Sustainability reports should provide a balanced picture of a company’s sustainability aspects, but because of its voluntary nature, overly positive aspects are often presented (Holder-Webb et al., 2009; Lougee & Wallace, 2008). Though, negative disclosure may also be released as it could improve transparency, enhance trust, and decrease the risk of green or whitewashing tendencies (Hahn & Lüfs, 2014, Hahn & Reimsbach, 2013). However, when disclosing negative information, it is important for companies to legitimize the negative aspects, as the negative information could otherwise harm the company. As a result of this, different legitimacy strategies are used by companies when disclosing negative information (Hahn et al., 2021). Based on this, this thesis explores and analyses strategies for disclosing negative sustainability information. In particular, the study examines companies within the fast fashion industry, a heavily debated sector in regard to sustainability, which indicates that the companies within the business should try to legitimize themselves.    To fulfil the purpose of this study the choice was made to conduct a content analysis and semi-structured interviews, where four fast fashion companies’ (H&M, SHEIN, Boohoo and American Eagle) sustainability reports were analysed to identify negative sustainability disclosure and assess how the companies’ tried to legitimize these negative aspects. Later, the disclosure strategies’ impacts on stakeholders were examined through 10 semi-structured interviews with concerned stakeholders. The results show that the companies subject to research did use the strategies corrective action, marginalization, abstraction, and preventive action to legitimize negative sustainability issues. The strategies were often not effective in enhancing legitimacy mainly because of too vague measures, but also because of the disbelief from stakeholders regarding the industry’s will and ability to change. However, the findings also indicated that the negative disclosure could enhance a bit of legitimacy as it signalled transparency and accountability, which is preferred compared to denial or compliance.    The study’s implications are important for scholars and practitioners. The theoretical contributions were added to the research field of negative disclosure and legitimacy strategies, and the implications are important for managers working within the fast fashion industry as well. This is because the results of this study will develop their knowledge of how certain negative disclosures strategies can play a both positive and negative role in enhancing the legitimacy towards stakeholders.

Purpose : The aim of this paper is to examine how companies which are subject to criticism for their tax avoidance strategies respond to such criticism by analyzing tax related disclosures in organizations’ annual reports as well as corporate social responsibility reports. Design/Methodology/Approach: A qualitative research design was applied using content analysis on annual and corporate social responsibility reports which were collected from the companies’ archives. The reports were selected in terms of the time that the tax avoidance scandal was exposed on media. Therefore, a three-year timeframe of reports was studied, one year before the scandal, the year of the scandal and one year after. The interpretation of the results was done using legitimacy theory. Findings : Three different disclosure strategies have been identified, namely accepting, challenging and influential strategies, which companies use in different ways A variation of responses to media criticism among the companies have been observed which indicates that there is not a framework of answering to media criticism for tax avoidance strategies. The study also illustrates that there is lack of disclosure strategies within the corporate social responsibility reports. Limitations/Implications: The data were collected only from annual reports and CSR reports; other corporate releases were not taken into consideration. The selected companies include one European company and five U.S. companies Originality/Value: The paper contributes to the understanding on how multinationals who are key actors use different response strategies for aggressive tax management as well as provides important information to tax administrators. Furthermore, a theoretical basis on linking corporate response strategies to media criticism based on a legitimacy framework is provided, which could facilitate managers in dealing with the public criticism when their legitimacy is threatened.

Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva och analysera skogsindustriella företags decouplingstrategier, dess antecedenter och dess konsekvens. Företagen som har undersökts är BillerudKorsnäs, Holmen och Svenska Cellulosa AB (SCA) i en flerfallsstudie. Skogsindustrin var intressant eftersom den gör ekonomiska resurser av träd samtidigt som företagen hugger ner träd som binder koldioxid. Med en växande takt av nedhuggning skapar detta ett dilemma. Studien har utgått från en kvantitativ och kvalitativ innehållsanalys. I datainsamlingen användes positiva och negativa ord vilka systematiskt söktes efter i företagens hållbarhetsredovisningar i programmet Nvivo. Data kodades utifrån allmän, ekonomisk, social och miljömässig hållbarhet samt prospektiv och retrospektiv information. Huvudresultatet visade att de tre företagen uttryckte sig mest prospektivt samt att de använde mest positiva ord. Slutsatserna som kan dras av resultatet är att prospektiv och retrospektiv information är antecedenter till decouplingstrategi och legitimitet är en konsekvens av decouplingstrategi. / The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze the decoupling strategies of forest industrial companies, its antecedents and its consequence. The companies that have been investigated are BillerudKorsnäs, Holmen and Svenska Cellulosa AB (SCA) in a multiple case study. The forestry industry was interesting because it makes economic resources from trees at the same time that the companies cut down trees that bind carbon dioxide. With a growing rate of felling, this creates a dilemma. The study has been based on a quantitative and qualitative content analysis. In the data collection, positive and negative words were used which were systematically searched for in the companiesʹ sustainability reports in the program Nvivo. Data were coded based on general, economic, social and environmental sustainability as well as prospective and retrospective information. The main result showed that the three companies expressed themselves most prospectively and that they used the most positive words. The conclusions that can be drawn from the results are that prospective and retrospective information are antecedents to decoupling strategy and legitimacy is a consequence of decoupling strategy.

En så kallad hållbarhetsredovisning har blivit allt mer vanligt att använda sig av hos företag då intressenternas krav på hållbar medvetenhet ökar. Samtidigt har företag en tendens till att försköna verksamheten genom att redovisa för de positiva aspekterna i sina hållbarhetsredovisningar medan negativ information uteblir. Det gör att hållbarhetsredovisningarna framställs mer som ett kommersiellt verktyg för att förbättra företagets rykte och legitimitet, istället för att uppvisa företagets verkliga bild. Av den anledningen har den internationella organisationen Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) utmanat företag med en redovisningsprincip om balans i sina riktlinjer. Principen innebär att det ska finnas en balans mellan positiv och negativ information i hållbarhetsredovisningen. Syftet med uppsatsen har varit att ta reda på hur svenska banker kommunicerar ut sina negativa avslöjanden i sina hållbarhetsredovisningar. En kvalitativ dokumentanalys har använts som metod för att granska åtta svenska bankers hållbarhetsredovisningar. De åtta bankerna upprättar sina hållbarhetsredovisningar i enlighet med GRI:s riktlinjer. I studiens empiriska material har sex strategier kunnat identifieras vid bankernas kommunikation av negativ information. Strategierna som kunnat identifieras tyder på att de svenska bankerna strategiskt kommunicerar ut sina negativa avslöjanden i sina hållbarhetsredovisningar för att behålla eller skapa legitimitet. Med hjälp av den här studien har tidigare forskning stärkts och studien bevisar att flertalet av de identifierade strategier som de svenska bankerna använder, har även tidigare identifierats hos internationella företag i olika branscher. Studiens empiriska material har även kunnat bidra med tillägg till tidigare forskning och en ytterligare strategi som svenska banker använder sig av vid kommunikation av negativa avslöjanden i sina hållbarhetsredovisningar. Trots att tidigare forskning har stärkts tyder det på att de legitimitetsstrategier som tidigare identifierats inte kan generaliseras till samtliga branscher. Den här studiens bidrag till den svenska bankbranschen har således visat att bankerna använder andra sätt att legitimera sina negativa avslöjanden än vad tidigare forskning kunnat visa. / A, so called, sustainability report has become increasingly common to use for companies, in lined with the increased stakeholder demand for sustainable awareness. At the same time, companies tend to beautify the business by reporting positive aspects, while the negative information exclude. This leads to that the sustainability reports appear to be used as a commercial tool, to improve real image. For this reason the international organisation Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has challenged the companies with an accounting principle of balance in their guidelines. According to the principle, it should be a balance between positive and negative information in the sustainability reports. The aim of this study was to find out how the Swedish banks communicate their negative disclosures in their sustainability reports. A qualitative document analysis has been used as a method to examine the eight Swedish banks sustainability reports. The eight banks create the sustainability reports according to GRI’s guidelines. In the empirical material, six strategies where identified in banks communication of negative information. The identified strategies indicate that the Swedish banks strategically communicate their negative disclosures in their sustainability reports, to maintain or create legitimacy. This study has strengthened previous research, and the study proves that most of the identified strategies that the Swedish banks use have previously been identified in international companies in different industries. The empirical material has also been able to contribute addition to previous research and an additional strategy that Swedish banks use when communicating negative disclosures in their sustainability reports. Although previous research has been strengthened, it means that the previously identified legitimacy strategies cannot be generalized to all industries. This study’s contribution to the Swedish banking industry has shown that banks use other ways to legitimize their negative disclosures, than previous research did not afford to do.

