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Lecture 3
Identity: the Quintessence of an
Organization
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Objectives
• Identity: why it’s a problematic but powerful concept
• Introducing nine streams of inquiry relating to
identity
• Why identity is necessary and not contingent
• Identity through the lense of graphic design,
organizational behavior and multidisciplinary
perspectives
• “Model of the moment”: Model of the corporate
identity-corporate communications management
process (Balmer and Gray, 1999) page. 132
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Identity: powerful but
problematic: i
• Identity studies (in relation to organizations)
attempt to address to profoundly important, but
problematic, questions.
“WHO ARE WE ?” (a particular concern of
organizational behaviorists who focus on
organizational identification) and…
•
“WHAT ARE WE ?” (a particular concern of
marketers and communicators)
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Identity: powerful but
problematic: ii
• Identity is powerful because the questions
themselves are of such magnitude moreover…..
• The identity concept is applicable to industries, entire
corporations, subsidiaries,countries, cities,
professions etc in addition……
• The discussion of corporate brands, corporate
communications, corporate reputation etc because
difficult unless reference is made to the identity
concept in other words it is important to ascertain..
• Who we are and what we are.
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Identity: powerful but
problematic: iii
• The identity concept is problematic because
of its rich disciplinary and philosophical
underpinnings.
• However, many perceive identity through a
single disciplinary lens (graphic design,
organizational behaviour, corporate
communications etc)
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Identity: powerful but problematic: iv
• As such identity means different things to different people.
Some consider identity simply in terms of company logos,
others in terms of staff affinity with the organization whilst,
others in terms of creating favourable images via controlled
corporate communications whilst others see it as broad
umbrella construct subsuming all the above and is more
akin to a new philosophical approach in revealing an
organization. (see Balmer’s schools of thought page 35)
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Identity: An aperture of nine
• The identity concept (in relation to organizations) has
been examined in terms of:
Disciplinary and national roots
Schools of thought
Philosophical Underpinnings
Components
Characteristics
Management
Analysis
Structure and Hierarchy and its
Relationship with other corporate-level concepts
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Identity: An aperture of nine
Example: (b) Schools of Thought p.35
• In the mid 1990s seven schools of thought
relating to identity were identified. These
reflected the strategic, behavioral,
communications and graphic design
perspectives relating to identity. (the graphic
design perspective comprised four distinct
schools of thought which is indicative of the
importance accorded to graphic design at the
time)
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Identity: An aperture of nine
Example: (b) Schools of Thought p.35
• It was concluded that the different emphasis:
• Mirrored the different disciplinary roots
• Was indicative of the different types of identity issues
that confront organizations at different times which
range from addressing fundamental identity
questions such as “Who are we?” and “What are we?”
and, at the other extreme, “Is our logo fashionable?”
• Moreover, it was concluded that identity studies was
analogous to a mosaic: that the individual
approaches were part of a much larger whole.
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Identity: An aperture of nine
Example: (d) Components p.38
•In Europe there has been interest in identifying the
key components that constitute an identity “the
identity mix”
•Birkigt and Stadler’s identity mix comprises:
Behavior, Communication and Symbolism
Whilst influential, this mix has been criticised for
being too narrow in scope. It has also been argued
that a clear distinction needs to be made between the
mix of elements constituting an identity and the
additional mix of elements that require orchestration
in terms of its management. The latter has given rise
to the “identity management mix.”
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Identity: necessary not
contingent
Necessary because it is concerned with an
organization’s raison d’etre.
Necessary because it relates to a organism
that is constantly shifting and is
embryonic.
Identity issues often come to the fore in
extremis: when organizations confront
a strategic fork in the road (merger,
acquisition etc)
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Identity through a graphic design
lenses: i
• The most pervasive of all identity perspectives.
• Enduring legacy: consider 19th century railroad
companies.
• Pioneering work of Bahrens (AEG) Olivetti (Olivetti)
and Parkin and Johnston (London Underground) led
to a realization that:
• Corporate communications should be consistent and
should be managed and that
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Identity through a graphic design
lenses: ii
•Visual identification is the most easily controlled and most
pervasive forms of communication, moreover
• the aim of many changes of visual identity is to
•Distil the essence of the organization in a single logotype.
•Originally referred to “House Style” use is frequently made
to corporate identity which has caused immense confusion
with the multidisciplinary approaches to the area.
•Walter Margulies (US) is credited with coining the phrase
“corporate identity” and this eclipsed the use of “house
style” in Europe.
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Identity through an
organizational behavior
perspective
• In truth there are numerous perspectives, however, a
dominant concern is in addressing the question,
“Who are we ?”.
• The emphasis is firmly on organizational members
and the degree to which they do/or do not identify
with the corporation (identification).
• Reference is rarely made to corporate identity but,
rather, to organizational identity.
• The originators of this distinct approach to identity
studies are Albert and Whetten.
• This perspective has enjoyed wide hegemony in
scholarly circles.
