Purpose

Using a dialogic approach to narrative analysis through the lens of fairytale, this paper explores the shared construction of corporate environmental stories. The analysis provided aims to reveal the narrative messaging which is implicit in corporate reporting, to contrast corporate and stakeholder narratives and to bring attention to the ubiquity of storytelling in corporate communications.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines a series of events in which a single case company plays the central role. The environmental section of the case company's sustainability report is examined through the lens of fairytale analysis. Next, two counter accounts are constructed which foreground multiple stakeholder accounts and retold as fairytales.

Findings

The dialogic nature of accounts plays a critical role in how stakeholders understand the environmental impacts of a company. Storytelling mechanisms have been used to shape the perspective and sympathies of the report reader in favour of the company. We use these same mechanisms to create two collective counter accounts which display different sympathies.

Research limitations/implications

This research reveals how the narrative nature of corporate reports may be used to fabricate a particular perspective through storytelling. By doing so, it challenges the authority of the version of events provided by the company and gives voice to collective counter accounts which are shared by and can be disseminated to other stakeholders.

Originality/value

This paper provides a unique perspective to understanding corporate environmental reporting and the stories shared by and with external stakeholders by drawing from a novel link between fairytale, storytelling and counter accounting.

中文翻译：

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走进企业童话和环境报告的树林

目的

本文采用对话的方法通过童话的视角进行叙事分析，探索了公司环境故事的共享建构。提供的分析旨在揭示公司报告中隐含的叙事消息，以对比公司和利益相关者的叙事，并引起人们对公司传播中讲故事的普遍性的关注。

设计/方法/方法

本文研究了一系列事件，其中单个案例公司扮演着中心角色。案例公司可持续发展报告中的环境部分是通过童话分析的角度进行审查的。接下来，构建两个柜台帐户，这些帐户将多个利益相关者帐户作为前台，并重新童话化。

发现

账户的对话性质在利益相关者如何理解公司的环境影响中起着至关重要的作用。讲故事的机制已被用来塑造报告阅读者的观点和同情心，从而对公司有利。我们使用这些相同的机制来创建两个具有不同同情心的集体柜台帐户。

研究局限/意义

这项研究揭示了如何通过讲故事来利用公司报告的叙事性质来构建特定的观点。这样，它挑战了公司提供的事件版本的权威性，并向集体柜台帐户发出声音，该帐户由其他利益相关者共享并可以传播给其他利益相关者。

创意/价值

本文提供了一个独特的视角，通过借鉴童话，讲故事和会计之间的新颖联系，了解公司环境报告以及与外部利益相关者共享的故事。