Strategic ambiguity in emergent coalitions: the triple bottom line

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore and expand the role of strategic ambiguity (SA) in the field of organizational communication. It treats the triple bottom line (TBL) as indicative of an emerging coalition. This coalition brings together three loosely coupled discourse communities each attempting to advance the notion of green business, corporate social responsibility and sustainability. Design/methodology/approach This case directs attention to how SA and equivocation built into TBL aids three loosely networked discourse communities – formulated around “profits”, “people” and “planet” – emerge, coalesce and diffuse despite being rooted in imprecise and loosely formulated measures. Findings The findings indicate that despite its imprecision, lack of specificity and operational indices the TBL provides its members with the belief that they are far better off joining the coalition than going it alone. TBL's openness to multiple interpretations enables each of the discourse communities in the emerging network to expect to win concessions from others and to protect its values from encroachment. Originality/value This treatment of TBL suggests that SA can be expanded beyond an intra‐organizational focus to one encompassing emergent coalitions. The expanded notion of SA helps explain the stickiness of knowledge transfer in the early stage of coalition formation and the propensity of critics to view new imprecise but inspiring ideas like TBL as nothing but a fad or passing enthusiasm.