INTERFACE OF THE ATTRIBUTION ELEMENTS AND LEGITIMACY STRATEGIES OF ACCOUNTING NARRATIVES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4270/ruc.2021101Keywords:
Attribution, Legitimacy, Accounting narrativesAbstract
The study analyzes the interface of the attribution elements and the semantic-functional textual strategies of legitimacy adopted by the preparer(s) of accounting narratives in the face of an adverse event in the organization. Were analyzed narratives of Samarco Mineração S.A. from periods before and after the Fundão tailings dam broke down, contained in presidency messages, management reports, auditors' report, explanatory notes to the annual reports and press releases of the company website, through content analysis techniques and multiple correspondence analysis between narratives categorized as attribution elements (attribution locus, controllability, causal stability, valence of effects, locus of attribution of affective relationships and intentionality) and semantic-functional textual strategies of legitimacy (authorization, normalization, rationalization, moralization, and narratives). The results show that there was attribution to external factors and affective expressions of pride before the event, which referred to authorization and normalization. Positive effects were focused on narratives of activity efficiency, with causal stability aimed at rationalization. The company's priority was to increase production, profits, and dividends. After the event, the internal attributions refer to authorization and standardization. Attributions of controllability, causal stability, the valence of positive effects, relations of pride, and intentionality focus the use of moralization and the non-use of rationalization. The evidence points out that the attribution elements and the semantic-functional strategies of legitimation are intertwined according to the company's situational context towards its stakeholders.
Downloads
References
AERTS, W. Inertia in the attributional content of annual accounting narratives. European Accounting Review, v. 10, n. 1, p. 3-32, 2001.
AERTS, W. Picking up the pieces: Impression management in the retrospective attributional framing of accounting outcomes. Accounting, Organizations and Society, v. 30, n. 6, p. 493-517, 2005.
AERTS, W.; CORMIER, D. Media legitimacy and corporate environmental communication. Accounting, Organizations and Society, v. 34, n. 1, p. 1-27, 2009.
ALLEN, M. W.; CAILLOUET, R. H. Legitimation endeavors: Impression management strategies used by an organization in crisis. Communication Monographs, v. 61, n. 1, p. 44-62, 1994.
BARDIN, L. Análise de conteúdo. São Paulo: Edições 70, 2011.
BEELITZ, A.; MERKL-DAVIES, D. M. Using discourse to restore organizational legitimacy: CEO-speak after an incident in a German nuclear power plant. Journal of Business Ethics, v. 108, n. 1, p. 101-20, 2012.
BETTMAN, J. R.; WEITZ, B. A. Attributions in the board room: Causal reasoning in corporate annual reports. Administrative Science Quarterly, v. 28, n. 2, p. 165-183, 1983.
CHEN, W.; HAN, J.; TAN, H. T. Investor reactions to management earnings guidance attributions: The effects of news valence, attribution locus, and outcome controllability. Accounting, Organizations and Society, v. 55, n. 1, p. 83-95, 2016.
COOMBS, W. T. Choosing the Right Words: The Development of Guidelines for the Selection of the Appropriate Crisis-Response Strategies. Management Communication Quarterly, v. 8, n. 4, p. 447-476, 1995.
CZARNIAWSKA, B. The uses of narrative in organization research. GRI Report, 5, 2000. Disponível em: <https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/2997/1/GRI-rapport-2000-5.pdf>. Acesso em 11 ago. 2017.
ELSBACH, K. D. The architecture of legitimacy: Constructing accounts of organizational controversies. In: JOST, J. T.; MAJOR, B. (Eds). The psychology of legitimacy: Emerging perspectives on ideology, justice and intergroup relations (p. 391-415, Chapter 16). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
FÁVERO, L. P. Análise de dados: Modelagem multivariada para tomada de decisões. Rio de Janeiro: Elsevier, 2009.
HEIDER, F. The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York: Wiley, 1958.
JAYAMOHAN, P.; MCKELVIE, A.; MOSS, T. W. Blame you, blame me: Exploring attribution differences and impact in family and nonfamily firms. Family Business Review, v. 30, n. 3, p. 284-308, 2017.
