Organizational identity is a complex concept that is central to understanding organizations but also problematic. The document discusses nine perspectives on organizational identity including graphic design, organizational behavior, and multidisciplinary approaches. It presents Balmer and Gray's 1999 model of the corporate identity and communications management process but notes there may be room to improve the model, such as addressing when strong organizational identity could potentially harm individuals, organizations, or society.

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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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Identity as a organisational concept and
various schools of thought
Corporate Identity and
Branding
Dr Shaun Powell
spowell@uow.edu.au

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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,
organisational behavior and multidisciplinary
perspectives
• Model of the corporate identity-corporate
communications management process (Balmer and
Gray, 1999) page. 132 of text

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Identity: powerful but problematic: i
• Identity studies (in relation to organisations)
attempt to address to profoundly important, but
problematic, questions.
“WHO ARE WE ?” (a particular concern of
organisational behaviorists who focus on
organisational identification) and…
•
“WHAT ARE WE ?” (a particular concern of
marketers and communicators)

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Identity: powerful but problematic: ii
• 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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As such identity means different things to different people.
Some consider identity simply in terms of :
A) company logos
B) staff affinity with the organisation
C) creating favourable images via controlled corporate
communications
D) broad umbrella construct subsuming all the above and is
more akin to a new philosophical approach in revealing an
organisation. (see Balmer’s schools of thought page 35 of text)
Identity: powerful but problematic: iv

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Identity: necessary not contingent
Necessary because it is concerned with an
organisation’s: basic, essential purpose; a reason to
exist: reason for being
Necessary because it relates to a organism that is
constantly shifting and is embryonic
Identity issues often come to the fore in extreme
situations : when organisations 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
realisation that:
Corporate communications should be consistent and
should be managed and that

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•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 organisation in a single
logotype
Identity through a graphic design lenses: ii

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Identity through an organisational 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 organisational members and the
degree to which they do/or do not identify with the
corporation (known also as organisational identification)
• Reference is rarely made to corporate identity but, rather, to
organisational identity
• The originators of this distinct approach to identity studies are
Albert and Whetten (1985)
• This perspective has enjoyed wide interest in scholarly circles.

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Albert and Whetten’s tripartite
characterisation of identity
• The above have argued in the past that in
DESCRIBING an organisation or
FORMULATING a statement about an
organisation’s identity the focus should be on
those things that are:
• CENTRAL,
• DISTINCTIVE and
• ENDURING

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That which is CENTRAL……...
1. It should capture the essence
of the organisation.
•“The criterion on claimed central
character”

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That which is ….DISTINCTIVE
2. Distinguishes the organisation
from others
•“The criterion of claimed
distinctiveness.”

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That which is…..….ENDURING
3. Exhibit some degree of
sameness or continuity over
time
•“The criterion of claimed temporal
continuity.”

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DISCUSSION POINT…..
Consider what is CENTRAL,
DISTINCTIVE AND
ENDURING ABOUT UOW?

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ENDURING….?
• Then enduring characteristic has been criticised
by a number of scholars. For example:
- GIOIA, SCHULTZ AND CORLEY (2004) argued
that an organisation’s identity is FLUID and is
NOT STABLE
• BALMER argued that rather than saying an
identity is enduring the word EVOLVING would
be more appropriate

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Identity change in the context
of the organisational Life-cycle
1: Formation
2. Loss of Founder
3. Accomplishment of an organisation’s
raison d'être
4. Rapid Growth
5. Merger or Divestiture
6. Retrenchment

18. • At what point does loyalty to a company become blind obedience that
can harm the individual, the members, the organization, society etc?
• Identify too closely with a group and we may suspend our critical
thinking and lose the objectivity necessary to make ethical choices
• For example, an Enron employee admitted that her identity was so
entwined with Enron's identity that she suffered emotional scars when the
company melted under the weight of ethical violations
• Many of the Enron members involved in illegal activities justified their
actions by saying ‘I did not want to be accused of not being a team
player’ - turning their backs on their individual ethical standards and
values when working on clearly illegal deals. The strong organizational
identity that contributed to the Effectiveness of Enron eventually
contributed to the downfall of the company and its employees.
18

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• In such circumstances, it may not be wise to
always advocate a strong commitment to the
organisation, over and above commitment to
other important foci.
• Consider how this compares with other research
presented earlier in this lecture and in much of
your readings
• i.e. does the alignment principle of the ACID
models by Balmer always remain valid in all
types of organizations and industries?

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1. The Strategic School:
Articulation of corporate mission
and philosophy
2. The Strategic-Visual School:
Effecting strategic change
through visual means
STRATEGIC
FOCUS
FOCUS: THE
ORGANISATION’S
INTERNAL AND
EXTERNAL
STAKEHOLDERS
CULTURAL
FOCUS
3. The Behavioural School:
Nurturing a distinct
organisational cultural mix
7. The Design-as-
Fashion School:
Keeping visual elements
fashionable
4. The Visual-Behavioural
School:
Communicating visually the
organisation’s distinct culture
COMMUNICATIONS
FOCUS
FASHIONABILITY
FOCUS
5. The Corporate-Communications
School:
Communicating the organisation’s
mission and philosophy through formal
corporate communications policies
6. The Visual-Communications
School:
Communicating the organisation’s
mission and philosophy visually
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)
Feedback
Identity: Various Schools of Thought

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A new model of the corporate identity - corporate communications process
CORPORATE
IDENTITY
Secondary
Communication
STAKEHOLDERS
Tertiary
Communication
STAKEHOLDERS
through
Feedback
CORPORATE IMAGE
AND
CORPORATE REPUTATION
Creates
Creates
Primary
Communication
COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE
Can lead
to
Exogenous Factors
Feedback
POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, ETHICAL, SOCIAL & TECHNICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES
Corporate Identity
(i) Values & Purposes
(ii) Corporate Strategy
(iii) Organisational Culture
(iv) Organisational Structure
Environmental Forces
The five environmental
categories have an impact on
all parts of the process
articulated above
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’
Stakeholders
(i) Individuals (increasingly are
seen to belong to multiple
stakeholder groups both within
and outwith the organisation.
Traditionally, stakeholders are
categories as belonging to one
stakeholder group)
(ii) Customers
(iii) Distributors and retailers
(iv) Suppliers
(v) Joint-venture partners
(vi) Financial Institutions and analysis
(vii) Shareholders
(viii) Government & Regulatory Agencies
(ix) Social Action Organisations
(x) General Public
(xi) Employees
Corporate Image
(i) The immediate mental
picture that individuals
or individual stakeholder
groups have of an
organisation
Corporate Reputation
(i) Evolves over time as a
result of consistent
performance reinforced
by the three types of
communication shown
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
Exogenous Factors
Perceptions of the organisation and
therefore the strength of competitive
advantage can be influenced by a
number of factors including:
(i) Country of Origin, Image and
Reputation
(ii) Industry Image and Reputation
(iii) Image & Regulations of Alliances
and Partnerships etc.
Balmer & Gray (1999)

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Summary
• Identity is important albeit problematic in nature
• The identity concept has been explored from
numerous perspective
• There are a variety of approaches to identity studies
with the graphic design, organisational 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 organisations –
but how could it now be improved?
• What are the negative potential of Organisational Identity