Spelbranschen är, enligt många, en kontroversiell bransch där företagens vinster motsvarar konsumenternas förluster. Spelandet kan även, till följd av spelberoende, leda till hälsoproblem. För att motverka dessa problem tog den svenska staten fram en ny lag som började gälla vid årsskiftet mellan 2018 och 2019. Huvudsyftet med lagen var att företagen skulle hjälpa till att skydda konsumenterna. En undersökning gjord av Sustainable Brand Index belyser spelbranschens stora problem gällande hållbarhet, då de flesta spelbolagen återfinns i botten på rankingen gällande hållbarhet. Vad som är än mer anmärkningsvärt är att de olika spelbolagen placerar sig väldigt olika på rankingen, trots att de verkar inom samma bransch. Denna studie har, med hjälp av en kvalitativ metod, studerat sex olika spelbolag verksamma på den svenska spelmarknaden. Studien har utgått från spelbolagens hållbarhetsredovisningar för att skapa en förståelse för varför företag som verkar inom samma bransch kan uppfattas så olika gällande hållbarhet av konsumenterna. Ett annat syfte med studien var att undersöka hur spelbolagens hållbarhetsredovisning påverkas av ett ökat externt tryck från staten. Studien kommer fram till att företagens val av legitimitetsstrategi i deras hållbarhetsredovisning inte kan förklara den stora skillnad i legitimitet som de får av konsumenter. Studien kunde inte heller identifiera någon direkt påverkan av det ökade externa trycket på spelbolagens hållbarhetsrapportering. Däremot fann studien mönster som indikerar att företagens val av strategi när det gäller utmaningen med att hantera sin legitimitet kan ha att göra med hur de betraktas av sina konsumenter. / The gambling industry is, according to many, a controversial industry where the companies' winnings equals the losses of their customers. Gambling may also lead to health issues for the gamblers following addiction. To counteract these problems, the Swedish state enacted a new law that came into force at the turn of the year 2018-2019. The main purpose of the law is for companies to protect their customers in different ways. A survey conducted by the Sustainable Brand Index highlights the gambling industry's major problems with sustainability, where most gambling companies are found in the absolute bottom tier of their ranking regarding sustainability. What is even more remarkable is that the different gambling companies are ranked very differently despite the fact that they operate in the same criticised industry. This study has, using a qualitative method, studied the sustainability reports from six companies operating in the Swedish gambling market to create an understanding of why companies in the same industry can be perceived so differently regarding sustainability by consumers. Another purpose of the study was to examine how the gambling companies' sustainability reporting was affected by increased external pressure from the state. The study has concluded that companies' choice of legitimacy strategy in their sustainability report cannot explain the large difference in legitimacy that they receive from their customers. The study also did not find any direct impact by the increased external pressure in the companies' sustainability reports. On the other hand, the study found patterns between how they handle the challenges of managing legitimacy and how they are perceived by consumers.

