Author Description

This edited book is devoted to an issue of increasing importance in management theory and practice-organizational identity. The concept of organizational identity has received attention in many disciplines such as strategic management, marketing, communication and public relations and organization theory. In practice a number of consultancy firms have specialized in identity management, while a number of academic conferences with a special focus on identity has developed. As globalisation of business and of organizations of all kinds become the norm rather than the exception, issues of collective identities take on a strategic importance. There has been, however, very little integration among the various disciplines and practices, resulting in conflicting definitions, and little cumulative research. The aim of Organizational Identities is to further understanding about collective identities by bringing together contributions from various management disciplines. To this end, the editors have developed an integrative framework - the five-facet framework - that allows articulation of contributions from disciplines as diverse as strategic management, organization theory, marketing and communication. Sixteen scholars from Europe and the US have contributed nine chapters that explore various aspects of collective identities using this five-facet framework. The result is the first book to bring together contributions from various fields and integrate them into a single conceptual framework. The book will be useful both for academics and for practitioners. It includes a balance of theoretical and empirical chapters, and presents original empirical data drawn from field research in a variety of settings.