Work

Niche-regime negotiations in transition-oriented programs: aiming for net-zero in a petrochemical firm

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This paper combines literature on program management and the multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions to analyze how a firm within the petrochemical industry negotiates across niches and regimes in its transition-oriented program. The analysis shows that this strategic change program comprises three types of projects—exploitation, exploration, and hybrid. In the context of the firms’ ambition to attain net-zero emissions, individual projects of all three types play distinctive roles. In exploitation projects, negotiations stay at the regime level, which reinforces existing institutions but also enables a transfer of certain emission-reducing technologies. In contrast, exploration and hybrid projects entail negotiations that cut across niche and regime levels. For hybrid projects, we find that niche-regime negotiations remain predominantly internal, while they are externalized in exploration projects. Clarifying the relationship between internal and external negotiations, our work suggests that strategic project sequencing could facilitate transition-oriented programs. Run in sequence, exploration projects may help mobilize external support and resources, hybrid projects can safeguard internal support, and exploitation projects can enable companywide diffusion of practices that support the net-zero objectives.

Source: International Journal of Project Management

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2026.102831

Authors: Viktor Werner, Karin Wigger, Anna Yström, Thomas Magnusson, Solmaz Filiz Karabag

Institutions: Linköping University, Nord University, Halmstad University

Language: English

Topic: Sustainability and Climate Change Governance

Subfield: Global and Planetary Change

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Climate action

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,200