Two Metanarratives of Contemporary Business

Abstract

This note discusses two alternate narratives, or conceptions, of the role corporations can or should play in society, with attention paid to the influence of an emergent expectation of transparency brought about by the advent of social media.

Excerpt

UVA-BC-0250

Aug. 11, 2013

Two METANarratives of Contemporary Business

Story and narrative—terms once thought primarily literary—are now central to corporate communications. The function has always drawn managers with backgrounds in journalism, public relations, and English, so the importance of story was never lost on insiders, but what is remarkable is the widespread acceptance across functions of this central concept—the extent to which it is taken for granted and considered necessary.

The accepted use of stories in business over the past 20 years has coincided with the evolution of two larger stories—metanarratives—about the role of business in society. These stories are not neatly political, nor will they be treated as such, even if some political point of view may find one or the other more appealing. My intent here is to see what these metanarratives tells us about how we look at business.

Historical Perspectives on Perception

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Keywords: shared value, csr, crisis management