Submitted by Lilian Alfaia Monteiro (lialfaia@hotmail.com) on 2016-10-04T14:47:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Lilian Alfaia - Versão final.pdf: 4983105 bytes, checksum: 708e888321d3f0d28ed59217c6fa8c05 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by ÁUREA CORRÊA DA FONSECA CORRÊA DA FONSECA (aurea.fonseca@fgv.br) on 2016-10-04T14:58:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Lilian Alfaia - Versão final.pdf: 4983105 bytes, checksum: 708e888321d3f0d28ed59217c6fa8c05 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-18T12:18:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Lilian Alfaia - Versão final.pdf: 4983105 bytes, checksum: 708e888321d3f0d28ed59217c6fa8c05 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-29 / Grounded on a more constructivist and procedural perspective of science in which social and cultural practices reveal how science is made, this thesis aimed to analyse how the process of knowledge building in the field of Organizational Studies in Brazil occurred. To this end, we followed the evolution of scientific production from a longitudinal perspective, through the identification of legitimacy strategies of scientific contributions made by the authors in scientific articles that would reveal how these strategies differ rhetorically among them. We, then, unveil how these strategies differ rhetorically and map scientific contribution legitimacy strategies’ networks vs actors (individual and institutional ones) by watching how they influenced the positions of the players-actors in the scientific field over time and how they influenced the process of knowledge building in Organizational Studies. Drawing from the theory of the fields (Bourdieu, 1983a; 2004b; Greenwood, Suddaby and Hinings, 2002; Martin, 2003; Fligstein, 2003; Davis and Marquis 2005; Emirbayer and Johnson, 2008; Fligstein and McAdam, 2011; 2012) and some factors that influence the knowledge construction in Administration, we sought to understand how the actors present and defend their scientific contributions, also how the distribution of capital is organized, how the actors position themselves in the field and how they dispute the monopoly of scientific authority. Data collection consisted in the selection of 500 articles from 1960 to 2014, 430 in national journals and 70 in international ones, composing a database with various information regarding the articles. Data were categorized based on the content analysis (Bardin, 2006) and analysed through rhetorical analysis (Mann and Thompson 1988). This research thesis has shown that the actors use the argumentative capital differently, although apparently similar, depending on the context of their scientific contribution legitimacy’s strategy: internal scientific discourse, the practice’s discourse or the combination of both. Considering the use of these strategies and the ownership of capitals such as scientific and economic, from the rules of the game in the field, stakeholder groups divide themselves and compete for positions from the following setting: scientific vs ambiguous and practical vs ambiguous. Organizational Studies evolved gradually from an initial ‘pre-field’ to the current phase of the field, now with clear goals, well-defined game rules and marked positions within the existing dispute. However, beyond the repertoire defined for internal scientific discourse, the use of scientific contribution legitimacy’s strategies shows that the authors also try to legitimize their contributions through external strategies of the field, which, in turn, endorses that the Brazilian Organizational Studies field cannot yet be considered as a ‘pure’ scientific field still in search of autonomy. Key-words: scientific field, organizational studies, knowledge, rhetorical analysis, legitimacy strategies. / Esta tese teve por objetivo analisar como se deu o processo de construção de conhecimento na área de Estudos Organizacionais no Brasil, partindo de uma perspectiva mais construtivista e processual da ciência, direcionada para as práticas sociais e culturais presentes no processo científico que revelam como a ciência é feita. Para tanto, acompanhamos a evolução da produção científica a partir de uma ótica longitudinal, identificando as estratégias de legitimidade das contribuições científicas apresentadas pelos autores nos artigos científicos, desvendando como estas estratégias de legitimidade se diferenciam retoricamente e mapeando redes de estratégias de legitimidade de contribuição científica X atores (individuais e institucionais), observando como estas influenciaram as posições dos jogadores-atores no campo ao longo do tempo e como estas influenciaram o processo de construção de conhecimentos