Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
-
Upload
santo-mulyono -
Category
Documents
-
view
227 -
download
0
Transcript of Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
1/38
No. 02-2003 ICCSR Research Paper Series - ISSN 1479-5124
Corporate identities on the web:An exercise in the
construction and deployment of morality
Christine Coupland
Research Paper SeriesInternational Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility
ISSN 1479-5124
Editor: Dirk Matten
International Centre for Corporate Social ResponsibilityNottingham University Business School
Nottingham University
Jubilee CampusWollaton Road
Nottingham NG8 1BB
United KingdomPhone +44 (0)115 95 15261Fax +44 (0)115 84 66667
Email [email protected] www.nottingham.ac.uk/business/ICCSR
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
2/38
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
3/38
Corporate identities on the web:An exercise in the construction and deployment of morality
Christine Coupland
Abstract
Exploring a company web site, for how a socially responsible identity is constructed,enables an investigation of interaction between hegemonic discourses, whichoperate internally and externally to the organization, in the context of this relativelynew genre of communication. From a focus on how identity is discursivelyconstructed, the appearance of a socially responsible identity is examined. Through
the analysis I illustrate how organizations in an environmentally-aware sector ofindustry appear to serve the two masters of business and the environment.
The web sites of four multinational oil companies were examined and analysed usinga discourse analytic technique. The construction of a socially responsible identity for
the organizations in the paper is set in the context of alternative versions beingpublicly available. A claim for a plausible, authentic and legitimate identity therefore
situates the virtual identity, constructed on a web site, into an ongoing interaction.By examining this method of communication, which addresses an audience beyondthe confines of the organization, fractures in the institutionalised nature of argument
may be revealed. In contrast to some claims regarding amoralization, I argue thelanguage of morality is the currency in which these organizations currently operate.
This has implications for the repertoires on which an organization may draw in
recognition of the ambiguous, fluid, fragile nature of a legitimate corporate identity.With particular reference to a socially responsible identity, the process of overt
amoralization (Crane, 2000) is simply not an option for this sector of industry.
Keywords:
corporate socially responsible identities, construction of morality, discourse analysis
The author:
Christine Coupland is a Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour at Nottingham
University Business School.
Address for correspondence:
Dr Christine Coupland, Nottingham University Business School, NottinghamUniversity, Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham NG8 1BB, United Kingdom,Email [email protected]
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
4/38
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
5/38
1
Introduction
Corporate environmentalism is an emerging process addressing environmental
issues while recognising multiple stakeholder claims. Although industrial
development has long been determined by bottom line accounting practices, these
have been challenged in the last two decades by an increasing awareness of
environmental issues, leading to growing concerns with corporate social
responsibility (Livesey and Kearins 2002).
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how a socially responsible identity may be
constituted on a corporate web site. The diversity of the potential audience, I
propose, frames how claims and arguments may be legitimised. The corporate web
site represents an arena of official communication of a particular kind. It is ostensibly
from one source, subject to intense scrutiny from multiple audiences with diverse
interests and is acknowledged as a manufactured image, available for interpretation
by its readership. Although similar in context and purpose to mission statements and
letters to shareholders the competing interests of its readers requires that attention
be paid to its format.
In this paper I am concerned with the appearance of fact. It is the verisimilitude of
the web page that is under scrutiny, not whether and if it bears any resemblance to
some otherwise determined reality. The identity of an organization is made relevant
in interaction, as an argument awaiting opposition, suggesting tensions and
dilemmas being managed in order to achieve plausibility. I further argue that the
construction of a socially responsible stance requires some role to be played by
morality, following Meads (1934) argument that the desire to being a good self is
essential to being a social self. While maintaining a focus on constructed socially
responsible identities, I intend to develop and apply Cranes (2000) notion of
corporate greening (the process of appearing green) as amoralization (to not make
the subject of moral reflection), contrasting his findings with the data in the paper.
The structure of the paper is thus: first some attention is paid to the web page
literature with specific reference to web-based-identities. This is followed by some
consideration of how a socially responsibly corporate identity may be re- constructedin this context. Following an outline of the methodology, Cranes framework of
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
6/38
2
amoralization will be applied to the analysis of the data. Finally, a discussion of the
implications of the findings will conclude the paper.
The Web Site as an Identity-relevant Context
I have explored four web sites from organizations that operate in the petro-chemical
exploration, refinement and distribution industry, a sector subject to particular public
scrutiny (e.g. Fombrun and Rindova 2000; Livesey 2001; Livesey and Kearins 2002;
Shrivistava 1995; Tsoukas 1999; Welford 1997). Web sites from this sector have
been selected, because there are commonly known, visible, alternative narratives to
the hegemonic, organizationally defined, narrative. That is, as a corporate socially
responsible identity affects the way people judge a companys conduct, the notion ofidentity as argument is rendered more visible. In addition, the location of this
investigation, on corporate web sites situates the focus on a genre of organizational
communication constituted by its broad readership. This enables some contrast to be
made with studies of organizationally situated argumentation repertoires, which are
presumed to constrain and manipulate what members can say in pursuit of influence
and power (e.g. Sillince 1999).
The web as a relatively new context of communication is still emerging as a variant of
more established genres (Wynn and Katz 1997 and Dillon and Gushrowski 1999).
Communications within organizations function as socially recognised actions,
enacted by members to serve a particular purpose (Orlikowski and Yates 1994;
Yates and Orlikowski 1992). Hence, the corporate web site, as an example of a
genre of organizational communication, is recognised as social action on behalf of, or
in the name of, the members of the community. Moreover, commercial web sites are
treated as public documents, which renders them available to scrutiny equally or
more stringently than the printed form (Correll 1995; Winner 1995). In addition, they
are geared to sell to a particular audience (Armstrong and Hagel 1996; Wynn and
Katz 1997). Nevertheless, as an arena for the construction and display of identity,
through the selection and manipulation of existing company information, they offer an
opportunity to explore what is made relevant for this genre and how this may be
carried out.
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
7/38
3
Although it is theoretically possible to create a persona free of embodiment on the
web, in practice web presence entails accountability (Correll 1995; Spar and
Bussgang 1996; Winner 1995). Contrary to post modernist claims that the self is de-
centred in cyber space (Wynn and Katz 1997), a requirement for interaction to be
mutually meaningful suggests an ordered, structured, process. Other commentators,
who have explored computer-mediated identity, have proposed that, even in virtual
space, identities are constructed in relation to material and social factors (Herring
1996; Livesey 2001; Spar and Bussgang 1996; Wynn and Katz 1997). Virtuality
implies the Internet is a space not relying on institutions and commercial interests,
however this denies the role of a web site as a form of communication, whereby the
narrator will ultimately be called upon to account for the identity constructed in
interaction. Internet culture not only remains sensitive to indicators, or cues, but also
opens up organizationally defined argumentation repertoires to challenges from
beyond the organization (Segars and Kohut 2001).
The corporate web site, as a genre for communication, is unusual in that its visitors
have diverse interests. Groups of people who are concerned with ethical issues
would actively search the web site to investigate the company stance (Welford 1997).
Therefore its format requires some attention to the likely competing interests of its
broad readership. This becomes more complex if the company espouses a green
agenda, as, arguably, it would have more to lose than one whose ethical stance is
overtly governed by legislators (Fineman 1996; Robertson and Nicholson 1996). As a
commercial venture it may be compared with journalistic representations in
newspapers, magazines and some television documentaries, where, despite an
even-handed description being espoused, a vested interest is understood to exist.
