Societal reporting: discursive practices and legitimization processes

Informes sociales: prácticas discursivas y procesos de legitimación

Manal Wehbi Sleiman (), Adel Aloui and Khaled Saadaoui
Additional contact information
Manal Wehbi Sleiman: ETHOS - Ethique, Technologies, Humains, Organisations, Société - IMT-BS - Institut Mines-Télécom Business School - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris], UEVE - Université d'Évry-Val-d'Essonne
Adel Aloui: Métis Lab EM Normandie - EM Normandie - École de Management de Normandie = EM Normandie Business School
Khaled Saadaoui: Métis Lab EM Normandie - EM Normandie - École de Management de Normandie = EM Normandie Business School

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: This research focuses on the CSR communication of companies and more particularly on the discourse they use in the context of their voluntary societal reporting. It proposes to study the way companies shape their CSR narratives to increase their potential for legitimization. Based on speech act theory (Austin, 1970 ; Searle, 1972), we examine Sanofi's CSR/SD reports between 2004 and 2021 by adopting a dual static and longitudinal analysis to shed light on the discursive process used by companies in their quest for legitimacy. The results highlight two potential discursive levers, namely legitimization by enunciation and testimony and legitimization by action. They also underline the importance that companies nowadays give significance to societal reporting as a communication tool allowing to value the triple performance of the company and to establish and/or reinforce its legitimacy.

Keywords: SD/CSR reports; Legitimacy/legitimation; Speech act theory; Discourse - Discursive analysis; Informes de DS/RSC; Legitimidad/legitimación; Teoría de los actos de habla; Discurso; Análisis discursivo; Rapports DD/RSE; Légitimité/légitimation; Théorie des actes de langage; Discours - analyse discursive (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-03-06
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in Recherches en sciences de gestion, 2023, 154, pp.207-231. ⟨10.3917/resg.154.0207⟩

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04429908

DOI: 10.3917/resg.154.0207

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().