Transgressing CSR on the organizational value chain: How natural resource companiesgreenwash their processes

Abstract

This work addresses the question of how companies belonging tothe natural resource industryuse togreenwash their processes. For this purpose, a multi-case approach with five different cases in the Colombian context is adopted. Through the data analysis, an exemplification of each value chain greenwashing transgression at the company level is provided. Besides highlighting a real-life problematic with several implications in a sensitive context, the contributions of this work are twofold. First, this work contributes to reinforcing the notion of greenwashing and related transgressions by clarifying a concrete way of identifying certain deceptive practices related to the organizational value chain under conditions. Second, this work promotes the transferability of the concepts used for elucidating the reality of the value chain greenwashing phenomenon at different levels and in various contexts

Understanding decoupling: Untruthful company crisis communication in Latin America

“…Using a multi-case approach, this study ascertained that Latin America, particularly its extractive industry, was an appropriate scenario to address the phenomenon of decoupling during crisis scenarios. The biodiversity of Latin America (Butler, 2016), exemplified by the richness of its subsoil (Sinnott et al,, 2011), as well as its institutional weaknesses (Contreras-Pacheco, 2020), makes the region a suitable subject to examine whether companies that exploit their natural resources play fair. This study enables the shaping of insights that can be used as a starting point to understand decoupling on a broader level.…”

“…As a result, several companies have been attracted by the possibility of exploiting, acquiring, and trading those resources for their benefit. Even though these companies have generally found the notion of corporate social responsibility to be the best way to legitimize their actions and decisions (Contreras-Pacheco, 2020;Joutsenvirta & Vaara, 2015), it has been evidenced that the region's economic growth is unlikely to occur without environmental problems and incidents that directly threaten its sustainable development (Castro, 2015). Some difficulties and events have such severity and repercussions that they have the capacity to affect communities and ecosystems, thereby attracting public attention via the media and requiring intervention by the government.…”

“…A region that has been primarily recognized as a holder of a weak institutional environment (Brinks, Levitsky & Murillo, 2020). A region in which, when scenarios of transgression take place, offending companies manage to held limited repercussions for their social judgments (Contreras-Pacheco, 2020). In this regard, four case studies in the Latin American context are examined.…”