A CEO with many messages: Comparing the ideological representations provided by different corporate reports

Mäkelä, Hannele; Laine, Matias

doi:10.1016/j.accfor.2011.06.008

Cited by 76 publications

(93 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…First, we focus on a relatively short period of time. Only a longitudinal study in the vein of Mäkelä and Laine (2011), who analyse the corporate reporting practices of a Finnish company over a nine-year period, would be able to establish whether the change in discourse resulting from external pressures exerted upon Vattenfall by antagonistic organisational audiences in the aftermath of the incident becomes institutionalised. Second, as the main focus of our analysis is on CEO texts, we do not know whether and how organisational audiences responded to the change in discourse (apart from Greenpeace whose reaction is discussed in Section 5.4).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Discourse to Restore Organisational Legitimacy: ‘CEO-speak’ After an Incident in a German Nuclear Power Plant

2011

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We analyse managerial discourse in corporate communication ('CEO-speak') during a six month period following a legitimacy-threatening event in the form of an incident in a German nuclear power plant. As discourses express specific stances expressed by a group of people who share particular beliefs and values, they constitute an important means of restoring organisational legitimacy when social rules and norms have been violated. Using an analytical framework based on legitimacy as a process of reciprocal sense-making and consisting of three levels of analysis which capture the relationship between text and context, we investigate the discourse used by CEOs in their initial and subsequent accounts of the incident. We find that CEOs aim to negotiate a resolution between their initial account and organisational audiences' incongruent interpretations of the event by adopting an ad hoc normative attitude to stakeholders. This manifests itself in the strategic use of the discourse of stakeholder engagement as a means of signalling change, yet maintaining the status quo. It suggests that CEOs strategically use discourse to manufacture organisational audiences' consent regarding the continued operation of the nuclear power plant affected by the incident. Our findings contribute to the critical corporate communication literature which regards corporate narrative reporting as a means of consolidating the private interests of corporations, rather than increasing transparency and accountability.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Discourse to Restore Organisational Legitimacy: ‘CEO-speak’ After an Incident in a German Nuclear Power Plant

2011

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“…This type of data is commonly utilized to analyze corporate disclosures about sustainability related issues (Beelitz and Merkl-Davies 2011;Mäkelä and Laine 2011;Tengblad and Ohlsson 2009;van Halderen et al 2016). CEOs are often seen as ''the social face of the organization'' and, particularly in the case of fossil fuel companies, engage publically in justifying their firms' actions in light of climate change (Brennan and Conroy 2013, p. 176).…”

Section: Data and Analytic Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

Drilling their Own Graves: How the European Oil and Gas Supermajors Avoid Sustainability Tensions Through Mythmaking

2017

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This study explores how paradoxical tensions between economic growth and environmental protection are avoided through organizational mythmaking. By examining the European oil and gas supermajors' ''CEOspeak'' about climate change, we show how mythmaking facilitates the disregarding, diverting, and/or displacing of sustainability tensions. In doing so, our findings further illustrate how certain defensive responses are employed: (1) regression, or retreating to the comforts of past familiarities, (2) fantasy, or escaping the harsh reality that fossil fuels and climate change are indeed irreconcilable, and (3) projecting, or shifting blame to external actors for failing to address climate change. By highlighting the discursive effects of enacting these responses, we illustrate how the European oil and gas supermajors self-determine their inability to substantively address the complexities of climate change. We thus argue that defensive responses are not merely a form of mismanagement as the paradox and corporate sustainability literature commonly suggests, but a strategic resource that poses serious ethical concerns given the imminent danger of issues such as climate change.

