Stakeholder Reintegration Following Moral Polysemy: A Nethnographic Case Study of LPP SA

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to facilitate a deeper understanding of the reintegration process following a crisis caused by moral polysemy in an internet-mediated environment. This paper focuses on Polish textile company LPP SA. It uses an explorative and interpretive single case study as its research approach and netnography as its data gathering method. Content and buzz analysis of online discussions of LPP SA’s crisis are employed to identify the influential stakeholders in the subsequent stages of the company’s reintegration and the impact of the broader situational context on this process. Due to the ambiguity involved, we propose to conceptualize LPP SA’s crisis, caused by an involuntary disclosure, as an instance of moral polysemy. We therefore identify three stages of the reintegration process (discovery, explanation, rehabilitation). The most influential stakeholders are members of the media and politicians, but stakeholder influence varies in different stages of the process. Previous reputational crises and CEO posturing play a role in such reintegration, and Facebook and Twitter are the main communication mediums. The main limitations of our study include the classification of individual internet users as a single group despite their diversity and our total reliance on online sources. This study contributes to the literature on reintegration and stakeholder communication and expands the theoretical model of internet-mediated crisis communication. It also adds to the literature on involuntary disclosure.