Adaptive framing of sustainability in CEO letters

Susanne Arivdsson, Svetlana Sabelfeld
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

PurposeThis study provides insights into the external powers that can influence business leaders' communication on sustainability. It shows how the socio-political context manifested in national and transnational policies, regulations and other socio-political events can influence the CEO talk about sustainability.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts an interpretative and qualitative method of analysis using the lenses of the theoretical concepts of framing and legitimacy, analysing CEOs’ letters from 10 multinational industrial companies based in Sweden, over the period of 2008–2019.FindingsThe results show that various discourses of sustainability, emerging from policies and regulatory initiatives, socio-political events and civil society activism, are reflected in the ways CEOs frame sustainability over time. This article reveals that CEOs not only lead the discourse of profitable sustainability, but they also slowly adapt their sustainability talk to other discourses led by the policymakers, regulators and civil society. This pattern of a slow adaptation is especially visible in a period characterised by increased discourses of climate urgency and regulations related to social and environmental sustainability.Research limitations/implicationsThe theoretical frame is built by integrating the concepts of legitimacy and framing. Appreciating dynamic notions of legitimacy and framing, the study suggests a novel view of reporting as a film series, presenting many frames of sustainability over time. It helps the study to conceptualise CEO framing of sustainability as adaptive framing. This study suggests using a dynamic notion of adaptive framing in future longitudinal studies of corporate- and accounting communication.Practical implicationsThe results show that policymakers, regulators and civil society, through their initiatives, influence the CEOs' framing of sustainability. It is thus important for regulators to substantiate sustainability-related discourses and develop conceptual tools and language of social and environmental sustainability that can lead CEO framing more effectively.Originality/valueThe study engages with Goffman's notion of dynamic framing. Dynamic framing suggests a novel view of reporting as a film series, presenting many frames of sustainability over time and conceptualises CEO framing of sustainability as adaptive framing.
CEO信函中可持续性的适应性框架
目的探讨影响企业领导人可持续发展沟通的外部因素。它显示了国家和跨国政策、法规和其他社会政治事件中体现的社会政治背景如何影响首席执行官关于可持续性的谈话。本研究采用解释性和定性的分析方法,从框架和合法性的理论概念出发,分析了2008-2019年期间瑞典10家跨国工业公司首席执行官的信函。研究结果表明,随着时间的推移,从政策和监管举措、社会政治事件和民间社会活动中出现的各种可持续性话语,都反映在首席执行官构建可持续性的方式上。这篇文章揭示了ceo们不仅领导着可盈利的可持续发展话语,而且他们也慢慢地将他们的可持续发展话语适应于由政策制定者、监管者和民间社会领导的其他话语。这种缓慢适应的模式在气候紧迫性言论增多以及与社会和环境可持续性相关的法规增多的时期尤为明显。研究局限/启示通过整合合法性和框架的概念构建理论框架。通过欣赏合法性和框架的动态概念,该研究提出了一种将报道作为电影系列的新颖观点,随着时间的推移呈现出许多可持续性框架。这有助于本研究将可持续发展的CEO框架概念化为适应性框架。本研究建议在未来公司与会计沟通的纵向研究中使用动态的自适应框架概念。研究结果表明,政策制定者、监管机构和公民社会通过他们的倡议影响了ceo对可持续发展的框架。因此,对于监管机构来说,重要的是要证实与可持续性相关的话语,并开发社会和环境可持续性的概念工具和语言,以更有效地引导首席执行官框架。原创性/价值本研究采用了戈夫曼的动态框架概念。动态框架提出了一种新颖的报告观点,作为一个电影系列,随着时间的推移呈现了许多可持续发展框架,并将首席执行官的可持续发展框架概念化为适应性框架。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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