However, the audience impacts on the identity that may be constructed. With interest
from potential customers and employees to current shareholders, the remit of
attracting, entertaining or satisfying the web site reader is a complex one. So, a new
communicative form has creative potential for both the individual and the organizing
process. This has relevance as companies are increasingly competing in discursive
space where winning the argument is important (Tsoukas 1999). Although not
presumed to be totalising and monological (Boje 1995) the aim is to legitimise the
social institution of the organization (Brown 2001).
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
8/38
4
Corporate Social Responsibility as an Identity-relevant Concept
Other commentators have discussed the relationships between organizational image,
identity and reputation as being relative to the perceiver, that is, a distinction is drawn
between members and non-members (Dutton and Dukerich 1999; Hatch 1997).
However, for the purposes of the paper I will refer to this constructed identity as an
aspect of the organization that is available to both members and non-members for
their interpretation. Furthermore, as it is acknowledged that the web site identity is an
image manufactured for specific communicative purposes, the terms image or
identity could be used interchangeably in this context, in that the image is the
espoused identity that is being examined. The paper is an example of a discursive
treatment of organizational life by looking at the practices to see how they are
maintained. Taking the perspective that our positioning is an outcome of social
processes and linguistic constructions, repositioning responsibility in organizational
life is due to very subtle processes. There are specific mechanisms in organizational
life that lead us away from exploring this (Deetz 2002), the taken-for-granted nature
of these mechanisms are made explicit, moved into awareness, in the paper.
Organizational identity has been the subject of a large and burgeoning literature,
many aspects of which have been discussed at length elsewhere (e.g. Alvesson
1994; Carroll 1995; Whetten and Godfrey 1998). From this rich and diverse field I
have selected one aspect of identity on which to focus, that is, how organizations
manage, in discursive terms, the issue of social responsibility. In the web page, the
construction and mobilisation of a company identity as a socially responsible body is
refracted through outsider understandings, from media reports of questionable
practices in the recent past (see, for example, Elsbach 1994; Ice 1991; Livesey 2001;
Renkema and Hoeken 1998; Shrivastava 1995), in the light of a growing awareness
of environmental issues. This has resulted in an example of explicit argumentation
played out in a publicly accountable corporate arena.
In contrast to Cranes (2000) argument that corporate greening is accomplished by a
process of amoralization, which suggests an increasing degree of moral neutrality, an
alternative perspective is to consider on what grounds morality is claimed in theconstruction of a socially responsible identity. This is not to suggest that these
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
9/38
5
notions exist in a dichotomous relationship, rather, their dialectical nature renders
their exploration in interaction pertinent. Organizations will claim legitimacy for their
actions from differing sources of witness, (e.g. financial, society, stakeholder), hence
raising a plethora of moralities rather than none. These moralities are claimed in
support of particular stances taken with regard to environmental issues. Without
intending to investigate beyond the appearance of these morality claims, the tools
and techniques of their persuasiveness will be explicated in the paper. There is an
intention to explore how moral perspectives are taken up in the legitimation of a
corporate, socially responsible identity, particularly in the light of the activities of the
organizations and past practices, which suggest an alternative account may be as
plausible. In the paper a specific, detailed, exploration of organizational
communication is attempted, as suggested by Bullis; more detailed examinations of
corporate rhetoric as they relate to environmental problems are important to
undertake (1997: 459).
An expectation of socially responsible organizations reflects an increasing concern
with corporate accountability (Shrivastava 1995; Kernisky 1997; Schultz 1996). The
inadequacy of existing management frameworks to explain economic growth and
environmental concerns is well understood (Crane 2000). While sharing Finemans
(1996; 1998) social constructionist position on morality, I suggest it is not simply a
matter of local, pragmatic, activities that render morality invisible. Instead, it is in the
everyday negotiations of a socially responsible identity that a particular version of
morality is made visible. This is not in any real sense, rather, what are made visible
are the methods of operation that may be recognised as being socially responsible.
There are emerging pressures for environmental awareness (Starik and Rands
1995). The growing concern with ethical issues has led to a challenge to the former
hegemonic repertoire of the bottom line (Arrington and Puxty 1991; Hart 1995).
Companies are required to articulate their strategic position with regard to public
welfare (Kernisky 1997; Schultz 1996). However, a moral/economic distinction is
blurred as company leaders articulate a response to the natural economic incentives
of the environment (Love 1992: 889; see also Bullis 1997). Well-crafted corporate
images communicate accountability through social responsibility, however,institutions parade goals and mission statements whose benevolent generalities
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
10/38
6
discreetly obscure the conflicts and contradictions of day-to-day activity (Love 1992:
884). Other commentators have argued that the corporate rhetoric of a socially
responsible stance, although operating as a signal of awareness, opens the
company, potentially, to a charge of hypocrisy (Bullis 1997; Renkema and Hoeken
1998; Robertson and Nicholson 1996). Fineman (1996; 1997; 1998) has argued that
coercion from pressure groups and regulators are more likely to encourage corporate
greening than principled action. In this paper these external forces are evident in the
web pages and work to legitimise and account for managing the tension between
economic and environmental issues in different ways.
As the organizations being explored in the present paper are constructing their web
pages under close scrutiny from outside the company, the strength of the
perspective, which shapes and constrains the predominant company version is
gained from a growing concern with a demand for companies to operate in a socially
responsible way (Love 1992; Shrivastava 1995; Kernisky 1997). This creates a
compelling scenario where a once marginalized version challenges a hegemonic,
organizationally defined, version and contrasts with a more normative assumption of
hegemonic discourses prevailing (Edley 2001; Fairclough 1992). Hegemony will
always be contested to a greater or lesser extent, in hegemonic struggle. An order of
discourse is not a closed or rigid system, but, rather, an open system, which is put at
risk by what happens in actual interactions (Fairclough, 2001: 235). The web site as
an interaction is the focus of the paper. However, growing pressure from green
groups and a demand for some expression of social responsibility has set a moral
agenda to be attended to by companies in general (Banerjee 2001; Fineman 1996;
Kernisky 1997; Love 1992; Robertson and Nicholson 1996).
The moral agenda as related to corporate greening has begun to be examined.
Crane (2000) has investigated the potential role for morality in this process. He found
that amoralization (the construction of greening characteristics as amoral in
character) was found to be strongest in conventional companies and weakest in
companies described as social mission companies (such as the Body Shop).
However, the particular context of organizations in the petro-chemical industry
locates their activities within an environmental focus by virtue of what they do. Thissuggests that maintaining an amoral stance with regard to the environment is simply
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
11/38
7
not an option. External forces such as legislation, NGOs and other regulatory bodies
ensure that attention is paid to environmental concerns. This creates a scenario in
which a moral stance is always made explicit, driven by forces from outside the
company. While there is an expectation that organizations in this sector will espouse
a socially responsible attitude, a moral stance, to the environment, how this is
achieved under tension of competing hegemonic discourses is a focus of the paper.
