Abstract

This research investigates how a multinational organization transforms sustainability data

into accessible narratives while navigating institutional pressures and stakeholder

expectations. The research examines how external legitimacy demands, internal interpretation

processes, and strategic communication shape narrative construction.

Employing a qualitative case study approach, the research integrates sensemaking theoretical

framework, organizational narrative frameworks, institutional and stakeholder theory.

Data collection comprises four semi-structured interviews with participants across

organizational levels and departments, supplemented by analysis of the organization’s 2023

sustainability report. Narrative analysis reveals how employees construct and navigate

sustainability stories within institutional constraints.

The findings uncover a critical narrative paradox; while organizations accumulate extensive

sustainability data for compliance, they struggle to transform this information into

meaningful stakeholder value. The research reveals narrative suspension, where

organizational stories remain trapped between data collection and communication. Contrary

to institutional theory’s passive view, participants demonstrate narrative agency by reframing

compliance requirements as strategic opportunities.

The research identifies how incomplete sensemaking cycles disrupt sustainability

communication. While individual members possess substantial sustainability knowledge,

structural and contextual factors prevent coherent collective narrative development. The

multinational dimension complicates transformation as diverse market expectations and

organizational structures impede unified narrative development.

The research contributes to organizational sustainability communication literature by building

on antenarrative theory with the idea of narrative suspension, while also questioning

traditional frameworks for making sense of situations. For practitioners, the research

emphasizes moving beyond compliance-focused communication toward completing

sensemaking cycles and integrating counter-narratives.

Keywords: sustainability communication, organizational narratives, sensemaking,

institutional theory, stakeholder engagement, narrative construction, compliance, value

creation.