Governance and Legitimacy: Analysis of the Discourse Configuration of Petrobras to Regulators

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to analyze whether there are differences in the configuration and behavior of Petrobras' discourse in citations to the Federal Court of Accounts and the Brazilian Securities Commission, in statements and facts relevant to the market. Governance is understood here as a product of the plurality of actors that interact in society. In this sense, it is considered that the discursive practices that integrate transparency - one of the elements of governance - are rationalized and influence the perception of the market and the legitimacy of the organization. This is an interpretative study, which used the qualitative approach and the technique of content analysis, through the collection of Relevant Announcements and Facts released by the company, from 2005 to 2018. The results show three configurations of the speech: (i) defense; (ii) subordination; and (iii) validity of the action. It was observed that the discursive behavior in the references to the regulatory agencies presents differences over time, in which mechanisms of repetition, intertextuality and interdiscursivity were used to legitimize the company's actions. Finally, we seek to contribute to the literature of organizational studies and accounting, managers and those responsible for disclosing the entities, highlighting the importance of observing the language and the settings of the discourse, in search of a more transparent market and a fairer governance system for the different actors involved.