The framework of the analysis of the paper is derived from an earlier study of
organizations which emphasised the construction of an amoral stance. This provides
four elements which may be utilised, conversely, to describe a moral stance. These
elements are; depersonalization, morality boundaries, appropriation of discourse and
mobilization of narrative (Crane 2000). They will be drawn on in order to explore the
research questions of the paper; how is a socially responsible identity constituted on
a corporate web page, how is that identity made up of tension and argument and
what function does an espoused moral stance play in this communicative genre?
Methodology
The theoretical perspective adopted in this paper is that organizations are a socially
constructed, emergent, process (Berger and Luckmann 1966; Tsoukas 1994).
Central to this study is the role of language as a site of action (Austin 1962), in the
form of a text. It derives its philosophical underpinning from Wittgensteins (1967)
notion of language as a game and Austins (1962) speech act theory. This works
from the assumption that web sites, as examples of corporate text, function as
manipulative, or conscious, users of talk and text. However, success lies in the
persuasiveness of the text in the light of available alternative versions of company
behaviour.
Web sites were selected from four multinational organizations in the petro-chemical
industry. There was an expectation that these web sites would contain a number of
references to a socially responsible identity. Four organizations were examined so
as to enable some identification of cross-organizational patterns of language use,
rather than rely on one source of data, which may have been subject to
idiosyncrasies of one organization. However, it is acknowledged that the detailed
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
12/38
8
examination of nuanced differences between these organizations would also have
been fruitful in terms of insight into these issues. Nevertheless, the purpose of this
paper is to investigate how corporate socially responsible identities, through
espoused morality, function in this genre of communication, while acknowledging that
multiple organizations are required for plausibility of argument. The web sites were
initially explored using the sites own search engine for reference to social
responsibility and variants thereof. These searches resulted in over 800 hits from
the four web pages.
I examined each result in a systematic way (see Widdicombe 1993 and Gill 1996 for
a detailed explanation of this method of discourse analysis). However, the approach
adopted in the present study, in the main, follows Potter (1996) by attempting to, in
part at least, make an account of devices, or procedures, that contribute to the sense
that discourses are literally describing the world. This method of analysis was
particularly pertinent to the aim of the study as it is concerned with the appearance of
fact. It is taken from discursive psychology, which attends to how facts are worked
up in talk. I have employed a strategy that was suggested by Widdicombe (1993)
which involves treating what is said, or written, as a solution to a problem. In an
attempt to identify the problem and how the text constitutes a solution I have
examined the rhetorical nature of the talk. Billig et al (1988) have discussed how
common sense, or ideologies, contain contrary themes which give rise to ideological
dilemmas when in opposition to each other. The use of discourse to persuasive
effect has been explored in the text.
In addition, I have employed a method described by other commentators who argue
that, in order to acquire an in-depth understanding of texts, the process of constant
comparison of categories within the data evolves through exploration, refinement and
merger (Brown 2001). Continual re-readings of the data cued instances where
environmental issues were discussed. Each of these was further explored to
investigate how the account was constructed and what resources were drawn on to
create plausibility. There were many instances in the web site of such cases,
however, only a few will be illustrated in the present paper. The method adopted
operates along the lines suggested by Potter (1996: 47): Descriptions are not justabout something but they are also doing something; that is, they are not merely
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
13/38
9
representing some facet of the world, they are also involved in that world in some
practical way. This aligns with other commentators investigations into discursive
struggle the attempted re-construction of discursive regularity and control following
discursive rupture (Hajer 1997; Livesey and Kearins 2002). From a small sample of
four Web sites, generalizability of the findings is not claimed. However, in addition to
aiming for resonance with the readers interpretations, I attempt to indicate how the
analysis relates to matters beyond the material at hand, for which extrapolation may
be argued (Alasuutari 1995: 156).
Analysis
In an examination of rhetoric Cheney (1991) proposed that in constructing thecorporate we the problem of adapting to outside audiences in changing
circumstances, while maintaining a traditional identity, has to be faced by all
organizations. However, the identification may only be temporary, like a polite tea
party whose temporary meeting of like-minded individuals exists only until the last
cake is eaten and the tea has been drunk (Billig 1996). The web site that is explored
in the present paper is compared to such a tea party where, in the Zeitgeist of a
moderate climate of opinion in favour of social responsibility (Kernisky 1997; Starik
and Rands 1995), the company identifies with its audience in order to change the
audiences opinions. This strategy has persuasive power as potential critics of the
company web site, instead of dealing with counter arguments from opponents, have
to deal instead with those who, on the surface at least, appear to be allies. Story lines
have been developed which appear to be conducive to new forms of alliance
between historically oppositional agents (Hajer 1997).
The publicly monitored nature of the activities of the petro-chemical industry
necessitates an articulated relationship between business and environmental
ideologies. Hence the appearance of adopting a moral stance has become vital to
the organizations in this industry sector. More reporting is advocated on the basis
that it provides greater transparency regarding the environmental impact of corporate
activities (Livesey 2002). However, this assumption is based is based on an illusion
we need to consider how organizations report their activities with an aura of
objectivity and legitimacy in ways that re-present their identities (Deetz 1992). From
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
14/38
10
this assumption I argue that earlier studies of the amoralization of the greening
process provide a critical perspective from which to take this argument forward.
Cranes (2000) four key elements; depersonalization, morality boundaries,
appropriation of discourse and mobilization of narrative, will be utilised in order to
structure the analysis.
Depersonalization
Crane (2000) used this term to describe how the participants in his study avoided
personal and moral responsibility for the environment. In the present study this was
also evident. Although corporate voices were hearable in claims for socially
responsible attitudes and behaviours, the language used functioned to provide
proximity between the speaker and what was being claimed.
Following some investigation of the data it became apparent that the corporate voice
was deployed to particular effect with regard to claiming responsibility. By drawing
on understandings from positioning theory (Harr and van Langenhove 1999) and
pronoun use (Goffman 1979; Malone 1997) some examples of how this was
achieved are discussed. The concept of positioning may be regarded as a more
dynamic alternative to the more static concept of role (Harr and van Langenhove
1999). Positioning is regarded as a discursive practice in which interactants position
self and other simultaneously. What we are interested in here is the discursive
business being achieved through this positioning.
Our company, our brands, your industry, my petrol company
The pronoun use in the above extract positions the reader as more than an observer,
the activities of the industry are constructed as, at least partially, your responsibility.
The personal pronoun my is part of a clickable device to a section for members of
that particular organization, but at first glance it could be interpreted as locating
responsibility for the activities of the organization to the reader who uses petrol.
Furthermore, as these are all clickable images, they work in a similar way, in
linguistic terms, to the communicative practices of a newspaper. Newspapers are
multimodal and the images and text are designed to be scanned prior to reading , the
connections and relative status of the images and text being ascertained in thescanning process. Messages are not just expressed linguistically but also through a
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
15/38
11
value-laden, position-relevant, visual arrangement of marks on a page (Kress and
van Leeuwen 1998: 186). In a similar manner the selection of moves through a web
site may make sense only to the reader. Nevertheless, as elements are not
randomly placed on a newspaper page, so are elements on a web site carefully
positioned. It is then up to the reader to connect the elements in order to make
sense of the site. The reader may choose to not pursue further elaboration of the
images and hence the strength of the message is contained in the heading.
In the following extracts pronouns are used to establish the role of the organization
as one of responder to others needs. In this way the denial of corporate
responsibility for the environment is effectively shaped by the context in which
greening is espoused.