KELLEY, H. H. The Processes of causal attribution. American Psychologist, v. 28, n. 2, p. 107-128, 1973.
KELLEY, H. H.; MICHELA, J. L. Attribution theory and research. Annual Review of Psychology, v. 31, n. 1, p. 457-501, 1980.
KIBLER, E.; MANDL, C.; KAUTONEN, T.; BERGER, E. S. C. Attributes of legitimate venture failure impressions. Journal of Business Venturing, v. 32, n. 2, p. 145-161, 2017.
KOONCE, L.; SEYBERT, N.; SMITH, J. Causal reasoning in financial reporting and voluntary disclosure. Accounting, Organizations and Society, v. 36, n. 4-5, p. 209-225, 2011.
LAAMANEN, T.; LAMBERG, J.; VAARA, E. Explanations of success and failure in management learning: What Canwe learn from Nokia's rise and fall? Academy of Management Learning and Education, v. 15, n. 1, p. 2-25, 2016.
LLEWELLYN, S. Narratives in accounting and management research. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, v. 12, n. 2, p. 220-237, 1999.
MANTERE, S.; AULA, P.; SCHILDT, H.; VAARA, E. Narrative attributions of entrepreneurial failure. Journal of Business Venturing, v. 28, n. 4, p. 459-473, 2013.
MERKL-DAVIES, D. M.; BRENNAN, N. M. A conceptual framework of impression management: New insights from psychology, sociology, and critical perspectives. Accounting and Business Research, v. 41, n. 5, p. 415-437, 2011.
MERKL-DAVIES, D. M.; BRENNAN, N. A theoretical framework of external accounting communication: Research perspectives, traditions, and theories. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, v. 30, n. 2, p. 433-469, 2017.
MINISTÉRIO PÚBLICO FEDERAL (MPF). Procuradoria da República nos Estados de Minas Gerais e Espírito Santo - Força Tarefa Rio Doce. MPF n. º 1.22.000.000003/2016-04, 2016. Disponível em: <http://www.mpf.mp.br/mg/sala-de-imprensa/docs/denuncia-samarco/view>. Acesso em 2 nov. 2018.
PAINTER, C.; MARTINS, J. T. Organisational communication management during the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal: A hermeneutic study in attribution, crisis management, and information orientation. Knowledge and Process Management, v. 24, n. 3, p. 204-218, 2017.
SILVESTER, J. Attributional coding. In: Cassell, C.; Symon, G. (Eds.). Essential guide to qualitative methods in organisational research (p. 228-231). London: Sage, 2004.
SUCHMAN, M. C. Managing legitimacy: strategic and institutional approaches. Academy of Management Review, v. 20, n. 3, p. 571-610, 1995.
TENNERT, F. An attributional analysis of corporate reporting in crisis situations: The 2010 Toyota recall. Journal of Communication Management, v. 18, n. 4, p. 422–435, 2014.
THIBAUT, J. W.; RIECKEN, H. W. Some determinants and consequences of the perception of social causality. J. Pel's, v. 24, n. 1, p. 3-33, 1955.
VAARA, E. Struggles over legitimacy in the Eurozone crisis: Discursive legitimation strategies and their ideological underpinnings. Discourse & Society, v. 25, n. 4, p. 500-518, 2014.
VAARA, E.; TIENARI, J. A discursive perspective on legitimation strategies in multinational corporations. Academy of Management Review, v. 33, n. 4, p. 985-993, 2008.
VAN LEEUWEN, T.; WODAK, R. Legitimizing immigration control: A discourse-historical perspective. Discourse Studies, v. 1, n. 1, p. 83-118, 1999.
WORTHY, M. M.; WRIGHT, J. M.; SHAW, M. E. Effects of varying degrees of legitimacy in the attribution of responsibility for negative events. Psycho Sci., v. 1, n. 1-12, p. 169-170, 1964.
Published
Issue
Section
License
The copyright for papers published in this journal belong to the author, with rights of first publication for the journal. As the papers appears in this publicly accessed journal, the papers are for free use, receiving their credit, in educational and non-commercial uses. The journal will allow the use of the papers published for non-commercial purposes, including the right to send the paper to publicly accessed databases.
