Bank of America’s Investment in the Dakota Pipeline – A Wake-up Call for Stakeholders

Abstract

Bank of America (BoA) was one of the major lenders to the Dakota Pipeline project. Taking the perspective of a BoA investor and customer, the case raises issues of socially responsible investment in light of salient societal protests and considerations germane to BoA’s continuing financial support for the pipeline. Specifically, the case allows students to apply stakeholder and ethical analyses to understand how corporate social responsibility policies and actions affect a firm’s investments. It also invites students to rethink their personal role as stakeholders of corporations and the actions they take in support (opposition) to firms’ practices.