coupland-corporate identities on the web

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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


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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]


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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


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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.


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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).


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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


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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.


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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,


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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


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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.


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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


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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


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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,


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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


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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


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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.


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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


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

coupland-corporate identities on the web

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