Legitimacy Crisis Strategies in a Multinational Context – case Stora Enso
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School of Business |
Master's thesis
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Authors
Date
2018
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Corporate Communication
Language
en
Pages
83
Series
Abstract
The power of multinational corporations (MNC) has resulted in great economic advantages for corporations but has at the same time turned into a source of vulnerability in the maintenance of legitimacy. The objective of the study is to examine the strategic responses of multinational corporations to legitimacy crises and the discursive legitimation strategies employed towards high institutional pressure. The research questions were studied through the case example of a multinational corporation Stora Enso, that was confronted with a legitimacy crisis regarding child labour in its supply chain in Pakistan. The purpose of the thesis is to contribute to the studies on the role of discursive strategies in constructing legitimacy by offering a view on how a multinational corporation employs discursive strategies during a legitimacy crisis. The research questions were 1) what kind of discourses do MNC’s employ in cases of high institutional pressure; and 2) how are discursive legitimacy strategies used in a legitimacy crisis. The study used a qualitative approach in a single-case study of a corporation and case context, Stora Enso. The method used to examine the research questions was critical discourse analysis (CDA) that is used in analyzing discourse practices to uncover relationships between language and power. The empirical material was collected from within a two-month historical period spanning the legitimacy crisis from public media outlets. The theoretical framework of the study combines the more operative, strategic responses to institutional pressure to the micro-level processes of discursive legitimation. The multinational context runs through the framework considering the institutional complexities and the strategic and unconscious discursive choices emanating from that experience. The findings show that the discourses detected revolved first around the role Stora Enso has as a multinational corporation operating in parts of the world with complex societal issues. The results of the study show that multinational corporations at least in the Nordic context have internalized the institutional requirements posed on them in the social responsibility context which shows in the discourses that emphasize good corporate citizenship, charity and processual knowledge. Secondly, the discourses clearly were affected by the urgent legitimacy crisis situation that caused the corporation to initially simultaneously acquiesce to the demands and on the other hand show an attitude of defiance. Legitimation strategies from previous literature (Vaara et al. 2006) were present in the empirical material as the corporation pursued to discursively support its legitimacy. The specific context of the legitimacy crisis presented additional and complementary legitimation strategies named in this thesis as compartmentalization, trade-offs (a sub-strategy of authorization), accommodation and expansion. The legitimation strategies specific to the legitimacy crisis used different forms of setting the agenda for discussion amongst the stakeholders and pursued to guide the discussion towards more favourable topics and perspectives about the corporation.Description
Thesis advisor
Moisander, JohannaKeywords
legitimacy, MNC, crisis communication, strategies, multinational corporation, legitimacy crisis, legitimation strategies, discourse analysis