Religious discourse and organizational change : Legitimizing the stakeholder perspective at a Saudi conglomerate

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a case of proactive change that occurred in a large organization in Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach – The paper explains how management actively used religious discourse to institute a stakeholder perspective within the organization. Findings – The process of change that occurred leads to the development of a successful change process that borrows from legitimacy theory and legitimation in discourse. The findings show the impact of religious discourse on organizational change in the context under study. Research limitations/implications – While this change process, grounded in religious discourse, cannot be assumed to work across contexts, future research can uncover what contextual or cultural dimensions facilitate or impede such an approach. Social implications – This study provides an example as to how change agents can engage people within their organizations in the change process through a systematic process of sensemaking that grants moral legitimacy to company's initiatives. Originality/value – The paper draws attention to the importance of religious discourse in institutional change, a thing that has rarely been discussed at the firm level.