Corporate Sustainability Discourses in Sustainability Reporting: Corporate Sustainability Paradigms as Discourse

Abstract

In this study I will investigate corporate sustainability discourses used by three large, sustainability-focused Finnish companies, Neste, Valio and Paulig. I will utilize two paradigms from corporate sustainability literature, the win-win paradigm and the trade-off paradigm to gain insight into perceptions and attitudes these companies have towards their sustainability work. The purpose of this study to determine how these companies utilize the two corporate sustainability paradigms through discourse to present, discuss and legitimize their corporate sustainability activities in their public reporting. The study provides insights into the usage of corporate sustainability discourses in sustainability reporting and their relation to the processes of operative sustainability work in business. There is considerable debate on the best way to conduct sustainable business, and thus I inquire into the reporting of sustainability-focused companies to further understand the current situation of corporate sustainability in such companies.

The study is conducted by analyzing the most recent public reports of Neste, Valio and Paulig. Utilizing the method of critical discourse analysis, I look for patterns in the usage of sustainability discourses, specifically circumstances where the companies decide to use or not use win-win discourse to present and legitimize their sustainability efforts.

Based on the findings of this study, sustainability-focused companies utilize win-win discourse especially to present and legitimize their core business. Furthermore, the companies use win-win discourse to link said core business mostly to areas concerning environmental sustainability. Areas such as emission control, resource efficiency, and overall reduction of the carbon footprint of the value chain were mostly presented and legitimized using win-win discourse.

Conversely, win-win discourse was most often omitted when discussing social sustainability. In these sections, the companies relied on the intrinsic value of the efforts and focused on sustainability impacts, instead of the business opportunities when presenting these activities. The legitimization of these activities also derived from the value the efforts have regarding sustainability.

These results provide insights into the circumstances, where sustainability-focused companies decide to use win-win discourse. The patterns uncovered in this study open further research opportunities to examine these situations closer, to better understand the processes behind these decisions whether they are based on decisions concerning discourse or the reality of the specific sustainability activities. Empirical evidence on the different perspectives and methods sustainability-focused companies have regarding their sustainability efforts is essential to understand both the sustainability and financial impacts of these different paradigms.