Managing The Personality of the
Organisation
Corporate Reputation and
Competitiveness
Lecture 9
Lecture Objectives
• To explore what is implied in the way an
organisation functions by different aspects
of corporate personality
Is Reputation a Strategic
Paradigm?
• Matching the resources of the firm to the demands
of the marketplace (harmonizing image and
identity)
• Providing a sense of direction (improve on those
aspects of image that satisfy customers)
• Deliver above average profitability (worth about
5% sales growth merely by comparing what
happens internally)
• An asset worth about half a year’s turnover
Changing Reputation
• STEP 1 Recognize too that managing reputation is
about managing the way people feel and that
emotions are difficult things to assess, let alone
manage.
• STEP 2 Reputation functions where they exist
have evolved from PR into corporate
communications functions. They need to move on
to the next stage in their evolution so that they can
manage the many facets of a business that
contribute to reputation
Changing Reputation
• STEP 3 Measure the image you have with
customers and your identity, particularly the
view of your customer facing employees
• STEP 4 Identify what co-relates with, covaries with or drives (chose your own
jargon here) stakeholder satisfaction and
your commercial performance
Changing Reputation
• STEP 5 Identify those dimensions of
reputation where you need to improve
• STEP 6 Ask your employees and customers
how they feel you should make these
improvements and what specific actions you
should take, what changes in micro
behavior need to be addressed.
Changing Reputation
• STEP 7 Support the ideas identified in the
way employees need to feel about the
organization through training, the selection
and induction of new employees and
internal and external communications.
• STEP 8 Only once the internal view,
identity has been improved is it time to
communicate to customers.
Changing Reputation
• STEP 9 Check in a year or two whether you
have changed your reputation for the good
by surveying staff and customers again. It
takes time to change reputation so don’t try
to measure it every month!.
Reputation and Culture
• Reputation and Culture are close in a
service organisation, particularly identity
(who we think we are) and culture (how we
do things around here).
• So is it possible to link the ideas together
more formally?
Identity Dimensions
1.5
Informality
1.0
Agreeableness
.5
Chic
Enterprise
0.0
Competence
-.5
Machismo
Ruthlessness
-1.0
-1.5
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
The Culture Issue
SOCIABILITY
LO
HIGH
NETWORKED
COMMUNAL
FRAGMENTED
MERCENARY
Source: The Character of a Corporation, Rob
Coffee and Gareth Jones, Harper Collins,1998
SOLIDARITY
HIGH
LO
NETWORKED CULTURES
Managers know each other well
A friendly, supportive environment
No real shared sense of what the organisation is
about, but perhaps there is no need for this
anyway
Open plan, open door, meetings before meetings
culture, work time used to socialise, personal
differences down-played, alumni associations
MERCENARY CULTURES
Results orientation
Achievement is celebrated
No socialising during working hours
Communication is direct and functional
People work long hours and identify with winning,
beating the competition, exceeding last years’
targets
Employees come and go. There are no ceremonies
to celebrate long service awards, but there’s no need
either.
FRAGMENTED CULTURES
Employees are not interdependent, they do not need to
be
Office doors are closed
Offices are often empty, but are well equiped
Talk is limited to brief exchanges, documents go
unread
A focus on achieving professional excellence, human
relationships are not seen as relevant to this goal
Individualism and personal freedom are valued.
Personal lives remain undisclosed
COMMUNAL CULTURES
A strong sense of corporate identity, the walls are adorned
by the company mission and vision statement
Working space is shared, social and eating areas overlap
with work areas
People live at work, social relationships are extensions of
work ones
Employees are fiercely loyal, even after they leave
Examples include voluntary organisations and religious
groups
Identity Dimensions
1.5
COMMUNAL
1.0
Informality
NETWORKED
Agreeableness
.5
Chic
Enterprise
0.0
Competence
-.5
Machismo
FRAGMENTED
Ruthlessness
-1.0
-1.5
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
The Personality of Your
Organisation
Just What is different
about an organisation
typified by Agreeableness?
AGREEABLENESS
Warmth
Empathy
Integrity
Cheerful
Concerned
Honest
Pleasant
Reassuring
Sincere
Open
Supportive
Straightforward
Agreeable
Socially Responsible
Trustworthy
Copyright 2001
The Personality of Your
Organisation
Competence
COMPETENCE
Conscientiousness
Drive
Reliable
Ambitious
Secure
Achievement
Oriented
Hardworking
Technocracy
Technical
Corporate
Leading
Copyright 2001
The Personality of Your
Organisation
Enterprise
ENTERPRISE
Modernity
Adventure
Cool
Imaginative
Boldness
Extrovert
Trendy
Up to Date
Daring
Young
Exciting
Innovative
Copyright 2001
The Personality of Your
Organisation
Chic
CHIC
Elegance
Prestige
Snobbery
Charming
Prestigious
Snobby
Stylish
Exclusive
Elegant
Refined
Elitist
Copyright 2001
The Personality of Your
Organisation
Ruthlessness
RUTHLESSNESS
Egotism
Dominance
Arrogant
Inward Looking
Aggressive
Authoritarian
Selfish
Controlling
Copyright 2001
The Personality of Your
Organisation
Machismo
MACHISMO
Masculine
Tough
Rugged
Copyright 2001
The Personality of Your
Organisation
Informality
INFORMALITY
Casual
Simple
Easy going
Copyright 2001
Summary
• Different aspects of corporate personality
imply differences in culture, internal design
recruitment policy, training,
communication, marketing and HR policies,
and corporate strategy.