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PurposeThe principal objective of this paper is to expand the scope of legitimacy theory (LT) through a detailed analysis of the links that exist between the legitimising strategies of firms and the characteristics of the political environment in which they are developed.Designs/methodology/approachA discourse analysis was performed on the social and environmental disclosure (SED) of a multinational in the automotive sector with an established presence in Spain, in the context of the relational dynamics between the firm/society/state. Different channels of information were compared to capture both the official discourse as represented in the annual reports of the multinational and the discourse of employees and the State as represented in the media.FindingsThe results of the research show that the firm under study used SED strategically to legitimise a new production process through the manipulation of social perceptions, and that this strategy was supported implicitly and explicitly through ideological alignment with the State.Research limitations/implicationsDespite a widely‐held assumption of a pluralist political context, the State is presented here as aligning itself with corporate management as opposed to the welfare concerns of employees. Thus, future research calling for regulation of SED should preface such calls with consideration of the orientation of the State.Originality/valueIn contrast with the dominant approach to LT that considers the relationship of the firm with its stakeholders, the present study widens the scope of LT to consider the interplay between firm legitimating strategies and state support for such strategies.

accountability, business ethics, mandatory environmental disclosure, social, ethical and environmental reporting, Spain,

Reverse logistics (RL) has strategic importance. However, little is known concerning what motivates firms to adopt RL systems. Drawing on stakeholder theory formulations, organizational slack, and the manager's strategic stance concept, this article develops a model that proposes external, internal, and individual factors that affect the implementation of RL programs. Our framework considers three major explicative variables: the attributes of the stakeholder (power, legitimacy and urgency), organizational slack for RL programs, and the manager's strategic posture. The study draws on a sample of 118 Spanish companies and uses a probit model to determine the influence of these factors on the probability of firms to implement RL systems. The study finds that customers, employees, and the government salience in terms of RL activities and manager's progressive posture have a significant influence on the final decision of implanting RL programs. Conversely, the study finds that shareholder salience negatively impacts the decision.

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