In Defence of the Indefensible: Exploring Justification Narratives of Corporate Elites Accused of Corruption

Abstract

Drawing on the pragmatic turn in contemporary social theory, we explore how corporate elites accused of corruption in the context of weak institutions engage in their justifcation works. Empirically, we focus on three high-profle corruption scandals that shook Ghana between 2010 and 2020 and inspired widespread public condemnation. Publicly accessible archival documents, such as court reporting, newspaper stories, press conferences, and the digital footprints of corporate elites implicated in the scandals provide data for our inquiry. Focussing on the juxtaposition of ‘sayings’ and ‘doings’, the fndings show justifcation as performative, and rooted in contextual pragmatism that acknowledges the plurality of logics situated between self-interest and folk-logic. Within this framework, the domestic and civic orders of worth emerge as most prominent, with the justifcation processes manifesting through victimising, scapegoating, and crusading. Building on these insights, we develop a framework that highlights how the use of justifcations serves as a critique of the inadequacies within climates of weak institutional frameworks consequently fostering an atmosphere conducive to framing unethical conducts as morally acceptable.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-024-05703-1
Divisions: College of Business and Social Sciences > Aston Business School > Marketing & Strategy
College of Business and Social Sciences > Aston Business School
Additional Information: Copyright © Crown 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Uncontrolled Keywords: Economies of worth,Justifications,Corruption
Publication ISSN: 1573-0697
Last Modified: 04 Nov 2024 09:32
Date Deposited: 24 May 2024 15:27
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: https://link.sp ... 551-024-05703-1 (Publisher URL)
http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2024-05-15
Published Online Date: 2024-05-15
Accepted Date: 2024-04-15
Authors: Torbor, Mabel
Sarpong, David (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-1533-4332)
Ofosu, George
Boakye, Derrick (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-2575-6723)

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