Imaging the organization: Language use in organizational identity claims

Journal of Business and Technical Communication

Volumn 21, Issue 2, 2007, Pages 155-187

  Ran, Bing ^a   Duimering, P Robert ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO   (Canada)

Author keywords

Categorization; Cognitive linguistics; Identity; Identity claims; Language; Organizational image

Indexed keywords

EID: 33847409657     PISSN: 10506519     EISSN: 15524574     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/1050651906297167     Document Type: Review

References (77)

1. Abrahams, J. (1995). The mission statement book: 301 corporate mission statements from America's top companies. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.
2. Abrams, D. (1999). Social identity, social cognition and the self: The flexibility and stability of self-categorization. In D. Abrams & M. A. Hogg (Eds.), Social identity and social cognition (pp. 197-229). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
3. Ackoff, R. (1987). Mission statements. Planning Review, 15, 30-31.
4. Albert, S., Ashforth, B. E., & Dutton, J. E. (Eds.). (2000). Organizational identity and identification [Special issue]. Academy of Management Review, 25 ( 1 ).
5. Albert, S., & Whetten, D. A. (1985). Organizational identity. In L. L. Cummings & B. M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 7, pp. 263-295). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
6. Ashforth, B. E., & Mael, F. A. (1989). Social identity theory and the organization. Academy of Management Review, 14, 20-39.
7. Balmer, J. M. T., & Greyser, S. A. (2002). Managing the multiple identities of the corporation. California Management Review, 44 (3). 72-86.
8. Bart, C. K. (1998). A comparison of mission statements and their rationales in innovative and non-innovative firms. International Journal of Technology Management, 16 (1/3). 64-77.
9. Beech, N., & Johnson, P. (2005). Discourses of disrupted identities in the practice of strategic change: The mayor, the street-fighter and the insider-out. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 18 (1). 31-47.
10. Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1966). The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. New York: Doubleday.
11. Brown, G., & Yule, G. (1983). Discourse analysis. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
12. Burke, K. (1989). On symbols and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
13. Business Computing Services. (2002). Mission statement. Retrieved January 15, 2002, from www.hcob.wmich.edu/%7Ebcs/about.htm
14. Calfree, D. (1993). Get your mission statement working. Management Review, 82, 54-57.
15. Carroll, C. (1995). Rearticulating organizational identity: Exploring corporate images and employee identification. Management Learning, 26 (4). 463-482.
16. Cheney, G. (1991). Rhetoric in an organizational society: Managing multiple identities. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.
17. Collins, J., & Porras, J. (1991). Organizational vision and visionary organizations. California Management Review, 34, 30-52.
18. Corley, K. G., & Gioia, D. A. (2004). Identity ambiguity and change in the wake of a corporate spin-off. Administrative Science Quarterly, 49, 173-208.
19. Coupland, C., & Brown, A. D. (2004). Constructing organizational identities on the Web: A case study of Royal Dutch/Shell. Journal of Management Studies, 41, 1325-1347.
20. Duimering, P. R. (1997). The role of image and language in formal hierarchical communication in organizations. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Waterloo, Canada.
21. Dutton, J. E., & Dukerich, J. M. (1991). Keeping an eye on the mirror: Image and identity in organizational adaptation. Academy of Management Journal, 34, 517-554.
22. Dutton, J. E., Dukerich, J. M., & Harquail, C. V. (1994). Organizational images and member identification. Administrative Science Quarterly, 39, 57-88.
23. Eccles, R. G., Nohria, N., & Berkley, J. (1992). Beyond the hype: Rediscovering the essence of management. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
24. Elsbach, K. D., & Bhattacharya, C. B. (2001). Defining who you are by what you're not: Organizational disidentification and the National Rifle Association. Organization Science, 12, 393-413.
25. Elsbach, K. D., & Kramer, R. M. (1996). Member's responses to organizational identity threats: Encountering and countering the Business Week rankings. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41, 442-476.
26. Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and power. London: Longman.
27. Fombrun, C., & Shanley, M. (1990). What's in a name? Reputation building and corporate strategy. Academy of Management Journal, 33, 233-258.
28. Ford, J. D., & Ford, L. W. (1994). Logics of identity, contradiction, and attraction in change. Academy of Management Review, 19, 756-785.
29. Gee, J. P. (1999). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method. London: Routledge.
30. Germain, R., & Cooper, M. (1990). How a customer mission statement affects company performance. Industrial Marketing Management, 19, 47-50.
31. Ginzel, L. E., Kramer, R. M., & Sutton, R. I. (1992). Organizational impression management as a reciprocal influence process: The neglected role of the organizational audience. In L. L. Cummings & B. M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 14, pp. 227-266). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
32. Gioia, D. A., Schultz, M., & Corley, K. G. (2000). Organizational identity, image, and adaptive instability. Academy of Management Review, 25, 63-81.
33. Gioia, D. A., & Thomas, J. B. (1996). Institutional identity, image, and issue interpretation: Sensemaking during strategic change in academia. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41, 370-403.
34. Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1968). The discovery of grounded theory. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
35. Glynn, M. A. (2000). When cymbals become symbols: Conflict over organizational identity within a symphony orchestra. Organization Science, 11, 285-298.
36. Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Anchor.
