Emelie Adamsson The Construction of Corporate Irresponsibility A constitutive perspective on communication in media narratives The Construction of Corporate Irresponsibility Construction of Corporate The Emelie Adamsson Emelie Adamsson is a researcher at Stockholm Business School and Score (Stockholm Centre for Organizational Reserach). ISBN 978-91-7911-100-7 Stockholm Business School Doctoral Thesis in Business Administration at Stockholm University, Sweden 2020 The Construction of Corporate Irresponsibility A constitutive perspective on communication in media narratives Emelie Adamsson Academic dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration at Stockholm University to be publicly defended on Thursday 28 May 2020 at 13.00 in Wallenbergsalen, hus 3, Kräftriket, Roslagsvägen 101. Abstract Stories in which corporations are revealed as irresponsible are frequently published and broadcast in journalistic media. These media stories, as well as stories from other stakeholders, contribute to the formation of counter-narratives that consequently stand against corporate narratives with a focus on responsibility. Since corporate irresponsibility is a value judgment attributed by others, narratives about corporations in the media can have particular importance for meaning construction. The aim of this study is accordingly to explain how corporate irresponsibility is constituted in these narratives, by focusing on how corporate irresponsibility is constructed in media stories. The study takes its theoretical departure in the communicative constitution of organizations (CCO) perspective and consequently sees communication as the primary constituent of corporate irresponsibility. A narrative approach is also added by highlighting narratives as a particularly powerful form of communication. The empirical starting point for the study is two long-running media stories that are analyzed qualitatively based on material gathered both from print and broadcast media and from interviews. The findings show that the construction of corporate irresponsibility in media stories can take different forms, in this study represented by chronic irresponsibility narratives and acute irresponsibility narratives. By understanding how these two types of narratives differ from each other, it is recognized that meaning construction is not a given and can take various forms depending on the underlying negligence or irresponsibility issues. The study shows that it is in the meetings of the narratives in particular that opportunities for discussion and dialogue arises. It is consequently suggested that it is when narratives collide that communicative events, in which the meaning of corporate irresponsibility is negotiated and re-negotiated, most likely appear. This study therefore concludes that when arguing that communication is the primary mode through which the organization is constituted, narratives told about the corporations, by media and other stakeholders, should also be included in the analysis. The study thus contributes to the CCO perspective by applying the ideas of constitutive communication to narratives told neither inside nor outside the organization. Based on the results of the study, it is argued that the formation of narratives has consequences for understandings about corporate irresponsibility, both for the corporation in the media limelight and for society in general. Keywords: corporate irresponsibility, media stories, narratives, counter-narratives, communicative constitution of organization (CCO), organizational communication. Stockholm 2020 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-180729 ISBN 978-91-7911-100-7 ISBN 978-91-7911-101-4 Stockholm Business School Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm THE CONSTRUCTION OF CORPORATE IRRESPONSIBILITY Emelie Adamsson The Construction of Corporate Irresponsibility A constitutive perspective on communication in media narratives Emelie Adamsson ©Emelie Adamsson, Stockholm University 2020 ISBN print 978-91-7911-100-7 ISBN PDF 978-91-7911-101-4 Cover pictures from Aftonbladet, Dagens Industri, Dagens Nyheter, Expressen & Svenska Dagbladet Collage ©Emelie Adamsson Printed in Sweden by Universitetsservice US-AB, Stockholm 2020 Acknowledgements Finalizing this PhD project has been a struggle with both ups and downs. One particular obstacle was the outbreak of the coronavirus which interfered with the last weeks of finishing this text. When I more than ever needed everything around me to stay normal, it definitely did not. Somehow I ultimately learned to work from home and managed to reach the finish line on time. I would therefore like to give thanks to the people who played important roles along my doctoral journey. First of all, I