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Identity through a
multidisciplinary perspective
This perspective has been apparent in the marketing
literature from the “British” Commonwealth for
some time. It is also to be found in the work of
organizational behaviorists. Main proponents of this
approach among academics have been Balmer, Hatch
and Schultz whilst Wally Olins, coming from the
world of practise has also advocated this approach.
For the main BOTH identity questions are addressed,
namely, “Who are we?” and “What are we?”
The preferred concept is that of Corporate Identity (see
Olins’s lecture of 1977 to London’s Royal Society of
Arts, Manufacturers and Trades.
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Identity: Schools of Thought
STRATEGIC
FOCUS
CULTURAL
FOCUS
1. The Strategic School:
Articulation of corporate mission
and philosophy
3. The Behavioral School:
Nurturing a distinct
organizational cultural mix
COMMUNICATIONS
FOCUS
FASHIONABILITY
FOCUS
FOCUS: THE
ORGANIZATION’S
INTERNAL AND
EXTERNAL
STAKEHOLDERS
5. The Corporate-Communications
School:
Communicating the organization’s
mission and philosophy through formal
corporate communications policies
Feedback
2. The Strategic-Visual School:
Effecting strategic change
through visual means
4. The Visual-Behavioral
School:
Communicating visually the
organization’s distinct culture
6. The Visual-Communications
School:
Communicating the organization’s
mission and philosophy visually
7. The Design-asFashion School:
Keeping visual elements
fashionable
Integrative Diagram of the Hierarchy of Schools of Thought in Strategic Corporate-Identity Management
Adapted from Balmer (1995) [54] (Based on an analysis of the literature)
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……….model of the moment
• See: Balmer and Gray’s model of the
corporate identity/corporate
communciations management process
p. 132
• Consider the components, inflences and
effects of an organization’s identity.
• Why or why not would you alter the
model. Explain what you would alter.
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……….model of the moment
A new model of the corporate identity - corporate communications process
CORPORATE
Primary
Communication
through
STAKEHOLDERS
Can lead
CORPORATE IMAGE
to
AND
CORPORATE REPUTATION
Tertiary
Communication
IDENTITY
Secondary
Communication
STAKEHOLDERS
Exogenous Factors
Creates
COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE
Creates
Feedback
Feedback
POLITICAL,
ECONOMIC,
ETHICAL,
SOCIAL & TECHNICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES
Corporate Identity
(i) Values & Purposes
(ii) Corporate Strategy
(iii) Organisational Culture
(iv) Organisational Structure
Primary Communication
(i) Products & Services
(ii) Market behavior
(iii) behavior towards Employees
(iv) Employee behavior to
Other Stakeholders
(v) Non-Market behavior
Secondary Communication
(i) Formal, Corporate &
Communications (Advertising,
PR, Graphic Design, Sales
Promotions, etc).
(ii) Visual Identification Systems
Tertiary Communications
(i) Word-of-mouth
(ii) Media Interpretation and spin
(iii) Competitors - Communication
and ‘spin’
Corporate Image
(i) The immediate mental
picture that individuals
or individual stakeholder
groups have of an
organisation
Environmental Forces
The five environmental
categories have an impact on
all parts of the process
articulated above
Competitive Advantage
(i) The reputation of the company
in the eyes of individuals and
stakeholder groups will influence
their willingness to either provide
or withhold support for the company
Stakeholders
(i) Individuals (increasingly are
Exogenous Factors
Corporate Reputation
seen to belong to multiple
Perceptions of the organisation and
(i) Evolves over time as a
stakeholder groups both within
therefore the strength of competitive
result of consistent
and outwith the organisation.
advantage can be influenced by a
performance reinforced
Traditionally, stakeholders are
number of factors including:
by the three types of
categories as belonging to one
(i) Country of Origin, Image and
communication shown
stakeholder group)
Reputation
above
(ii) Customers
(ii) Industry Image and Reputation
(iii) Distributors and retailers
(iii) Image & Regulations of Alliances
(iv) Suppliers
and Partnerships etc.
(v) Joint-venture partners
(vi) Financial Institutions and analysis
(vii) Shareholders
(viii) Government & Regulatory Agencies
(ix) Social Action Organisations
Balmer & Gray (1999)
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(x) General Public
(xi) Employees
Summary
• Identity is important albeit problematic in nature.
• However, it can be classified as being” “necessary”
rather than “contingent”
• The identity concept has been explored from
numerous perspective
• There are a variety of approaches to identity studies
with the graphic design, organizational behaviour
and multidisciplinary approaches being of particular
significance.
• Balmer and Gray’s model (1999) attempts to illustrate
the components, influences, and importance of
corporate identity to contemporary organizations.
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Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the
concept of identity,
which is so germane to conceiving what it means to
be human,
also is central to the conceptualization of one of the
most complex and fascinating of human creations,
the work organization.
Dennis A. Gioia
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