em Estudos Organizacionais.Tomando como base a teoria de campos (BOURDIEU, 1983a; 2004b; GREENWOOD, SUDDABY e HININGS, 2002; MARTIN, 2003; FLIGSTEIN, 2003; DAVIS e MARQUIS 2005; EMIRBAYER e JOHNSON, 2008; FLIGSTEIN e MCADAM, 2011; 2012) e alguns fatores que influenciam o processo de construção do conhecimento em Administração, buscamos compreender como os atores apresentam e defendem suas contribuições científicas, como se organiza a distribuição de capitais, como se posicionam no campo e como disputam o monopólio da autoridade científica. A coleta de dados consistiu na seleção de 500 artigos, 430 em periódicos nacionais e 70 em periódicos internacionais, compondo um banco de dados com diversas informações em torno dos artigos, considerando o período de 1960 até 2014. Os dados foram categorizados com base na análise de conteúdo (BARDIN, 2006) e analisados por meio de análise retórica (MANN e THOMPSON, 1988). A pesquisa mostrou que os atores (individuais e institucionais) fazem uso do capital argumentativo de modo diferenciado, embora aparentemente semelhante, conforme o contexto de sua estratégia de legitimidade de contribuição científica: discurso científico interno, discurso da prática ou a combinação de ambos. Considerando a utilização destas estratégias e da posse de capitais como científico e econômico, a partir das regras do jogo no campo, grupos de atores se dividem e disputam posições a partir da configuração: científicos X ambíguos e práticos X ambíguos.O campo de Estudos Organizacionais evoluiu aos poucos de uma fase inicial de pré-campo até a fase atual de campo, com objetivos claros, regras do jogo definidas e posições marcadas na disputa existente em seu interior. Entretanto, o uso de estratégias de legitimidade de contribuição científica para além do repertório definido para o discurso científico interno mostra que os autores também tentam legitimar suas contribuições via estratégias externas ao campo científico, revelando, assim, que o campo de Estudos Organizacionais brasileiro ainda não pode ser considerado como um campo científico 'puro', tratando-se de um campo ainda em busca de autonomia.

Bakgrund: I samband med att samhället strävar efter en mer fossilfri ekonomi och lagstiftare upprättar allt fler direktiv för vad en hållbarhetsrapport skall innehålla blir kraven på företag allt större. Banker har som investering- och finansieringsinstitut en miljöpåverkan genom de investeringar de hanterar. Att investera i exempelvis fossil energi skapar en indirekt klimatpåverkan, men ofta är denna påverkan mer svår att identifiera och inte alltid tydlig för banken själv. Bankers direkta utsläpp kan vara små jämfört med andra industrier vilket kan leda till att analytiker utelämnar banker i deras rapporter. Omställningsarbetet som sker från både EU-nivå och nationell nivå sätter banker i fokus vilket förändrar det externa trycket på dess verksamhet, bankerna måste anpassa sig till de nya normer och värderingar som uppstår i och med detta. Syfte: Studien har som mål att granska och skapa förståelse för hur några av de större svenska bankerna använder legitimeringsstrategier för att befästa sin trovärdighet när de upprättar hållbarhetsrapporter och hur detta har förändrats över tid när nytt externt tryck uppkommer. Metod: Studien utgår från en kvalitativ forskningsmetod och dokumentanalys av fyra svenska bankers hållbarhetsrapporter. Data samlades in genom bankernas hållbarhetsrapporter för att sedan granskas och analyseras genom argumentationsanalys och genom att granska innehållet i hållbarhetsrapporterna. Analys: Analysen av hållbarhetsrapporterna visar att kommunikationen av indirekt klimatpåverkan i bankernas hållbarhetsrapporter utökas över tid. Däremot väljer bankerna att inte redovisa detaljerade data kring deras indirekta klimatpåverkan, trots att det finns intresseorganisationer som skapar ramverk för att detta ska vara möjligt. Slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att kommunikationen för indirekt klimatpåverkan har utvecklats och expanderats under tio år. Opinionsbildat externt tryck är själv inte är tillräckligt för att få bankerna att ändra på kommunikationen kring indirekt klimatpåverkan även om vissa banker redovisare mer än de andra även utan lagstiftande externt tryck. Efter granskning av hållbarhetsrapporterna är det tydligt att den indirekta klimatpåverkan är den största klimatpåverkan som sker på grund av bankernas verksamhet. Detta kan tyda på att bankerna valt att inte redovisa denna data innan för att kunna bibehålla deras legitimitet i samhället vars normer och värderingar skiftar mot mer hållbart / Background: As society strives for a more fossil-free economy and legislators establish increasing directives on what