Our company, our business, in your area, meeting your needs
There are claims for proximity with the reader as individual, through your needs in
the above extract. However, in the following extracts there is a sense of escalation
that goes beyond the potentially sceptical self-interest of the reader to embrace the
whole world:
Our quality of life, worlds energy needs
Performance for all our futures
Beyond meeting the world's energy needs, our goal is to be recognized and admired
everywhere for having a record of environmental excellence.
So, the corporate account suggests that their endeavours are aimed at satisfying the
worlds needs. Consider alternatives for needs, requirements is a more
appropriate, business-relevant, term yet needs evokes a more emotive response,
having the potential to place the organization into an essential-services category.
The use of pronouns to depersonalise, or create distance, between behaviour and
accounts thereof is a complex linguistic arrangement, sometimes organised
consciously, sometimes not. In the following extract the corporate we is
deconstructed in detail.
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
16/38
12
we take pride in what we do. It gives us clarity when making decisions, it unifies
and motivates staff, and it allows society to measure our performance beyond the
generation of wealth.
In this extract I would like to focus on the use of the personal plural pronoun we.
Billig (1995) has argued that we may be described as a feature of the syntax of
hegemony. In this instance the claim to moral values and principles is brought close
to the company, as a body speaking as one, but the construction of other groups
immediately following the use of we questions just who we is referring to. For
example, staff would be employees of the company and may be included in we but
for the purposes of justifying a claim to having values, in order to behave in a
particular way, it is drawn on as a motivator for staff. This questions and, in this
instance, undermines the use of we. In addition, we is also constructed as if
outside society. Although this constructs the company as situated in a physical and
social environment, to which they are accountable, it functions to establish an us
and them scenario. Values and principles therefore are useful so staff may be
motivated and so society may judge, but the exclusive we is positioned as the other
in this discourse.
Institutionalisation of argument are features of organizations persuasive-rich
negotiative power (Sillence, 1999). However, in a situation where the argument is
implied rather than explicitly maintained by two or more parties the notion that
argumentation is a context-based sense making process (Weick 1995) becomes
particularly relevant. In the context of the web page where the organization is
communicating beyond the immediate group of members, not only does the setting
affect the appropriateness of justification but the very nature of the status of the
justification itself. The dominant repertoire of explicit legitimisation of the
organization (Sillince 1999) can be unravelled to make visible the fragility of the
tenets of common sense on which it is based. Although Czarniawska (2000: 276)
argues that authenticity with regard to a narrated identity does not appear to be in
any great demand anymore, in this context a desire to persuade through plausibility
at least renders the procedures of authenticity visible. This making visible is applied
to morality boundaries in the following section.
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
17/38
13
Morality Boundaries
Cranes (2000) focus on this element was with regard to boundaries that limited the
moral status of the environment. This was achieved, for example, through presenting
morality as circumscribed into other organizational functions. In the present paper
one example of this is examined through evident tensions between business and
environmental discourses as illustrated in the following extracts.
Key to Profitability: We also know that a record of environmentally
sound operations makes us more competitive in the global marketplace, helps us
gain permission to operate and is essential to profitability.
So when we or others talk of balancing the interests of shareholders and
stakeholders, lets keep in mind that what helps shareholders helps a lot of other
people too. And also lets remember that a business needs to put first things first.
the good news is that these new ways of doing things are giving us competitive
advantage.
An impoverished world with degraded resources, polluted environments and social
instability is a risky and unproductive place for business
These tensions are manifest in ways that see the corporate argument slipping
between the two, selling one in terms of the other. However, the above extracts
relate closely to Cranes (2000) findings that environmental issues are couched, or
explained, in economic terms.
In the following extract, one corporate position is explained.
To conduct business as responsible, corporate members of society, to observe the
laws of the countries in which they operate, to express support for fundamental
human rights in line with the legitimate role of business and to give proper regard to
health, safety and the environment consistent with their commitment to contribute to
sustainable development.
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
18/38
14
In this extract the company constructs its responsibility to society in business terms.
That is, by drawing on the institutionalised rhetoric of a business organization the
argument is framed according to economic perspectives (Arrington and Puxty 1991).
The competing ideologies of business and the environment are woven into the text in
this extract, which is ostensibly about the companys responsibility to society.
However a close exploration of the account makes visible how business concerns
are positioned over societal concerns throughout the argument. In the first instance
the descriptor corporate members of society functions as a qualified member of
society, one whose first concern is a corporate one. Secondly, to observe the laws
of the country in which they operate places responsibility for unethical behaviour
outside the company. In addition, this functions as a disclaimer of past behaviour as
within the laws of a country. However, it also works to justify any globally interpreted,
inappropriate, behaviour as being in accordance with the socially operable
judgements pertinent to the local context of the behaviour. In addition, the term to
express support for fundamental human rights is a weakened version of supporting
human rights, while purporting to claim an uncontroversial stance. The appearance
of this claim is interesting. It is unlikely that a company would argue to not support
human rights. It is the kind of assumption that is taken for granted until made explicit,
which illuminates an alternative perspective. The qualifier to the statement follows in
line with the legitimate role of business. This positions the claim to support
fundamental human rights as operable from within a business context. and in this
way functions as an institutionalised argument repertoire (Sillince 1999).
The next proposition in the text takes the form of a three-part list (see Jefferson,
1990). In this instance proper regard to health, safety and the environment
constructs the company as giving consideration to important work related matters,
while slipping in a potentially controversial concern under cover of the first two,
uncontroversial, matters. The readers acquiescence is sought for the third in the
wake of agreement with the pre-ceding two items in the list. Finally, an
economic/business ideology qualifier consistent with their commitment to contribute
to sustainable development follows the list. The matters dealt with in the preceding
list are constrained within the terms of the qualifying comment. At first glance, acommitment to contribute to sustainable development sounds like a pledge to attend
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
19/38
15
to environmental concerns. However, one reading of the text positions the company
concerns for health, safety and the environment as restricted by, or within the
confines of, a commitment to contribute to sustainable development. Just how large
or small that commitment is, is left to the interpretative skill of the reader. The
construction of an ambiguous statement renders alternative interpretations as
plausible.
What makes the ideologies in the text visible and breaks the rational explanatory
power of the dominant economic/business ideology is the context of a web site,
which communicates to people who operate from within other, competing, ideologies.
In Sillinces (1999) terms of institutionalised repertoires of argumentation, these are
only effective in arguments within an organization and perhaps only then for a short
period of time.
Society expects us to be environmentally and socially responsible as well as
financially successful.
The above extract indicates that the corporate morality is determined by
expectations, hence a response rather than a conscious decision, which would
require substantial justification in terms of the hegemonic economic repertoires that
permeate most corporate communications. It is also implied that an expectation to
serve three masters, social, environmental and financial is excessive.
Global forces have led us to shed the traditional way of doing things and to expand
into new and eye-opening opportunities
Global forces have encouraged us to change the way we work
The above extracts indicate subtle ways that the responsibility for changed business
focus is legitimately located outside the organization. For example, through a re-
vision of legislative and NGO pressure being presented as new opportunities.
Recent revisions (in business principles) reflect heightened public interest in humanrights issues.
