Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines a unique form of public inquiry that we refer to as “privately commissioned public inquiries.” These inquiries focus on events or incidents that indicate broader structural problems of neglect, misjudgment, or injustice. Using qualitative interview methods, we explore such an inquiry in the global mining industry. We ask: what motivated the company to commission an independent public‐facing inquiry? The study finds that threats to organizational identity are vital precursors to commissioning the inquiry. We also find that the unease caused by public scrutiny supports the maintenance of the company's valued identity attributes, rather than disrupting them. Paradoxically, an artifact remains—the public report, a trace that resists the kind of “forgetting” that the company might use to maintain its identity. We conclude that this public “remembering” indirectly supports organizational learning and advances the practice of human rights due diligence.