In the previous chapters we looked at accusations of potentially improper business practices and their socioeconomic exchange paths or routes. In this section we examine the principal themes in greater detail. The techniques of focusing on market relationships, stripping of neutral and positive content, abbreviating the message, and attributing blame result in three types of storylines or narratives. We then analyze the relationship between these three types and their structural location on their market's socioeconomic paths because “stories are the essential vehicle for elaborating networks” (White 1992, 67). Moreover, stories of breaking rules, and lying, cheating, and stealing, puncture the “veneer of etiquette” governing the social relations of business and contract (see McLean 1998).

The content coding and the subsequent analysis sort each accusation into one of the three cultural types and its appropriate market-based tie. The data collection for written content is guided by a protocol or set of coding instructions for the researchers. As mentioned earlier, the archival sources include LexisNexis, Edgar Archives, Dow Jones Interactive, and daily review of business-related content in the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and New York Times. We analyze paragraphs and sentences in order to define what kind of wrongdoing is said to have taken place (Holsti 1968, 626). The idea is to capture and chronicle the key phrases and keywords encapsulated in the public accusation (Ghaziani and Ventressa 2005; Axelrod 1976).