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
20/38
16
In the above extract the reaction of the organization is constructed through the
business principles having been revised, the location of the cause for revision is not
constructed as response to fact but to public interest. This works in two ways; to
emphasise the good properties/actions of the company, while reducing the status of
the challenge to revise company policies to an opinion. Van Dijk (1998) has
identified these functional moves as part of an overall strategy of ideological self-
interest. In this instance, following the construction of business principles as fact,
the company has voluntarily made revisions, although the demands to do so have
been positioned as having a weak status of public opinion. Hence the company
constructs an agentic, moral, stance evidenced by a positive act. In addition, the
impact of the audience is made visible as, contrary to Christensen and Cheneys
(2000) argument that organizations address the world as segmented into different
stakeholder groups, in the context of the web site response to public opinion carries
weight in terms of legitimated behaviour.
Appropriation of Discourse
According to Crane (2000) this occurs and affects the use and value attached to
discourses surrounding corporate greening. In the present paper I consider how
alternative discourses are presented on the corporate page. How are NGOs
arguments presented, for example? Furthermore, rather than an avoidance of words
like biodiversity, global warming and ecology as Crane (2000) found, these words
are discussed, but subsumed under clickable headings entitled:
viewpoints or issues and dilemmas.
Consider what status this apportions the discussions contained therein. These
constructs are presented as vague, generalised, notions, which exist separately to
the company. Ownership of these issues and dilemmas is left unclear. Do they
belong to the organization, the industry or the world? In addition, they serve to
position the contents of that link page to matters of debate, for consideration. In this
way the status of opposing ideological views may be reduced to mere opinion. From
the perspective of a traditional, managerial, paradigm the arguments ofenvironmentalists may be contrary to the dominant understanding of growth,
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
21/38
17
consumption and profitability as what business is about (Fineman 1996). Hence,
these matters are placed as opinions, rather than as strongly held oppositional
ideologies with the potential to challenge the hegemonic status quo.
In this way ideology can be seen to operate in an understanding of how fact may be
separated from opinion. Opinions can be defined as evaluative beliefs, whereas
fact may be defined as factual beliefs. The difference lying in whether socially
accepted judgement constructs the belief as fact (van Dijk 1998). As norms, values
and judgements are socially, historically and culturally relative, what is truthful or
factual may differ for different people at different times. This is not to question
whether accounts in text are truthful, or factual, rather to consider that ideologies
reside in the opinions expressed, which are believed to be, and treated as true. In
the analysis of expressions of conflicting themes attention should be paid to how
strategies function to create unequal representations (Wetherell 1998). It is in the
strength of socially accepted judgement that opinion may be rendered factual. So,
in contrast, rendering alternative arguments as opinions weakens their status.
Fineman (1996; 1997; 1998) has argued that pressure groups and regulators are
more likely to encourage corporate greening. Hence, this makes them a target for
the corporate counter-argument. When claiming a high moral ground, part of the
positioning works on locating a low moral ground for someone else. NGOs identity
is thus constructed:
NGOs have enjoyed a great growth in recent years
This suggests a questioning of David and Goliath typified interactions (see Tsoukas
1999).
Some NGOs have a darker side. They tend to be single issue focused and made up
of uncompromising activists. They can be ideologically hostile to business and
unwilling to accept the tradeoffs necessary in most avenues of life.
In the above extract, in contrast to Cranes (2000) expectation that words which implya moral stance would be avoided, in this instance ideological differences are drawn
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
22/38
18
on to suggest radical and irreconcilable differences between the corporate bodies
and the pressure groups. However, there is some intimation of irrationality in an
attempt to undermine the critical voice. The corporate role for NGOs is further
exemplified in the following extract:
NGOs and multi lateral bodies have important roles to play in addressing issues
related to the environment, public health and the development of poorer countries,
but these roles need to be responsibly played. Neither institutions nor processes
should be misused for ideological purposes
In keeping with Cranes (2000) findings for conventional companies there is a
requirement to create a symbolic distance between the organization and the radical
environmentalist. However, there is no evident reluctance to use the language of
radical environmentalism, in essence it is used as a counter argument. The moral
beliefs of the organization remain unstated in this extract, however, they take on
moral implications by inferring that some NGOs are irresponsible and misuse their
roles. It is acknowledged that, particularly from a discursive perspective, all of the
examples shown may be described as a mobilization of a discursive resource,
however, in the following section some attention is paid specifically to how narratives
are related to identity.
Mobilization of narrative
Crane (2000) suggested that corporate greening was facilitated by extending and
developing existing organizational narratives in such a way that it appears as a
natural next chapter in the story. I have already identified some contrary indications
where other tensions lead to a balance, a play off, between two, or more, desired
positions for the organization, in discursive terms. However, there were instances
where the account of socially responsible behaviour was normalized and legitimised
through historical reference.
The term corporate social responsibility basically describes the range of
responsible and ethical practices that Oilco has followed for years in the communities
and countries where we work.
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
23/38
19
This links with Cranes (2000) findings in that it suggests that greening is normal,
uncontroversial and has always been attended to. It proposes an alternative to the
discourse that greening is radical, unconventional and inappropriate for businesses.
However, this argument is not articulated in unsubtle ways, the genre of
communication renders an explicitly anti-environmental repertoire as unacceptable.
The arguments, instead, are nuanced and consist of counter-counter-moves in
alternative directions.
In addition, some references to corporate social responsibility focus on the rhetoric
itself, implying that multiple definitions suggest lack of consensus.
we see a lot of definitions of what is generally known as corporate social
responsibility but no matter what you call it, the best companies clearly agree that
success in our world today means doing business in a socially responsible and
ethical manner.
There were many instances where there was evident negotiation in importing the
language of social responsibility into existing narratives. In the following extract the
ambiguous meaning of sustain/able functions as a bridge.
and enlightened self-interest rather than philanthropy will be a powerful motivator
towards achieving sustainable development because for business to be sustainable
it must sustain the societies in which it operates.
From a radical environmental perspective sustainable development suggests the
elevation of environmental goals alongside economic goals from a deep ecology
perspective (Crane 2000). However, the language of environmentalism has entered
corporate-speak in terms of public relations exercises (Bebbington and Gray 1993),
window dressing and the political correctness of being green (Banerjee 2001). Thus
the play on words is all that remains to these organizations for whom an espoused
moral position appears to be mandatory.
In the final extract, in contrast to Cranes (2000) suggestion that emotive issues wererelegated to the province of pressure groups in favour of rational discourses of
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
24/38
20
science, the Western icon of democracy was drawn on as a supporting argument to
claims for being socially responsible.
The early American patriot Thomas Paine wrote in, The Rights of Man, that my
country is the worldand my aim is to do good. Those words that helped launch the
idea of democracy around the world two centuries ago are in many ways even more
resonant today. For a company like ours, our country is indeed the world and our
aim should be to do good not only because it is good for business which it is but
because we live in a world where expectations have changed and new benchmarks
are making respect for ethical values, people, communities and the environment non-
negotiable.
This extract represents a piece of text which illustrates some self-absorbtion in
symbolic expression (Christensen and Cheney 2000). It functions to construct a
particular identity not simply in the face of disinterest but in the light of rampant
cynicism from the audience. I suggest the crafted expressions are the result of self-
seduction as described by Christensen and Cheney (2000), which fail due to explicit
rejection by the audience. From this piece of narrative it is evident that, rather than
an amoralization of discourse surrounding corporate greening, moral issues have
become the currency in which organizations in this industry give their account of
themselves.
