Alleged organizational wrongdoings are often characterized by high levels of uncertainty about what happened, which can take years to be established judicially. In this study, we examine organizations’ efforts to manage their stakeholders’ impressions of their possible guilt in this period of uncertainty. The study examines the discursive guilt-management strategies organizations employ in such situations to embrace the paradoxical tensions that emerge between their routine, positive self-presentations as responsible organizations and their communication about their possible guilt. Taking departure in impression management and a paradox perspective, we conceptualize guilt management as a discursive practice enacted in times of uncertainty. Specifically, we conduct a microlevel discourse analysis of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports published by large US banks after the financial crisis and analyze how these banks managed impressions of their possible guilt, before they eventually agreed to legal settlements. We identify amending, bracketing, shifting locus of control, implicating, as well as reattributing and extending moral agency as central guilt-management strategies that embrace the paradoxical tensions between the banks’ positive self-presentations and their communication about their possible guilt. We conclude with a discussion of theoretical and methodological contributions to organization studies.

所谓的组织不法行为通常以对所发生事情的高度不确定性为特征，这可能需要数年才能在司法上确定。在本研究中，我们考察了组织在此不确定时期内为管理利益相关者对其可能内的印象所做的努力。这项研究考察了组织在这种情况下采用的话语内管理策略，以应对在他们作为负责任的组织的例行，积极的自我表述与他们关于可能内communication的沟通之间出现的自相矛盾的紧张关系。从印象管理和悖论的角度出发，我们将内管理概念化为在不确定时期实施的一种话语实践。具体来说，在金融危机之后，我们对大型美国银行发布的企业社会责任（CSR）报告进行了微观层面的话语分析，并分析了这些银行在最终达成法律和解之前如何处理可能的内感。我们将修正，包围，控制位置转移，牵连以及重新分配和扩展道德能力作为中央罪恶管理策略，这些战略包含了银行积极的自我表述与他们关于可能的罪恶感的沟通之间的矛盾张力。最后，我们讨论了对组织研究的理论和方法上的贡献。我们将修正，包围，控制位置转移，牵连以及重新分配和扩展道德能力作为中央罪恶管理策略，这些战略包含了银行积极的自我表述与他们关于可能的罪恶感的沟通之间的矛盾张力。最后，我们讨论了对组织研究的理论和方法上的贡献。我们将修正，包围，控制位置转移，牵连以及重新分配和扩展道德能力作为中央罪恶管理策略，这些战略包含了银行积极的自我表述与他们关于可能的罪恶感的沟通之间的矛盾张力。最后，我们讨论了对组织研究的理论和方法上的贡献。