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 Series International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility ISSN 1479-5124 Editor: Dirk Matten International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility Nottingham University Business School Nottingham University Jubilee Campus Wollaton Road Nottingham NG8 1BB United Kingdom Phone +44 (0)115 95 15261 Fax +44 (0)115 84 66667 Email dirk.matten@nottingham.ac.uk www.nottingham.ac.uk/business/ICCSR

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, which operate internally and externally to the organization, in the conte xt of this relatively new genre of communication. From a focus on how identity is discursively constructed, the appearance of a socially responsible identity is examined. Through the analysis I illustrate how organizations in an environmentally-aware sector of industry appear to serve the two masters of business and the environment. The web sites of four multinational oil companies were examined and analysed using a discourse analytic technique. The construction of a socially responsible identity for the organizations in the paper is set in the context of alternative versions being publicly 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 beyond the confines of the organization, fractures in the institutionalised nature of argument may be revealed. In contrast to some claims regarding amoralization, I argue the language 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, Nottingham University, Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham NG8 1BB, United Kingdom, Email Chris.Coupland@nottingham.ac.uk

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- constructed in this context. Following an outline of the methodology, Cranes framework of 1

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 of identity 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 fo r 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.

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 decentred 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).

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 the construction of a socially responsible identity. This is not to suggest that these 4

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 Puxt y 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 5

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. This suggests that maintaining an amoral stance with regard to the environment is simply 6

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

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 just about something but they are also doing something; that is, they are not merely 8

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 the corporate 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 na ture 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

this assumption I argue that earlier studies of the amoralization of the greening process provide a critical perspective from which to t ake 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 the scanning process. Messages are not just expressed linguistically but also through a 10

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 m ore 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. deconstructed in detail. In the following extract the corporate we is

11

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.

12

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

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.

13

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, a commitment to contribute to sustainable development sounds like a pledge to attend 14

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 revision of legislative and NGO pressure being presented as new opportunities.

Recent revisions (in business principles) reflect heightened public interest in human rights issues. 15

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 selfinterest. 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) fo und, 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 of environmentalists may be contrary to the dominant understanding of growth, 16

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 imply a moral stance would be avoided, in this instance ideological differences are drawn 17

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. exemplified in the following extract: The corporate role for NGOs is further

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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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 were relegated to the province of pressure groups in favour of rational discourses of 19

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 nonnegotiable.

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 selfseduction 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 corporate voice and the activities being accounted for. The context of the web page renders 20

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, 21

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 greeni ng 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 this issue. However, the non-agentic-identity-potential is mitigated by drawing on the 22

(more appropriate?) business activities of the organization in contrast to demands from society. In addition, this stance constructs the organizational identity as longestablished, 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 of corporate greening is too simple an explanation for the organizations in this industry 23

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.

24

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Research Paper Series International 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 between submission and publication. Consequently, the ICCSR Research Papers Series serves as a preliminary 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 only establish ICCSRs lead in advancing and developing innovative research in CSR but will also open the opportunity 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. In particular, 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 broad visibility in the field. The quality aspect will be assured by establishing a process of peer review, which will 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 ISSN recognition and is listed in major library catalogues worldwide. All papers can also be downloaded at the ICCSR website.

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No. 01-2003

Wendy Chapple & Richard Harris Accounting for solid waste generation in measures of regional productivity growth Christine Coupland Corporate identities on the web: An exercise in the construction and deployment of morality David L. Owen Recent developments in European social and environmental reporting and auditing practice A critical evaluation and tentative prognosis Dirk Matten & Andrew Crane Corporate Citizenship: Towards an extended theoretical conceptualization Karen Williams, Mike Geppert & Dirk Matten Challenges for the German model of employee relations in the era of globalization Iain A. Davies & Andrew Crane Ethical Decision Making in Fair Trade Companies Robert J. Caruana Morality in consumption: Towards a sociological perspective

No. 02-2003

No. 03-2003

No. 04-2003

No. 05-2003

No. 06-2003

No. 07-2003

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No. 08-2003

Edd de Coverly, Lisa OMalley & Maurice Patterson Hidden mountain: The social avoidance of waste Eleanor Chambers, Wendy Chapple, Jeremy Moon & Michael Sullivan CSR in Asia: A seven country study of CSR website reporting Anita Fernandez Young & Robert Young Corporate Social Responsibility: the effects of the Federal Corporate Sentencing Guidelines on a representative self-interested corporation Simon Ashby, Swee Hoon Chuah & Robert Hoffmann Industry self-regulation: A game-theoretic typology of strategic voluntary compliance David A. Waldman, Donald Siegel & Mansour Javidan Transformational leadership and CSR: A meso level approach Jeremy Moon, Andrew Crane & Dirk Matten Can corporations be citizens? Corporate citizenship as a metaphor for business nd participation in society (2 Edition) Anita Fernandez Young, Jeremy Moon & Robert Young The UK Corporate Social Responsibility consultancy industry: a phenomenological approach Andrew Crane In the company of spies: The ethics of industrial espionage

No. 09-2003

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