Keeping an eye on the mirror: Image and identity in organizational adaptation

Pg 519 – “Which issues gain attention and how they are interpreted are important concerns, as issues represent focal points that galvanize interest and direct attention in organizations because of the consequences associated with action or inaction. In some cases, issues activate decisions; in other cases, issues incite neglect or intentional inaction (Bachrach & Baratz, 1972).”

~ Issues cause global self to redistribute/form/dissolve identities, whether it be through action or inaction.

Pg 520 – “In brief, our analysis revealed that an organization’s identity and image are critical constructs for understanding the relationship between actions on and interpretations of an issue over time.”

~ So, basically an identity’s image (how one or those around one view the identity) is what causes it to be changed in any form over time.

Pg 520 – “An organization’s identity, or what organizational members believe to be its central, enduring, and distinctive character (Albert & Whetten, 1985), filters and molds an organization’s interpretation of and action on an issue.”

~ Replace organization with culture and this is how cultures change over time.

Pg 527 – “The five phases are described in terms of three components: key events, major interpretations, and major actions. The key events of each phase are the major developments and changes that informants identified as significant during a given phase of the issue’s evolution.”

~ Key events, major interpretations, and major actions also relate to identity change.

Pg 542 – “Two central themes that emerged from our analysis of interviews, media coverage, and internal memos focus on the role that the organization’s identity and image played in creating the pattern of how individuals in the organization interpreted and responded to the homelessness issue.”

~ So, image is one of the cognitive structures that affects identity.

Pg 542-3 – “In addition, the organization’s image was an important mirror for interpretations that triggered and judged issue action because of a close link between insiders’ views of the organization and insiders’ and outsiders’ inferences about the characters of organizational members.”

~ Not only those in a culture influence it, but those outside the culture, too.

Pg 543 – “First, the organization’s identity served as an important reference point that members used for assessing the importance of the issue. Perceptions of issue importance are in turn important predictors of willingness to invest in an issue (Dutton, Stumpf, & Wagner, 1990).”

~ The cultures that one inhabits are a reference point for judging issues importance and whether it will affect identity or not.

Pg 545 – “…Identity also constrained what members saw as legitimate interpretations.”

~ Identity limits culture by placing constraints on it.

Pg 545 – “…Identity affected the meanings members gave the issue.”

~ Identity affects possessions that are not identity related through meaning.

Pg 545 – “The organization’s identity was also significant in explaining the direction and level of emotional expression about the issue.”

~ Culture affects how one reacts to issues.

Pg 545-6 – “At the same time, the Port Authority’s identity also produced positive emotions when organizational actions were identity-consistent, especially when those actions were in arenas in which organization members did not expect action.”

~ The more coordinating the actions are with the identity/culture, the more positive the emotions around it are.

Pg 546 – “The Port Authority’s identity also affected the pattern of issue-related actions. First, the identity affected action through the link to issue interpretations and emotions discussed above. However, it also affected action directly by providing guidelines for evaluating success, recipes for solutions, and parameters for acceptable ways of resolving the issue.”

~ How identity affects actions. (Importance of identity)

Pg 546 – “The Port Authority’s identity offered implicit guidelines for evaluating the effectiveness of its actions on the issue.”

~ Identity provides guidelines for actions. (Importance of identity)

Pg 546 – “In this sense, an organization’s identity is closely tied to its culture because identity provides a set of skills and a way of using and evaluating those skills that produce characteristic ways of doing things (Nelson & Winter, 1982; Swidler, 1986).”

~ Identity provides skills, and way of using/evaluating skills.

Pg 547 – “Finally, individuals’ senses of the organization’s identity did more than activate a set of familiar routines for dealing with the issue. That identity also constrained what were considered acceptable or legitimate solutions (Meyer, 1982).”

~ Identity/culture limits action.

Pg 547 – “An organization’s identity describes what its members believe to be its character; an organization’s image describes attributes members believe people outside the organization use to distinguish it. Organizational image is different from reputation: reputation describes the actual attributes outsiders ascribe to an organization (Fombrun & Shanley, 1990; Weigelt & Camerer, 1988), but image describes insiders’ assessments of what outsiders think.”

~ Culture’s identity = character; culture’s image = attributes that those not in the culture judge the culture by; culture’s reputation = judgment by others.

Pg 548 – “An organization’s image matters greatly to its members because it represents members’ best guesses at what characteristics others are likely to ascribe to them because of their organizational affiliation. An organization’s image is directly related to the level of collective self-esteem derivable from organizational membership (Crocker & Luhtanen, 1990; Pierce, Gardner, Cummings, & Dunham, 1989). Individuals’ self-concepts and personal identities are formed and modified in part by how they believe others view the organization for which they work.”

~ Image is a huge issue with cultures because it affects the self-esteem of individuals. Personal identities are changed depending on how the culture is seen.

Pg 550 – “However, two persistent themes-that what people see as their organizations’ distinctive attributes (its identity) and what they believe others see as distinctive about the organization (its image) constrain, mold, and fuel interpretations-help link individual cognitions and behaviors to organizational actions.”

~ One’s culture/identity and image affect cultural actions and issues.

Pg 550 – “The relationship between individuals’ senses of their organizational identity and image and their own sense of who they are and what they stand for suggests a very personal connection between organizational action and individual motivation.”

~ Culture and identity have a very close connection.

Pg 550 – “It suggests that individuals have a stake in directing organizational action in ways that are consistent with what they believe is the essence of their organization. Actions are also directed in ways that actively try to manage outsiders’ impressions of the organizations’ character (its image) to capture a positive reflection.”

~ Those in a culture act in ways that are consistent with what their own identities tell them the culture is. They also try to make sure the culture will have the most positive image possible when acting on cultural issues.

Pg 551 – “It suggests that individuals in organizations keep one eye on the organizational mirror when they interpret, react, and commit to organizational actions.”

~ Those in a culture look towards how the culture is reflected to others when they act on cultural issues.

Dutton, J. E., Dukerich, J. M. (1991). Keeping an eye on the mirror: Image and identity in organizational adaptation. The Academy of Management Journal, 34(3). Retrieved October 17, 2008 from JSTOR database.