would like to thank the interviewees who shared their time to talk to me and contribute to this venture. Without your participation the study would not have been the same. Many thanks! I extend also my warmest thanks to my supervisors, Hans Rämö and Staffan Furusten. I am especially grateful for the confidence you have shown in me, and my vague ideas about how I wanted the study to proceed, as well as all of the support you have provided during the final years of completing this thesis. My appreciation also goes to the discussants at my milestone seminars Dan Kärreman, Anselm Schneider, John Murray, and Kenneth Mølbjerg Jørgen- sen, who gave valuable advice along the way. I am grateful also to Maria Grafström and Karolina Windell for the opportunity to conduct this study within the bounds of your research project and the funding from the Swedish Handelsbanken Research Foundation. I also want to thank PhD coordinators Helene Olofsson and Linnéa Shore for their help with administrative matters. Those who meant the most for finishing the PhD project were nevertheless all of my PhD candidate friends with whom I have shared these past few years: Maria Hoff Rudhult, Cecilia Fredriksson, and Hannah Altmann at Score. Karin Setréus, Elina Malmström, Anna Felicia Ehnhage, Maíra Magalhães Lopes, Emma Björner, Aylin Cakanlar, Reema Akhtar, David Fridner, Gulnara Nussipova, Petter Dahlström, Anton Hasselgren, Fatemeh Aramian, Ester Félez Viñas, Ian Khrashchevskyi, Amir Kheirollah, Chengcheng Qu, Yashar Mahmud, Sara Öhlin, and the many others at Stockholm Business School. I look forward to continued friendships with you in life afterwards as well. I also want to say a special thank you to Martin Svendsen and Anna Broback for great collaborations in teaching. During the past few years many other colleagues at the marketing section, including Helena Flinck, Anders Parment, Jacob Östberg, Jon Engström, David Sörhammar, Johanna Fernholm, Hanna Hjalmarson, Astrid Moreno de Castro, Fredrik Nordin, Andrea Lucarelli, Susanna Molander, and several others, were also significant parts of my workdays. Namaste Kicki Hatzipavlou Gabrielsson, for the wonderful yoga sessions. I am also so glad that I got to share so many fun discussions with colleagues from the marketing and finance sections during lunch in house 7. Our laughs have been so important for my wellbeing! The first years of my PhD process were primarily spent at Score and I would like to express my gratitude to all of my colleagues there over the years: Susanna Alexius, Nils Brunsson, Christina Garsten, Ingrid Gustafsson, Martin Gustavsson, Svenne Junker, Mats Jutterström, Lovisa Näslund, Lambros Roumbanis, Tiziana Sardiello, Kristoffer Strandqvist, Mikaela Sundberg, Adrienne Sörbom, Kristina Tamm Hallström, Renita Thedvall, Janet Vähämäki, Carl Yngfalk, Monica Haglund, Ann Linders, Olga Karlsson, Sabina Pracic, P-A Ejdeholm, Gunnel Kvillerud, and others who came and went that I may have forgotten here. To my family – Olivia and Tim – thank you for all the other things in life, like swimming at Sandsborgsbadet, singing and dancing to the soundtrack of Fro- zen, trips to Croatia, watching TV and drinking tea in the evenings, and im- pulse buys of homes and couches that we do together. Thanks to Tina for read- ing a text and for being such a great friend. To my parents Ewa and Bosse, to my sister Josefin, and to Lottie, Ramon, and Hugo, for helping out at home – I am grateful. And lastly, I want to thank Natalia Widén at Feelgood for your support at a time when things were less fun. Emelie Adamsson Stockholm, April 2020 Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................... i 1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Corporate irresponsibility in the media .................................................................... 2 1.2 Narratives and communication in focus ................................................................... 4 1.3 Aim of the study ...................................................................................................... 7 1.4 Outline of the thesis ................................................................................................ 9 2. Previous research and theory ................................................................... 11 2.1 Previous research ................................................................................................. 11 2.1.1 Corporate irresponsibility .............................................................................. 11 2.1.2 Media and corporations ................................................................................ 16 2.1.3 Summary and reflections .............................................................................