Hong‐Wei He and John M.T. Balmer
This article has an explicit purpose of making a theoretical contribution to the issue of senior management cognitions of the corporate identity/corporate strategy interface. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This article has an explicit purpose of making a theoretical contribution to the issue of senior management cognitions of the corporate identity/corporate strategy interface. The aim of this research is to particularise the nature and saliency of this interface to corporate marketing scholars and practitioners alike.
Design/methodology/approach
This article adopts a grounded theory methodology and is informed by three in depth case studies undertaken among three building societies (mutuals) operating within the British Financial Services Industry.
Findings
The results confirm the saliency of the corporate identity/corporate strategy dyad vis‐a‐vis the comprehension and management of contemporary organisation. Theoretically, the study finds that senior management's cognitions of the corporate identity/strategy interface are interdependent, symbiotic and dynamic in nature: the nature of the dyad differed among the three institutions examined. In terms of the nascent domain of corporate marketing, this study confirms the extant literature, which suggests that, in addition to comprehending the psychology of customers and other stakeholders, the psychology of senior managers is also highly germane.
Practical implications
Within corporate marketing contexts, organisations should be mindful of the critical importance of the corporate identity/strategy interface; a concern for the above should be an important part of their corporate marketing as well as regulatory and strategic deliberations. However, senior managers should note the inherent dangers to identity maintenance where material alignment between corporate identity and strategy is ignored and where cognitive alignment is adopted as a surrogate: the former entails a synchronisation of facts whereas the latter entails the calibration of beliefs vis‐à‐vis corporate identity and strategy.
Originality/value
This is a major theory‐building study, which examines managerial cognitions of the corporate identity/strategy interface and a major study of its type within the British Building Society sector.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to examine the latest development of a crucial sub‐area within the field of corporate identity (CI): the interface between CI and strategy. Moreover…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the latest development of a crucial sub‐area within the field of corporate identity (CI): the interface between CI and strategy. Moreover, this paper presents the marketing implications of identity/strategy interface.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is based on both pertinent literature and a recent grounded theory case study on the interplay between identity and strategy,
Findings
The findings from literature review suggest that more theoretical and empirical studies are essential to advancing CI/strategy interface, whose progress in turn is critical to the field of corporate identity and corporate level marketing. The case study finds that: CI/strategy dissonance is a key construct to examine CI/strategy interface; and managers utilise a range of defence mechanism to make sense of CI/strategy dissonance.
Originality/value
Corporate identity research has paid generous attention to the potential mismatch between identity‐image, identity‐communication, identity‐culture, but limited attention has been directed to the potential breakdown of the CI/strategy link. The study suggests that companies should pay more attention to the potential negative effect of their market strategies, such as market choices and diversification, on identity and image. On the other hand, the dissonance between identity and strategy could be great opportunities for proactive reputation management and organizational change.
Details
Keywords
Hong‐Wei He and John M.T. Balmer
The concept of identity provides the platform by which many corporate‐level concepts can be understood such as corporate branding, corporate communications, corporate image and…
Abstract
Purpose
The concept of identity provides the platform by which many corporate‐level concepts can be understood such as corporate branding, corporate communications, corporate image and corporate reputation. As such, it can be viewed as providing the foundation to the nascent field of corporate marketing. This article seeks to break new ground by marshalling the literature that underpins the major disciplinary strands which inform identity studies and respectively focuses on the concepts of corporate identity (marketing) and organisational identity (organisational behaviour).
Design/methodology/approach
Two bodies of literature (corporate identity and organisational identity) were selected for review and examination in terms of their implications for corporate level marketing.
Findings
The authors' review of the literature makes an advance on extant reviews of the literature not only by highlighting the importance of identity and its potential to reveal the organisation (and thereby providing a foundation for the management and comprehension of corporate marketing activities such as corporate branding, communications, reputation etc.), but also by throwing light in terms of the various identity perspectives (four are identified) which differ with regard to conceptualisation, locus of analysis and explanandum.
Originality/value
This analysis of the literature reveals a degree of synergy and integration between the two disciplinary strands of thought relating to identity. Moreover, the analysis facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of the implications of identity studies for the nascent field of corporate marketing.
Details
Keywords
Hong‐Wei He and John M.T. Balmer
To investigate empirically the salience, and significance, of generic identity (industry‐wide identity) within the British Building Society Movement.
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate empirically the salience, and significance, of generic identity (industry‐wide identity) within the British Building Society Movement.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative, explanatory study drawing on the principles of grounded theory/case‐study research design.
Findings
The study confirmed the survival/existence of an industry‐wide identity and found this identity type to be of considerable significance and strength. The antecedents of the industry's identity were shown to be a common historical legacy; strong industry culture; effect of regulation; and industry responsiveness to threats. The study builds on the earlier work of Balmer regarding generic image and identity and confirms the salience of the “historicity” of identity articulated by Moingeon and Ramanantsoa. It broadly supports Albert and Whetten's categorisation of identity except with regard to enduringness. In this regard the research found Gioia's notion of adaptive instability to be salient.
Practical implications
The management of generic identity is of crucial importance. Changes of corporate identity need to take account of the generic identity.
Originality/value
The first major empirical study of generic identity and, as such, the first empirical study of industry identity within the financial services sector.