Discussion
I have utilised Cranes (2000) dimensions of amoralization to examine web based
communications of corporations who operate in an environmentally-aware sector of
industry. From the analysis it is clear that issues of morality surrounding the
environment are managed in similar ways to those identified by Crane. However, the
focus of this paper has been on how, and in what form, morality is made visible.
By regarding language as an opaque phenomenon, worthy of investigation in its own
right, the analysis can explore the appearance of legitimacy, or fact. With regard to
how a socially responsible identity may be constituted on a web page, the findings
suggest that depersonalization functions to provide proximity between the corporatevoice and the activities being accounted for. The context of the web page renders
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
25/38
21
the interaction more complex as the audience is more diverse than the usual
recipients of corporate communication. Furthermore, this broad readership is drawn
on in the content of the message, in, for example, your industry, the worlds needs.
This suggests that social responsibility is located in the interaction with the presumed
reader, the corporate role is then described in terms of being a supplier of essential
services. I have examined how the persuasiveness of this positioning works in two
ways; firstly, through creating the corporate position and, secondly, through
undermining and questioning the position of the other in the interaction.
Of particular relevance to the communicative genre being investigated, the role of
clickable headings enables an attribution of status to titles, which function in a similar
way to newspaper headings. If the reader chooses not to pursue further elaboration,
the heading becomes the message. This is utilised to render environmental issues
as matters of opinion, and, subsequently, arguable and temporally intransient. It has
become evident that the corporate, socially responsible, identity is constantly being
negotiated in interaction in the light of, often unspoken, alternative perspectives.
Through the analysis some tensions have been highlighted which have made this
argument visible. Sillences (1999) discussion of the institutionalisation of argument
in organizational settings has been useful to provide a background of more usual,
corporate, argument justification. What appears as non-controversial within typical
organizational boundaries may provoke challenge in the context of the web page,
hence the corporate argument has to address the potential audience in a manner
appropriate to the context.
From some consideration of the extracts in the present paper it can be seen that the
discourse of the environment has been constructed in the terms of the discourse of
business. The analysis has made visible the competing ideologies in such a way
that, although the hegemonic status of the discourse of business has been
challenged, the corporate response remains within an economic argument. This is
not to deny the growing influence of environmental discourses (Kernisky 1997;
Livesey 2001; Livesey 2002; Love 1992), although attended to by organizations in a
pragmatic way (Fineman, 1998), or amoral way (Crane 2000), or unemotional way(Fineman 1996) they are still attended to. The power of the once marginalised,
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
26/38
22
alternative, environmental, discourse lies in its potential appropriation by the web
page reader, however, this discourse is now drawn on in corporate accounts of their
activities and includes some description of the environmental groups who have
raised awareness of environmental issues.
Corporate positioning of self and other in interaction plays a role in the plausibility of
argument. When considering how discourse is appropriated in the context of
corporate greening it was useful to examine how potential adversaries were
described. NGOs were positioned as, at least partially, locating a lower moral
ground than the self-positioned corporate body, a corporately-defined role was then
provided within which remit NGOs activities were legitimised. The corporate use of
ideology functioned to construct and maintain distance between the pressure groups
and the organization, thus undermining a voice that is critical of corporate business
activities.
The construction of boundaries to the moral status of the environment was examined
not only through tension between economic and environmental ideologies but also in
terms of the corporate response to environmental issues. There were two main
techniques that were deployed, again making visible a tension in the accounts of a
socially responsible identity. Firstly, corporate greening was constituted as what the
organization has always been about. Through an extension and development of
existing narratives it was described as an uncontroversial activity. Secondly, and in
contrast, corporate greening was constructed as a reaction to forces from beyond the
organization. I shall examine the implications of each of these stances in turn.
By describing corporate greening as uncontroversial, through temporal consistency
for example, the moral status of the environment is established as a close concern of
the organization. However, this claim is not without risk, alternative versions of the
central concerns of the organization are available. If the organization espoused a
green agenda they would have more to lose (Fineman 1996; Robertson and
Nicholson 1996). The more prevalent response to the moral status of the
environment was as a reaction to pressure. This stance too has negative potential
as it makes explicit the non-agentic activities of the organization with regard to thisissue. However, the non-agentic-identity-potential is mitigated by drawing on the
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
27/38
23
(more appropriate?) business activities of the organization in contrast to demands
from society. In addition, this stance constructs the organizational identity as long-
established, stable, while the current concerns with the environment are deflected as
temporally transient and, on occasion, constructed as matters of opinion, thus their
rhetorical impetus is diminished.
In considering the function of an espoused moral stance in this communicative genre,
the web site clearly offers opportunities as well as costs to the organization in its
identity construction. That a virtual identity may be created without the structure
imposed by a desire for legitimacy, plausibility and authenticity has been doubted
through the analysis. In addition, some understanding has been gained of how the
organizations in this study display themselves as agentic, in relation to a moral
position on the environment, through accepting and repudiating responsibility for their
actions. This has provided insight into the practices required to display corporate
agency while managing the attendant responsibilities.
It has become evident that, as a mode of communication with the outside world, the
organization cannot rely on institutionalised argument to be persuasive in this
context. In Sillinces (1999) discussion on institutionalised argument he concludes by
questioning whether the anticipation of a potentially critical audience would lead to
rhetorical window dressing. I propose that in the analysis of the present paper this
has begun to be examined. Predictably, a growth in the importance of this web-based
method of communication between organizations and the rest of the world will lead to
less reliance on institutionalised justification for argument, or behaviour. An
increased, broader, series of repertoires from which to construct a socially
responsible identity in recognition of the ambiguous, fluid and fragile nature of a
legitimate, corporate identity will be required. Furthermore, this broad series of
repertoires will include an appropriation of discourses of greening, which will
enable/require an espoused moral stance. It has been the remit of this paper to
locate and make visible the devices of rhetoric in this espoused stance.
Implications and Conclusions
Following the analysis in this study, the findings suggest that an amoralization ofcorporate greening is too simple an explanation for the organizations in this industry
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
28/38
24
sector. Where the activities of the organization are intimately related to the
environment more complex techniques of talking about responsibility for the
environment are called for. For example, distance is created in the corporate
account which locates responsibility with the reader of the account as users of the
product.
One aim of this study is to make visible the techniques of a socially responsible
identity in a particular context. This is to focus on the appearance of plausibility and
fact. To this end, the following devices are outlined with a view to engendering future
attention to the language of a moral, socially responsible, stance with regard to the
environment. Positioning theory (Harr and van Langenhove 1999) provides an
approach to studying proximity-creating techniques in interaction. With reference to
the web page, techniques from media analysis (e.g. Kress and van Leeuwen 1998)
may go some way to explain status-positions of text. This has relevance when
considering the importance of argument and counter-argument in socially responsible
identities. Methods of legitimising these identities include; positioning, self and other
in text on a page; the appropriation of environmental discourses; mitigation through
economic discourses (i.e. the real business); attention to audience characteristics;
others responsibility (i.e. society, the world, the reader) and through undermining the
proponents of radical environmental issues through claims of irrationality and
irresponsibility.
This study adds in an unusual way to understanding surrounding corporate greening
as it does not aim to locate and explore motivations, attitudes or other internally
located concepts. Instead, it holds attention on the how of a socially responsible,
moral, identity. By making these techniques visible a critical perspective is enabled.
