A tale of two asbestos giants: Corporate reports as (auto)biography

Lee Moerman, Sandra van der Laan and David Campbell

Business History, 2014, vol. 56, issue 6, 975-995

Abstract: Annual reports are situated artefacts which relate a longitudinal grand narrative or corporate (auto)biography. This paper explores the narrative reporting of two former asbestos manufacturers, Turner & Newall in the UK and James Hardie in Australia. Asbestos features prominently in the industrial expansion and decline of both companies as the toxic health effects of this 'magic mineral' became evident over time. This paper finds evidence of several distinct phases of reporting of asbestos, from reporting it as a source of unmitigated value, to a source of risk and finally as a threat to corporate viability. Each stage erased or re-situated the prior story of asbestos so that users of individual annual reports may be unaware of the grand narrative of asbestos in its transformation from 'magic mineral to killer dust'.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2013.848857

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