Shedding light on the representation of corporate corruption: Results from a Swiss study on the corporate offenders’ communication

• In Event: EUROC 7 - Corruption and the Private Sector

Abstract

The representation or framing of corporate corruption varies across different stakeholders such as the media, civil society organizations, and law enforcement authorities. However, little empirical evidence exists regarding how corporate offenders themselves portray corruption.
This study employs a quantitative-qualitative content analysis to investigate the communication of corporations implicated in transnational corruption cases investigated by Swiss criminal justice authorities, resulting in non-trial resolutions. The corporations under scrutiny operate globally within the engineering, commodity trading, or construction sectors.
Analysis of press releases and annual reports indicates a predominantly minimalist communication approach adopted by these corporations. They rarely disclose details regarding their involvement in transnational corruption. Instead, they often trivialize their corrupt actions, framing them as mere accounting challenges. Furthermore, they portray legal proceedings as burdensome tasks with little relevance to their current corporate culture.
The implications of these findings will be discussed in relation to the prevailing frames regarding economic crimes and the significance of unspoken aspects in communication.

Author

• Franziska Hohl Zürcher, University of Neuchâtel