37. Golden-Biddle, K., & Rao, H. (1997). Breaches in the boardroom: Organizational identity and conflict of commitment in a non-profit organization. Organization Science, 8, 593-611.
38. Grace, G. W. (1987). The linguistic construction of reality. London: Croom Helm.
39. Harrison, J. D. (2000). Multiple imaginings of institutional identity, a case study of a large psychiatric research hospital. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 36, 425-455.
40. Hogg, M. A., & Terry, D. J. (2000). Social identity and self-categorization processes in organizational contexts. Academy of Management Review, 25, 121-140.
41. Holsti, O. R. (1969). Content analysis for the social sciences and humanities. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
42. Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, fire, and dangerous things. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
43. Ledford, J., Wendenhof, J., & Strahley, J. (1995). Realizing a corporate philosophy. Organizational Dynamics, 23, 5-19.
44. McTavish, R. (1995). One more time: What business are you in ? Long Range Planning, 28 (2). 103-115.
45. Morris, R. J. (1996). Developing a mission for a diversified company. Long Range Planning, 28 (2). 49-60.
46. Noy, E. (1998). Total business strategy: The missing link. Long Range Planning, 31, 927-932.
47. O'Gorman, C., & Doran, R. (1999). Mission statements in small and medium-sized businesses. Journal of Small Business Management, 37 (4). 59-66.
48. Pekar, P., Jr., & Abraham, S. (1995). Is strategic management living up to its promise ? Long Range Planning, 28 (5). 32-44.
49. Peters, T. (1978). Symbols, patterns, and settings: An optimistic case for getting things done. Organizational Dynamics, 7 (2). 3-22.
50. Pfeffer, J. (1981). Management as symbolic action: The creation and maintenance of organizational paradigms. In L. L. Cummings & B. M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 3, pp. 1-52). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
51. Pfeffer, J., & Salancik, G. (1978). The external control of organizations: A resource dependence perspective. New York: Harper & Row.
52. Porter, T. B. (2001, August). Theorizing organizational identity. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Washington, DC.
53. Pratt, M. G., & Foreman, P. O. (2000). Classifying managerial responses to multiple organizational identities. Academy of Management Review, 25, 18-42.
54. Q & A: What now for Andersen ? (2002, June 16). BBC News. Retrieved January 20, 2003, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2048325.stm
55. Rarick, C., & Vitton, J. (1995). Mission statements make cents. Journal of Business Strategy, 16, 11-12.
56. Rorty, R. (1979). Philosophy and the mirror of nature. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
57. Rosch, E. (1978). Principles of categorization. In E. Rosch & B. B. Lloyd (Eds.), Cognition and categorization (pp. 27-48). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
58. Rosch, E., & Lloyd, B. B. (1978). Cognition and categorization. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
59. Scott, W. A. (1955). Reliability of content analysis: The case of nominal scale coding. Public Opinion Quarterly, 19, 321-325.
60. Suchman, M. C. (1995). Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. Academy of Management Review, 20, 571-610.
61. Sutton, R. I., & Callahan, A. L. (1987). The stigma of bankruptcy: Spoiled organizational image and its management. Academy of Management Journal, 30, 405-436.
62. Swales, J. M., & Rogers, P. S. (1995). Discourse and the projection of corporate culture: The mission statement. Discourse and Society, 6, 223-242.
63. Tajfel, H. (1972). La categorisation sociale [Social categorization]. In S. Moscovici (Ed.), Introduction a la pyschologie sociale (Vol. 1, pp. 272-302). Paris: Larouse.
64. Tajfel, H. (1978). Social categorization, social identity, and social comparison. In H. Tajfel (Ed.), Differentiation between social groups (pp. 61-76). New York: Academic Press.
65. Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33-47). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
66. Taylor, J. R. (1995). Linguistic categorization: Prototypes in linguistic theory (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
67. Taylor, J. R. (2002). Cognitive grammar. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
68. Total Research Corporation, Strategic Marketing Services. (1999). Mission statements: What are they for and how effective are they? Princeton, NJ: Author.
69. Tsoukas, H., & Vladimirou, E. (2001). What is organizational knowledge ? Journal of Management Studies, 38, 973-993.
70. Turner, J. C. (1975). Social comparison and social identity: Some prospects for intergroup behaviour. European Journal of Social Psychology, 5, 5-34.
71. Turner, J. C. (1985). Social categorization and the self-concept: A social cognitive theory of group behavior. In E. J. Lawler (Ed.), Advances in group processes: Vol. 2. Theory and research (pp. 77-122). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
72. Turner, J. C. (1999). Some current issues in research on social identity and self-categorization theories. In N. Ellemers, R. Spears, & B. Doosje (Eds.), Social identity (pp. 6-34). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
73. Tyler, T. R. (1999). Why people cooperate with organizations: An identity-based perspective. In L. L. Cummings & B. M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 21, pp. 201-246). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
74. Ungerer, F., & Schmid, H.-J. (1996). An introduction to cognitive linguistics: Learning about language. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
75. Washington State University Libraries. (2002). Mission statement. Retrieved January 15, 2002, from www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/general/orgtrain/workdocs. html
76. Whetten, D. A., & Godfrey, P. C. (Eds.). (1998). Identity in organizations: Building theory through conversations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
77. Wittgenstein, L. (1958). Philosophical investigations (G. E. M. Anscombe, Trans., 3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: Blackwell & Mott.