In addition, although there is no attempt to distinguish environmental improvements
from greenwashing claims in the paper, an intention is that at one level, the level of
rhetoric and persuasion, doubt may be cast on what otherwise appear to be sound,
legitimate, corporate, claims of socially responsible activities.
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
29/38
25
References
Alasuutari, Pertti1995 Researching culture. London: Sage.
Alvesson, Mats1994 Talking in organizations: Managing identity and impressions in anadvertising agency. Organization Studies, 15/4: 535-563.
Armstrong, Arthur and John Hagel III,1996 The real value of on-line communities. Harvard Business Review, May-June, 134-141.
Arrington, C. Edward and Anthony G. Puxty1991 Accounting, interests and rationality: A communicative relation. Critical
Perspectives on Accounting, 2/31-58.
Austin, John
1962 How to do things with words . London: Oxford University Press.
Banerjee, Subhabrata B.
2001 Managerial perceptions of corporate environmentalism: Interpretationsfrom industry and strategic implications for organizations. Journal of
Management Studies, 38/4: 489-514.
Bebbington, Jan and Richard Gray,
1993 Corporate accountability and the physical environment: socialresponsibility and accounting beyond profit. Business Strategy and the
Environment, 2/2: 1-11
Berger, Peter L. and Thomas Luckmann
1966 The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology ofknowledge. London: Penguin Books.
Billig, Michael1995 Banal nationalism . London: Sage.
Billig, Michael
1996Arguing and thinking: A rhetorical approach to social psychology. (2ndedition) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Billig, Michael, Susan Condor, Derek Edwards, Michael Gane, PeterMiddleton and Alan Radley1988 Ideological dilemmas: A social psychology of everyday thinking. London:Sage.
Boden, Deidre
1994 The business of talk: Organizations in action. Cambridge: Polity Press.
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
30/38
26
Boje, David M.1995 Stories of the story-telling organization: a postmodern analysis ofDisney as Tamara-land.Academy of Management Journal, 38/4: 997-1035.
Brown, Andrew D.
2001 Authority, sensemaking and authoritative sensemaking in the report ofthe public inquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster. Paper presented at theAcademy of Management Conference, Washington D.C.
Bullis, Connie
1997 Business communication and the natural environment: Using traditionaland contemporary perspectives to understand the connections. Journal ofBusiness Communication, 34/4: 455-477.
Carroll, Craig
1995 Re-articulating organizational identity, exploring corporate images and
employee identification. Management Learning Special Issue on Talk atWork, 26/4: 463-482.
Cheney, George1991 Rhetoric in an organizational society. Columbia, South Carolina:University of South Carolina Press.Christensen, Lars T. and George Cheney2000 Self-absorption and self-seduction in the corporate identity game. inThe expressive organization. M Schultz, MJ. Hatch and M. H. Larsen (eds.)246-270. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Correll, Shelley1995 The ethnography of an electronic bar: The lesbian caf. Journal ofContemporary Ethnography, 24: 270-298.
Crane, Andy2000 Corporate greening as amoralization. Organization Studies, 21/4: 673-
696.
Czarniawska, Barbara
2000 Identity lost or identity found? Celebration and lamentation over thepostmodern view of identity in social science and fiction, in The expressive
organization M. Schultz, M.J. Hatch and M.H. Larsen (eds.), 271-284. Oxford:Oxford University Press.
Deetz, Stan2002 Institutions, discursive formations and discourse: Doing multi-levelled
analysis. Paper presented at the 5th International Conference onOrganizational Discourse, Kings College, London.
Deetz, Stan.1992 Democracy in an age of corporate colonization. Albany: University of
New York Press.
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
31/38
27
Dillon, Andrew and Barbara A. Gushrowski1999 Genres and the web: Is the personal home page the first uniquely digitalgenre? Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 51/2: 202-
205.
Dutton, Jane E. and Janet Dukerich1999 Keeping an eye on the mirror: Image and identity in organizationaladaptation.Academy of Management Journal, 34/3: 517-554.
Edley, Nigel
2001 Analysing masculinity: Interpretative repertoires, ideological dilemmasand subject positions. In Discourse as data: A guide for analysis. M.Wetherell, S. Taylor and S.J. Yates (eds.), 189-228. London: Sage.
Elsbach, Kimberly D.
1994 Managing organizational legitimacy in the California cattle industry: The
construction and effectiveness of verbal accounts. Administrative ScienceQuarterly, 39: 57-88.
Fairclough, Norman1992 Discourse and social change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Fairclough, Norman2001 The discourse of new labour: Critical discourse analysis. In Discourseas data: A guide for analysis. M. Wetherell, S. Taylor and S.J. Yates (eds.),229-266. London: Sage.
Fineman, Stephen1996 Emotional subtexts in corporate greening. Organisation Studies, 17/3:479-495.
Fineman, Stephen1997 Constructing the green manager. British Journal of Management, 81:
31-38.
Fineman, Stephen
1998 The natural environment, organization and ethics. in Ethics andorganizations A. Parker, (ed.), 238-252. London: Sage.
Fombrun, Charles J. and Violina P. Rindova2000 The road to transparency: Reputation management at Royal
Dutch/Shell in The expressive organization. M Schultz, M.J. Hatch and M.H.Larsen (eds.), 77-96. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gill, Richard1996 Discourse analysis: practical implementation. In Handbook of
qualitative research methods. J.E. Richardson (ed.), 140-155. Leicester:British Psychological Society.
Goffman, Erving
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
32/38
28
1979 Footing. Semiotica, 25: 1-29.
Hajer, Maarten A.
1997 The politics of environmental discourse: Ecological modernisation andthe policy process. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Harr, Rom and Luke van Langenhove1999 Positioning theory. Malden, MASS: Blackwell Publishers
Hart, Stuart L.
1995 A natural-resource-based view of the firm. Academy of ManagementReview, 20/4: 986-1014.
Hatch, Mary J.1997 Organizational theory: Modern, symbolic and postmodern perspectives.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Herring, Susan C.
1996 Computer mediated communication. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: JohnBenjamin.
Ice, Richard1991 Corporate publics and rhetorical strategies: The case of UnionCarbides Bhopal crisis. Management Communication Quarterly, 4/3: 341-362.
Jefferson, Gail
1990 List construction as a task and as a resource. In Interactioncompetence. G. Psathas (ed.), 63-92. Lanham MD: University Press ofAmerica.
Kernisky, Debra A.1997 Proactive crisis management and ethical discourse: Dow Chemicals
issues management bulletins 1979-1990. Journal of Business Ethics, 16/8:843-853.
Kress, Gunther and Theo van Leeuwen1998 Front pages: (the critical) analysis of newspaper layout. In Approaches
to media discourse. A. Bell and P. Garrett (eds.), 186-219. Oxford: BlackwellPublishers.
Livesey, Sharon M.2001 Eco-identity as discursive struggle: Royal Dutch/Shell, Brent Spar and
Nigeria. Journal of Business Communication, 38/1: 58-91.
Livesey, Sharon M.
2002 The discourse of the middle ground: Citizen Shell commits tosustainable development. Management Communications Quarterly, 15/3:
309-343.
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
33/38
29
Livesey, Sharon M. and Karen Kearins2002 Transparent and caring corporations? A study of sustainability reportsby The Body Shop and Royal Dutch Shell. Organization and Environment,
15/3: 229-254.
