDP as threat (rather than an opportunity) and resist (rather than support) the policy with their policymaking influences. Our study contributes to the organizational literature on MDPs, to corporate political strategies, and to the organizational literature on future‐oriented meaning‐making.