Purpose: The purpose of the study is to deepen the understanding of how crisis communication on Instagram is conducted and how it influences consumers' perceptions of a company following a scandal. Method: This study is based on a qualitative research method. The findings in the study are derived from observations, semiotic analysis, and semi-structured interviews with nine different informants. Conclusion: Through Instagram, companies facing scandals actively address brand crises using detailed image posts that constitute their crisis communication. Their strategy is focused on responding to public criticism and demonstrating an understanding of the crisis's cause and their own responsibility. Through transparency and honesty in their communication, the company aims to rebuild trust and present themselves as credible and reliable in the eyes of consumers. The company's statements and actions are formulated to reshape their reputation and reduce negative attitudes among consumers. By means of the visual representation on Instagram, the company reinforces their message in a way that enhances consumers' trust and aids in reshaping their attitudes after the crisis has occurred.

In Sweden, firms that file for bankruptcy are all auctioned off either piecemeal or as going concerns. Upon filing, managers lose control of the firm. In contrast, in the U.S. managers retain control by selecting to renegotiate the financial claims on the firm under court-supervision (Chapter 11). This thesis addresses the ongoing debate as to whether a Chapter 11-style renegotiation option is valuable to the firm’s securityholders. The optimal bankruptcy system depends on how well the auction system itself functions as well as on the extent to which managers misuse the renegotiation option to their own benefit (the agency problem). While there is substantial evidence on Chapter 11 cases, the thesis provides some first evidence on the workings of a pure auction system using Swedish data. The first essay examines direct costs, creditor recovery rates and auction premiums in Sweden, and compares the results to extant evidence on U.S. Chapter 11 cases. Overall, the results suggest that mandatory auctions provide a relatively cost-efficient bankruptcy procedure, producing recovery rates that are similar to those reported for much larger firms in Chapter 11. Moreover, auction premiums are significant and tend to increase with industry distress, which contradicts arguments that financially distressed firms sell assets below their true value. The second essay provides some first evidence on managerial compensation, turnover and corporate performance following Swedish bankruptcy auctions. The evidence indicates that mandatory auctions act as a substantial managerial disciplinary force: CEOs typically incur significant compensation losses and a majority of CEOs lose their job through the auction. Nevertheless, the operating profitability of the auctioned firms is typically at par with industry norms. Thus, although CEO wealth effects and turnover rates are dramatic, there is little support for the argument that managers in an auction bankruptcy system tend to delay filing at the detriment of the firm's going concern value. Essays three and four take a broader perspective on corporate restructurings. The third essay examines alternative econometric explanations for the lack of stock market gains to bidder firms reported in the literature. The analysis, which uses a large sample of Canadian targets, provides new evidence consistent with the proposition that the measured gains to relatively large, frequent acquirors reflect an attenuation bias produced by event-study econometrics. Moreover, the results suggest that mergers between relatively equal-sized firms, and which have not generated anticipation of future acquisition activity, tend to produce significantly positive bidder gains. This supports the use of mergers also as an alternative to bankruptcy. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 1998</p>

Background  Previous studies show a high level of uncertainty in the mining industry. Stakeholders require transparent sustainability reports from mining companies due to the high risk of accidents. In recent years, several failures causing disastrous consequences have occured in the industry. A clear example of such failure is the Samarco dam collapse in 2015, which is said to be Brazil's worst disaster in the mining industry. Due to companies using sustainability reports as a tool to communicate, there is a need to study how companies in the mining industry communicate negative information when involved in a scandal.  Purpose  The purpose of this study is to examine the strategies companies use in their sustainability reports and press releases in order to recover from a scandal. Furthermore, the study will also analyze how companies maintain their legitimacy when reporting negative information.  Method  The methodological approach for this study consists of a case study. The case study consists of a content analysis and a coding schedule in which the sustainability reports and press releases from BHP Billiton and Vale S.A. will be analyzed. These mining companies were directly involved in the Samarco dam disaster which is the case selected for this study.  Conclusion  Various approaches were identified in the reporting of the scandal that are attributable to different legitimacy strategies. The strategies that companies mainly used in their sustainability reports and press releases were complete measures, incomplete measures and indicating facts.This in order to maintain corporate legitimacy and trust of the stakeholders after a scandal has occurred. / Bakgrund  Tidigare forskning påvisar att det föreligger hög risk och osäkerhet inom gruvindustrin. Den höga risken för olyckor har medfört att intressenterna kräver transparentare hållbarhetsrapporter från gruvbolagen. Under de senaste åren har flera olyckor av allvarlig karaktär förekommit inom denna bransch. Ett tydligt exempel på detta är Samarco-dammkollapsen i 2015 som benämns vara Brasiliens värsta olycka inom gruvbranschen. I och med att företag använder hållbarhetsrapporter som kommunikationsverktyg finns ett behov att undersöka hur gruvbolag kommunicerar negativ information i samband med en skandal.  Syfte  Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka strategier företag använder sig av i sina hållbarhetsrapporter samt pressmeddelanden för att återhämta sig efter en skandal. Vidare kommer studien att analysera vilka tillvägagångssätt företagen använder för att bibehålla sin legitimitet när de rapporterar negativ information.  Metod  Det metodologiska tillvägagångssättet för denna undersökning är en fallstudie. Fallet som valdes ut är Samarco-dammkatastrofen som skedde 2015 i Brasilien. Med hjälp av en innehållsanalys och kodningsschema har BHP Billiton och Vale S.A. som var inblandade i händelsen analyserats. Företagens hållbarhetsrapporter och pressmeddelanden utgör studiens material.  Slutsats  Det identifierades diverse tillvägagångssätt i rapporteringen av skandalen som är hänförligt till olika legitimitetsstrategier. De strategier som företagen använde främst av i sina hållbarhetsrapporter och pressmeddelanden var ofullständiga åtgärder, fullständiga åtgärder och identifikation av fakta. Detta i syfte att upprätthålla företagens legitimitet efter uppstått skandal och behålla tilliten hos intressenterna.