Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures

CSR Disclosures

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Research and Analysis.....................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Bibliography....................................................................................................................................9

Introduction
Corporate social responsibility in more and more utilized as a communication tool for enhancing
the company's image to the public. An example of this is the environmental legitimacy, which is
considered as an important tool of management research since the company tends to be
competitive as they are successful in the establishment of the environmental legitimacy.
Organizations often cope with issues by engaging themselves in corporate sustainability
reporting for showing the society that the nations are legitimate and that they re acting for society
and not against the norms (Gray, Dey, Owen, Evans, & Zadek, 1997). Legitimacy theory can be
explained as the ideology that company only can continue to exist and grow is the society where
the business is being conducted perceive them as legitimate.
A dam in Brazil which was holding back wastewater from iron ore mine owned by BHP and
Vale burst in 2015. This burst devasted the nearby town of the mudslide and killed nearly 17
people and more than 50 people were injured. According to the officials, more than 40 people
went missing. The village of Bento Rodr which was situated near the dam was practically buried
in the mud. The situation was grim and it was dark completely. The dam was Operated by the
company of Samarco, which was a joint venture in between Anglo Australian mining giant BHP
and Vale company. The case shows how many people died just because of the negligence of the
companies involved. Considering the case as per the legitimacy theory discussed by (Tilling,
2006) legitimacy theory is derived from the concept of the organizational legitimacy which
shows that companies continually seek for ensuring that they are operating within the bounds and
norms of the respective society. Though the exact reason of the burst of the dam was not known
by the authorities we feel that the state mining regulations were inadequate and the owners of the
dam company BHP and Vale and even the operator Samarco company completely failed in

living up to the corporate social responsibility standards. The case is a mere showcase of
irresponsible adoption of legitimacy theory in the company.
Research and Analysis
The case of Brazil disaster can be seen as a harmful event of firm's legitimacy. The information
analyzed in the case under the environmental aspect can be easily linked to legitimate theory.
The mentioning of just one or two environmental parameters and the silence regarding the
negative ones is considered as distraction method putting focusing on the factors that made the
image of the BHP Company more profitable. At the same time, BHP and Vale company's
officials were vocal trying to give the impression of the environmental responsible company in
order to shift focus from negative incidents in line with the legitimacy concepts (Archel,
Husillos, Larrinaga, & Spence, 2009).
According to the companies involved, they proclaimed that it was not a mistake rather it was an
accident and were looking for rigor for determining what exactly happened. In one statement by
the owner of the company, he said that he is concerned about the employees of Samarco
company and their families. He also said that they are concerned about the Bento Rodrigues that
was devasted by the flooding and they are concerned about their welfare (BHP, 2005; BHP,
2006). However, the main point here is that nothing has been done as part of social responsibility
by the company for the welfare of such people till date. Such type of disclosure is merely
disclosures of regaining sympathy from the public and also gaining legitimacy 9nstead of the
genuine attempt of serving the societies of the affected people. It is a clear case of mistake and
not an accident because the companies failed in abiding by the rules laid down for such
companies by OECD. The companies showed negligence in monitoring the wastewater