An Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility at Credit Line: A Narrative Approach

Abstract

This article presents the results of an inductive, interpretive case study. We have adopted a narrative approach to the analysis of organizational processes in order to explore how individuals in a financial institution dealt with relatively novel issues of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The narratives that we reconstruct, which we label 'idealism and altruismÕ, 'economics and expedienceÕ and 'ignorance and cynicismÕ illustrate how people in the specific organizational context of a bank ('Credit LineÕ 1 ) sought to cope with an attempt at narrative imposition. In particular, our work exemplifies how people in organizations draw on shared discursive resources in order to make sense of themselves and their organizations. We illustrate how many people within the bank found it hard to integrate the normative case for CSR with their version of a narrative identity which had, and continued to be, centred on economic imperatives for new initiatives. Our article demonstrates both the value of the analysis of shared narratives, and represents an attempt to deal adequately with the polyphony of organizational voices, in case studies of CSR.

Organizational Discourse: Domains, Debates, and Directions

“…micro-level engagement) of organizational actors using a conversation analytic approach (see for example : Llewellyn, 2008a: Llewellyn, , 2008b: Llewellyn, , 2011Llewellyn & Burrow, 2007Llewellyn & Hindmarsh, 2010); Brown undertakes meso-level work via the deployment of narrative analysis (e.g. Brown, 1998Brown, , 2006Brown & Humphreys, 2002;Currie & Brown, 2003;Humphreys & Brown, 2008;Sillince & Brown, 2009;Thornborrow & Brown, 2009); and, Burrell has offered macro-level insights into the discursive constitution of organizations and organizing (e.g. Burrell, 1988Burrell, , 1992Burrell, , 1994Burrell, , 1996Burrell, , 1997Burrell, , 1998Burrell, , 2006Cooper & Burrell, 1988).…”

‘If I Should Fall From Grace…’: Stories of Change and Organizational Ethics

“…Telling this story is a 'hegemonic act required for legitimation purposes' (Humphreys and Brown, 2002, p. 421). However, even though much research has been conducted to show how 'stories can serve as means to provide legitimacy for organizational changes that might otherwise have been considered illegitimate, irrational or unnecessary' (Rhodes and Brown, 2005a, p. 173), less attention has been paid to their implications for organizational ethics (for exceptions see Humphreys and Brown, 2008;Kornberger and Brown, 2007;Rhodes and Brown, 2005b). Whilst there is a well-established literature on organizational storytelling (see Boje, 2001;Czarniawska, 1997Czarniawska, , 2004Gabriel, 2000;Rhodes and Brown, 2005a) and its relation to organizational change (Doolin, 2003;Feldman, 1990;Brown and Humphreys, 2003;Skoldberg, 1994;Stevenson and Greenberg, 1998) and power (Humphreys and Brown, 2002;Clegg, 1993;Mumby, 1987;Smith and Keyton, 2001), the place of ethics has remained relatively unexamined.…”

Dialogism in Corporate Social Responsibility Communications: Conceptualising Verbal Interaction Between Organisations and Their Audiences

“…This is linked to our fourth contribution relating to the non-response of ten firms. There is an implicit assumption in the prior literature that communication with stakeholders is an effective strategy to counteract the negative publicity caused by corporate scandals or public controversies (Humphreys and Brown, 2008, O'Riordan and Fairbass, 2008, Lindblom, 2010. Our unexpected findings suggest that silence -at least for firms with low public visibility -may be a more effective strategy in conflicts between an industry sector and a stakeholder.…”