a sustainability report should contain, the demands on companies are growing. Banks, as investment and financing institutions, have an environmental impact through the investments they manage. Investing in fossil energy, for example, creates an indirect climate impact, but often this impact is more difficult to identify and not always clear to the bank itself. Banks' direct emissions may be small compared to other industries, which can lead analysts to omit banks in their reports. The transition efforts taking place at both the EU and national levels are putting banks in focus, which changes the external pressure on their operations. Banks must adapt to the new norms and values that emerge as a result. Purpose: The study aims to examine and understand how some of the major Swedish banks employ legitimation strategies to strengthen their credibility when preparing sustainability reports, and how this has evolved over time in response to emerging external pressures. Method: The study is based on a qualitative research method and document analysis of sustainability reports from four Swedish banks. Data was collected from the banks' sustainability reports and then examined and analyzed through argumentation analysis and by reviewing the content of the sustainability reports. Analysis: The analysis of the sustainability reports shows that the communication of indirect climate impact in the banks' reports is increasing over time. However, the banks choose not to disclose detailed data on their indirect climate impact, even though there are interest organizations that create frameworks for making this possible. Result: The study's findings indicate that the communication of indirect climate impact has evolved and expanded over a period of ten years. External pressure from stakeholders alone is not sufficient to prompt banks to change their communication regarding indirect climate impact, even though some banks disclose more than others, even without legislative external pressure. After examining the sustainability reports, it becomes evident that indirect climate5impact is the most significant impact resulting from the banks' operations. This suggests that banks may have chosen not to disclose this data in order to maintain their legitimacy in a society where norms and values are shifting towards greater sustainability.

The fashion industry is one of the most criticized industries when it comes to their sustainability performance, where consumers have very high demands and expectations. This study aims to investigate how Swedish companies in the fashion industry use legitimacy strategies in their sustainability reports to repair their legitimacy after receiving negative publicity in the media. The study is based on negative publicity between the years 2016-2021. The researchers in this study have used a qualitative research method in the form of a deductive approach, as the study is based on theories. The data that was collected from the reports was relevant to the media incident. As the starting point was the media incident, the researchers were able to adapt the review of the sustainability reports to find relevant information in line with the negative publicity. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that companies use at least one of Lindblom's four legitimacy strategies in order to repair their legitimacy. The results also showed that the more attention the negative publicity receives from society, the more the companies put emphasis on reporting the event in their sustainability report. / Modebranschen är en av de mest kritiserade branscherna när det gäller deras hållbarhetsarbete, där konsumenterna har väldigt höga krav samt förväntningar. Denna studie har som mål att undersöka hur svenska företag inom modebranschen använder sig av legitimitetsstrategier i sina hållbarhetsrapporter för att reparera sin legitimitet efter att ha fått negativ publicitet i media. Studien är baserad på negativ publicitet mellan åren 2016-2021. Forskarna i denna studie har använt sig av en kvalitativ forskningsmetod i form av en deduktiv ansats, då studien styrs av teorier. Datan som samlades in från rapporterna var det som var relevant till den mediala händelsen. Då utgångspunkten var den mediala händelsen kunde forskarna anpassa granskningen av hållbarhetsrapporterna till att finna relevant information i enlighten med den negativa publiciteten. Utifrån studiens resultat drogs slutsatsen att företagen använder minst en av Lindbloms fyra legitimitetsstrategier i syfte att reparera sin legitimitet. Resultaten visade även att ju mer uppmärksamhet den negativa publiciteten får av samhället, desto större vikt lägger företagen på att redogöra för händelsen i sin hållbarhetsrapport.