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“…Consequently, there is space for discussion regarding the politics of sustainability in an emerging economy. Milne et al (2009) examine an organisation in New Zealand; Mäkelä and Laine (2011) and Mäkelä (2013) assess in Finnish companies.…”

Section: ) Thus Experiences Illusions Fantasies and Intentionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The previous literature (Milne et al, 2009;Mäkelä, 2013;Mäkelä & Laine, 2011;Higgins & Walker, 2012) used different theoretical foundations. Each study illustrates within their conclusions that the adoption of a different ontic lens (theoretical, contextual and organisational interpretation) resulted in various understandings of SEA.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this thesis, the concept of ideology adopts a postMarxist perspective, which challenges the economic determinism in Marxism to expand the configuration of ideologies in all forms of social constructs (Laclau & Mouffe, 2001). Mäkelä and Laine (2011) explore the discursive debate of ideological representation of sustainability within two businesses in Finland, Rautaruukki and Outokumpu, using the concept of ideology of Thompson (1990). Their results demonstrate that neo-liberal ideologies are maintained in the CEO statements, in special, while they prioritise the "financial success and the interests of shareholders" (Mäkelä & Laine, 2011, p. 228).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Discursive constructions of social and environmental accounting in Brazil: the case of Petrobras.

Voss¹

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SÃO PAULO 2016Autorizo a reprodução e divulgação total ou parcial deste trabalho, por qualquer meio convencional ou eletrônico, para fins de estudo e pesquisa, desde que citada a fonte. Eu dedico esta tese à minha amada mãe, pelo esforço e dedicação.Ela é meu grande exemplo de superação e amor. AGRADECIMENTOSAos que me apoiaram nessa jornada,Grandes amigos e fiéis parceiros para a conclusão desse trabalho.Desejo muita paz no coração, esperança em momentos difíceis,Saúde sempre e alegria para um mundo melhor.Boas energias! "One of the central tenets of Hegemony and Socialist Strategy is the need to create a chain of equivalence among the various democratic struggles against different forms of subordination. We argued that struggles against sexism, racism, sexual discrimination, and in the defence of the environment needed to be articulated with those of the workers in a new left-wing hegemonic project. To put it in terminology which has recently become fashionable, we insisted that the Left needed to tackle issues of both 'redistribution' and 'recognition'. This is what we meant by 'radical and plural democracy'" problematização, explicação retrodutiva, lógicas (sociais, políticas e fantasmáticas), articulação e crítica. Os resultados sugerem que a hegemonia do desenvolvimento econômico opera para obscurecer retoricamente o desenvolvimento da sustentabilidade que mantém o core business da Petrobras igualmente concebido como acumulação de capital. Igualmente, essas articulações também ilustram como as construções de CSA operam para servir o propósito da empresa com pouca (ou nenhuma) profunda mudança na integração com a sustentabilidade. A literatura brasileira de CSA sustenta o status quo de políticas de mercado neoliberais que operam para proteger a dominante abordagem do business case para manter a agenda de geração de riqueza num cenário de necessidade sociais e ambientais. As articulações do estudo de caso manifestaram essas políticas, por exemplo, em relação à corrupção, no qual envolveu superfaturamento de contratos e práticas insustentáveis relacionadas ao uso de combustíveis fósseis os quais demonstraram que há antagonismo entre ação e disclosure. O escândalo de corrupção que surgiu após as divulgações de CSA marcou a natureza retórica do disclosure em que recursos financeiros subtraídos da empresa para partidos políticos e empreiteiras esconderam fatos através de disclosures incompletos. As articulações da CSA deturpam um contexto amplo dos significados associados com a sustentabilidade, que restringiram as construções da CSA para principalmente servir e representar a intenção dos grupos mais poderosos. A significância da CSA é, portanto, limitada para representar interesses particulares. O estudo argumenta por mais estudos críticos já que a limitada literatura brasileira sobre CSA mantém uma 'distância segura' de substantivas críticas das construções de CSA e suas articulações no contexto brasileiro. A revisão da literatura e o caso da Petrobras ilustram a variedade de nomes, instituições e práticas art...

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A CEO with many messages: Comparing the ideological representations provided by different corporate reports

Cited by 76 publications

References 45 publications

Using Discourse to Restore Organisational Legitimacy: ‘CEO-speak’ After an Incident in a German Nuclear Power Plant

Using Discourse to Restore Organisational Legitimacy: ‘CEO-speak’ After an Incident in a German Nuclear Power Plant

Drilling their Own Graves: How the European Oil and Gas Supermajors Avoid Sustainability Tensions Through Mythmaking

Discursive constructions of social and environmental accounting in Brazil: the case of Petrobras.

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