Love, H.W.1992 Communication, accountability and professional discourse: theinteraction of language values and ethical values. Journal of Business Ethics,
11/11: 883-895.
Malone, Michael J.1997 Worlds of talk: The presentation of self in everyday conversation.Cambridge: Polity Press.
Mead, George H.
1934 Mind, Self and Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Orlikowski, Wanda J. and Joanne Yates1994 Genre repertoire: The structuring of communicative practices in
organizations.Administrative Science Quarterly, 39: 541-574.
Potter, Jonathan1996 Representing reality: Discourse, rhetoric and social construction.London: Sage.
Renkema, Jan and Hans Hoeken1998 The influence of negative newspaper publicity on corporate image in the
Netherlands. Journal of Business Communication, 35/4: 521-535.
Robertson, Diana C. and Nigel Nicholson1996 Expressions of corporate social responsibility in U.K. firms. Journal ofBusiness Ethics, 15: 1095-1996.
Schultz, Pamela D.
1996 The morally accountable corporation: A postmodern approach toorganizational responsibility. Journal of Business Communication, 33/2: 165-178.
Segars, Albert H. and Gary F. Kohut
2001 Strategic communication through the world wide web: An empiricalmodel of effectiveness in the ceos letter to shareholders. Journal ofManagement Studies, 38/4: 535-577.
Shrivastava, Paul
1995 The role of corporations in achieving ecological sustainability. Academyof Management Review, 20/4: 936-960.
Sillince, John A.A.1999 The organizational setting, use and institutionalization of argumentation
repertoires. Journal of Management Studies, 36/6: 795-830.
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
34/38
30
Spar, Deborah and Jeffrey J. Bussgang1996 The net. Harvard Business Review. May-June: 125-133.
Starik, Mark and Gordon P. Rands1995 Weaving an integrated web: multilevel and multisystem perspectives of
ecologically sustainable organizations. Academy of Management Review,20/4: 908-935.
Tsoukas, Haridimos1994 New thinking in organizational behaviour. Oxford: Butterworth-
Heinemann.
Tsoukas, Haridimos
1999 David and Goliath in the risk society: Making sense of the conflictbetween Shell and Greenpeace in the North Sea. Organization, 6/3: 499-528.
Van Dijk, Teun1998 Opinions and ideologies in the press. In Approaches to media
discourse. A. Bell and P. Garrett (eds.), 21-63. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Weick, Karl1995 Sensemaking in organisations. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Welford, Richard1997 Hijacking environmentalism: Corporate responses to sustainabledevelopment. London: Earthscan publications.
Wetherell, Margaret1998 Positioning and interpretative repertoires: Conversation analysis andpost-structuralism in dialogue. Discourse and Society, 9/3: 387-412.
Whetten, David A. and Paul C. Godfrey1998 Identity in organizations: Building theory through conversations.
Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Widdicombe, Susan
1993 Autobiography and Change: rhetoric and authenticity of Gothic style.In Discourse analytic research, repertoires and readings of texts in action E.
Burman, and I Parker (eds.), 94-113. London: Routledge.
Winner, Langdon
1995 Aristotle needs a web page. Technology Review, 98/8: 66-68.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig1967 Philosophical investigations (3rd ed.) trans G.E.M. Anscombe. Oxford:Blackwell.
Wynn, Eleanor and James E. Katz
1997 Hyperbole over cyberspace: Self-presentation and social boundaries ininternet home pages and discourse. The Information Society13: 297-327.
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
35/38
31
Yates, Joanne and Wanda J. Orlikowski1992 Genres of organizational communication: A structurational approach to
studying communication and media. Academy of Management Review, 17:299-326.
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
36/38
32
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
37/38
33
Research Paper SeriesInternational Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility
ISSN 1479-5124
Editor: Dirk Matten
The ICCSR Research Papers Series is intended as a first-hand outlet for research output of ICCSR.These include papers presented at symposiums and seminars, first drafts of papers intended for
submission in journals and other reports on ongoing or completed research projects.
The objective of the ICCSR Research Papers Series is twofold: First, there is a time goal: Given the
quality of ICCSR publication, the targeted journals normally require large time spans betweensubmission and publication. Consequently, the ICCSR Research Papers Series serves as apreliminary airing to working papers of ICCSR staff and affiliates which are intended for subsequent
publication. By this, research output can be made available for a selected public which will not onlyestablish ICCSRs lead in advancing and developing innovative research in CSR but will also open theopportunity to expose ideas to debate and peer scrutiny prior to submission and/or subsequent
publication. Second, the ICCSR Research Papers Series offers the opportunity of publishing more
extensive works of research than the usual space constraints of journals would normally allow. Inparticular, these papers will include research reports, data analysis, literature reviews, work by
postgraduate students etc. which could serve as a primary data resource for further publications.Publication in the ICCSR Research Paper Series does not preclude publication in refereed journals.
The ICCSR Research Papers Series consequently is interested in assuring high quality and broadvisibility in the field. The quality aspect will be assured by establishing a process of peer review, whichwill normally include the Editor of the ICCSR Research Papers Series and one further academic in the
field. In order to achieve a reasonable visibility the ICCSR Research Papers Series has full ISSNrecognition and is listed in major library catalogues worldwide. All papers can also be downloaded atthe ICCSR website.
Published Papers
No. 01-2003 WendyChapple & Richard HarrisAccounting for solid waste generation in measures of regional productivity growth
No. 02-2003 Christine CouplandCorporate identities on the web: An exercise in the construction and deployment ofmorality
No. 03-2003 David L. OwenRecent developments in European social and environmental reporting and auditing
practice A critical evaluation and tentative prognosis
No. 04-2003 Dirk Matten & Andrew Crane
Corporate Citizenship: Towards an extended theoretical conceptualization
No. 05-2003 Karen Williams, Mike Geppert & Dirk Matten
Challenges for the German model of employee relations in the era of globalization
No. 06-2003 Iain A. Davies & Andrew Crane
Ethical Decision Making in Fair Trade Companies
No. 07-2003 Robert J. Caruana
Morality in consumption: Towards a sociological perspective
-
7/30/2019 Coupland-Corporate Identities on the Web
38/38
No. 08-2003 Edd de Coverly, Lisa OMalley & Maurice PattersonHidden mountain: The social avoidance of waste
No. 09-2003 Eleanor Chambers, Wendy Chapple, Jeremy Moon & Michael SullivanCSR in Asia: A seven country study of CSR website reporting
No. 10-2003 Anita Fernandez Young & Robert YoungCorporate Social Responsibility: the effects of the Federal Corporate SentencingGuidelines on a representative self-interested corporation
No. 11-2003 Simon Ashby, Swee Hoon Chuah & Robert HoffmannIndustry self-regulation: A game-theoretic typology of strategic voluntarycompliance
No. 12-2003 David A. Waldman, Donald Siegel & Mansour Javidan
Transformational leadership and CSR: A meso level approach
No. 13-2003 Jeremy Moon, Andrew Crane & Dirk Matten
Can corporations be citizens? Corporate citizenship as a metaphor for business
participation in society (2
nd
Edition)
No. 14-2003 Anita Fernandez Young, Jeremy Moon & Robert YoungThe UK Corporate Social Responsibility consultancy industry: a phenomenologicalapproach
No. 15-2003 Andrew CraneIn the company of spies: The ethics of industrial espionage