The Corporate Legitimacy Matrix – A Framework to Analyze Complex Business-Society Relations

Carson, Siri Granum

doi:10.1007/s40926-018-0099-9

Cited by 17 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The sustainability of an industry is assessed based on how sustainability is transformed into action, in a way that contributes to the industry's social legitimacy (Carson, 2018) and howor to what extentthis action results in sustainable practices. The empirical case of the present study is the verbal justification of sustainability practices among a set of major Norwegian salmon farmers and prominent spokespersons.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lost in Translation? Multiple Discursive Strategies and the Interpretation of Sustainability in the Norwegian Salmon Farming Industry

Aarset¹,

Carson

Aslesen³

et al. 2020

Food ethics

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The term 'sustainability' is vague and open to interpretation. In this paper we analyze how firms use the term in an effort to make the concept their own, and how it becomes a premise for further decisions, by applying a bottom-up approach focusing on the interpretation of 'sustainability' in the Norwegian salmon-farming industry. The study is based on a strategic selection of informants from the industry and the study design rests on: 1) identification of the main drivers of sustainability, and 2) the application of five different discursive strategies to analyze how the firms maneuver to legitimize 'sustainability' in their conduct. We employ the Critical Discourse Analysis framework, which emphasizes how discourses provide different concepts of meaning. The sustainability concept is assessed based on how sustainability is brought into action by social actors in a legitimate way, and how this action results in sustainable practices. The empirical case of the study is the verbal justification of sustainability practices among representatives of the Norwegian salmon-farming industry. We aim to find out how these representatives translate the rather vague directives of the sustainability concept into legitimate choices that resonate with the firms' contextual environment, hence, how the salmon farmers perceive, explore, interpret, explain, enact, and defend the diverse landscape of sustainability when implementing professional decisions. We found a trend of passive adaptation to external requirements, such as public regulations and regulative requirements from certification bodies. At the same time, there are progressive forces that attempt to improve the sustainability of the farming practices by involvement in research and innovation projects or cooperation with other firms, e.g. the contribution from offshore engineers in developing high seas farms. The strategies outlined and discussed cannot be seen as a typology to categorize the firms. More than one discursive strategy may be involved in one firm's choice, and the strategies may work on different levels.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lost in Translation? Multiple Discursive Strategies and the Interpretation of Sustainability in the Norwegian Salmon Farming Industry

Aarset¹,

Carson

Aslesen³

et al. 2020

Food ethics

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Discussion and Implic Ati On Smentioning

confidence: 99%

“…CSR may be a viable path to repairing trust and gaining legitimacy (Carson, 2019; Fifka & Pobizhan, 2014), but companies that choose to walk it need to make sure that their communication with the public is consistent and that their CSR motives are perceived as sincere and originating from their intrinsic convictions and a sense of moral obligation. The perceived sincerity of CSR motives is especially relevant for socially stigmatized companies and industries aiming to gain trust and legitimacy (Austin & Gaither, 2017; Kim & Lee, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socially responsible consumption in Russia: Testing the theory of planned behavior and the moderating role of trust

Petrovskaya

Haleem

2020

Business Ethics Env & Resp

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper adopts a multilevel approach to explore how socially responsible consumer behavior (SRCB) is shaped by a combination of micro-level psychological drivers and specifics of the institutional context in which the behavior is performed. The model first applies the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to test the effects of TPB-based behavioral predictors on the SRCB. Broad-scope trust in business (BST) is then applied to the model as a variable that characterizes quality of an informal institutional environment, hypothesizing that BST moderates the relationship between TPB-based behavioral antecedents and SRCB. The paper is based on a survey of 466 Russian consumers. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaires completed by students and alumni of a large public university in Moscow. Results show that BST moderates the effects of TPB-based predictors on SRCB. This implies that consumers who believe that the business is overall trustworthy are more likely to take company's corporate social responsibility (CSR) into account when making purchasing decisions. This study contributes to the multilevel research on SRCB and CSR and adds to the literature on public trust in business as a nascent area of study. Its findings are especially relevant for companies operating in low-trust environments, including postsocialist economies.

show abstract

“…Their assessment is neither decided purely on ethical nor on empirical grounds. Rather, attitudes towards GMOs, especially GMOs developed to be used in food production, involve strong feelings of safety and health as well as identity and culture (Carson, 2018;. Public values, social and cultural aspects, empirical knowledge, as well as public opinions, feelings and emotions may all influence decisions regarding (non)approval and thus need to be included into the matrix.…”

Section: Adding More Complexity: How To Deal With Emotions and Opinions?mentioning

confidence: 99%

1. Food justice, food security, and climate engineering

Kortetmäki

2021

Justice and Food Security in a Changing Climate

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Both the planning of EurSafe2021 and the origin of this book were profoundly influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic, and we are extremely pleased to see that so many contributions still arrived. We would like to thank all authors for sharing their work and insights and all reviewers for their muchappreciated expertise on the vast range of topics. We are grateful for the support and encouragement received from the EurSafe board and Svenja Springer, in preparing this conference despite the challenging circumstances. Our special thanks go to

show abstract

The Corporate Legitimacy Matrix – A Framework to Analyze Complex Business-Society Relations

Cited by 17 publications

References 32 publications

Lost in Translation? Multiple Discursive Strategies and the Interpretation of Sustainability in the Norwegian Salmon Farming Industry

Lost in Translation? Multiple Discursive Strategies and the Interpretation of Sustainability in the Norwegian Salmon Farming Industry

Socially responsible consumption in Russia: Testing the theory of planned behavior and the moderating role of trust

1. Food justice, food security, and climate engineering

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About