2020 Volume 53 Issue 4 Pages 64-78
This study examines the importance of facial expressions of management executives on strategically repairing organizational legitimacy. Most of previous studies have focused on verbal content of such strategies. A comparative case study was conducted between two prominent companies’ repairs on their organizational legitimacy in facing a same food safety crisis. The verbal content of the two cases was considered similar; however, the legitimacy of one company decreased dramatically after an explanation, while that of the other remained. The result indicates that a crucial factor was a difference in the evaluation of facial expressions by stakeholders in the context of Japanese culture.
