The Bitter Truth of Sweetened Baby Food: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Nestlé's Post-Crisis Legitimacy Construction
(2025) BUSN39 20251Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- This introductory chapter outlines the foundations of the study by contextualizing the
role of legitimacy, corporate responsibility, and crisis communication in contemporary
global business. It begins by establishing the theoretical significance of organizational
legitimacy, particularly in ethically sensitive industries such as infant nutrition. The
chapter problematizes the disjunction between corporate rhetoric and operational
practice, using Nestlé’s baby food sugar controversy as a case that exemplifies broader
concerns about corporate hypocrisy. It then defines the study’s purpose and research
questions, which center on how multinational corporations discursively perform
legitimacy under public scrutiny. Finally, the... (More) - This introductory chapter outlines the foundations of the study by contextualizing the
role of legitimacy, corporate responsibility, and crisis communication in contemporary
global business. It begins by establishing the theoretical significance of organizational
legitimacy, particularly in ethically sensitive industries such as infant nutrition. The
chapter problematizes the disjunction between corporate rhetoric and operational
practice, using Nestlé’s baby food sugar controversy as a case that exemplifies broader
concerns about corporate hypocrisy. It then defines the study’s purpose and research
questions, which center on how multinational corporations discursively perform
legitimacy under public scrutiny. Finally, the chapter clarifies the intended theoretical
and practical contributions of the research, positioning the study within current debates
on CSR communication, reputational risk, and the symbolic management of ethics
across diverse stakeholder environments. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9202480
- author
- Zhou, Lina LU and Hamlet, Louisa LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Corporate Hypocrisy as the Unintended Consequence of Double Standards and Responsibilization Strategies in Lower-income Markets
- course
- BUSN39 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Nestlé, Corporate Legitimacy, Corporate Hypocrisy, Crisis Management, Communication Management, Discursive Strategy
- language
- English
- id
- 9202480
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-30 12:17:03
- date last changed
- 2025-06-30 12:17:03
@misc{9202480, abstract = {{This introductory chapter outlines the foundations of the study by contextualizing the role of legitimacy, corporate responsibility, and crisis communication in contemporary global business. It begins by establishing the theoretical significance of organizational legitimacy, particularly in ethically sensitive industries such as infant nutrition. The chapter problematizes the disjunction between corporate rhetoric and operational practice, using Nestlé’s baby food sugar controversy as a case that exemplifies broader concerns about corporate hypocrisy. It then defines the study’s purpose and research questions, which center on how multinational corporations discursively perform legitimacy under public scrutiny. Finally, the chapter clarifies the intended theoretical and practical contributions of the research, positioning the study within current debates on CSR communication, reputational risk, and the symbolic management of ethics across diverse stakeholder environments.}}, author = {{Zhou, Lina and Hamlet, Louisa}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{The Bitter Truth of Sweetened Baby Food: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Nestlé's Post-Crisis Legitimacy Construction}}, year = {{2025}}, }