Publicly funded museums, history books and scholarly-led archives are considered to be the legiti... more Publicly funded museums, history books and scholarly-led archives are considered to be the legitimate wardens of history. However, private and commercially oriented corporations, too, can influence people's perception of history as well. Infamous-and extreme-cases, such as Volkswagen's deception related to crimes during the National Socialist era in Germany (Röpke & Steinhoff, 1999), demonstrate how interwoven corporations are with politics, culture, history, and the public perception of "facts". Similar discussions and critiques have emerged when it comes to other German organizations' portrayal of their actions and roles from 1933 to 1945 (Fleiter, 2007; Grieger, 2019). This portrayal includes commercial corporations making use of forced labour, such as BMW, Bahlsen and Dr. Oetker, as well as public organizations who not only followed orders, but actively contributed to atrocities. Other examples, contingent on national history, can be identified across Europe. In a Danish context, a much-discussed theme in Danish politicial and organizational history writing is the collaboration politics during the German occupation of Denmark 1940 to 1945, including Danish business' collaboration with the occupational forces in establishing the Atlantic Wall (Lueg & Johansen, 2021; Lauridsen, 2002). In the aftermath of the war years and up until the present, corporations and other organizations had to develop strategies for dealing with their past.
The Dark Side of Organiational Socialization: 3rd International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Discourse and Communication in Professional Contexts, 2021
Purpose: Although communication management is a widely used term, little emphasis is given to und... more Purpose: Although communication management is a widely used term, little emphasis is given to understanding it as a concept in its own right. The paper aims to establish a foundation for acknowledging communication management as a distinct concept through charting its multiple understandings in order to identify its defining features. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic review of understandings of communication management in public relations, corporate communication, strategic communication, and integrated communication literature was performed. Out of a total of 113 sources 40 were reviewed through a narrative synthesis. Findings: There is widespread and ambiguous use of the term rooted in two main strands of literature and a third, less coherent, strand. In addition, the different understandings point to central features linking communication, management, and strategy. Theoretical and practical implications: To make fully use of the potential of communication management as a...
Subject positioning Organizational and individual identities are well-established research areas.... more Subject positioning Organizational and individual identities are well-established research areas. One strand of research argues in favor of applying narrative as a theoretical lens for exploring organizational and individual identity. Rooted in a narrative conceptualization, the purpose of this study is to analyze and discuss how employees at a dairy cooperative simultaneously construct their individual identities and the identity of their organization. Based on observations of employees’ practices as they narrate the cooperative to an external audience, the different subject positions assigned by employees to themselves and the organization are explored. The exploration sheds light on how the interplay between individual and organizational identities manifests as part of everyday narrative practice. The study thus contributes with insight into the complex nature of identity construction and argues that if the identity construction of individual and organization is to be fully under...
International Journal of Strategic Communication, 2012
Narrative is assigned a central role in conceptualising and constructing both individual and coll... more Narrative is assigned a central role in conceptualising and constructing both individual and collective identity. The purpose of this article is to articulate a narrative vocabulary of corporate identity in order to address its implications for analyzing and storying identity. The central argument is that a narrative corporate identity vocabulary questions the usefulness of integrated communication and consequently introduces polyphonic assumptions regarding strategic organizational self-storying. Following a brief overview of existing corporate identity vocabularies articulated within mainstream research, a narrative vocabulary is constructed with reference to select contributions from organizational studies research. Third, an illustration of what corporate identity is when articulated from within a narrative point of view is offered with reference to the storying of the Danish-Swedish dairy cooperative Arla Foods during the controversy surrounding the 2006 Mohammed cartoon incident. Attention is given to the narrative construction and negotiation of the organization's identity with Danish consumers on its weblogs. In conclusion, focus is placed on the potential consequences a narrative vocabulary has for strategic self-storying. The consequences include ambiguous, collaborative and emergent storytelling practices.
This issue provides an overview of stakeholder theory and corporate identity scholarship marshall... more This issue provides an overview of stakeholder theory and corporate identity scholarship marshalling insights from the corporate marketing and corporate communications fields. In examining the corporate identity-stakeholder interface the authors compare and contrast endogeneous and exogenous approaches to the territory. The first, endogeneous and institutional, approach represents the orthodox and dominant perspective which focusses on an organization’s inherent corporate identity traits, ethos, and capabilities: an approach informed, in part, by stakeholder theory. The second, exogenous and relationnal, approach exemplies a critical and construcionist perspective where corporate identities are seen to be constituted by interactions with stakeholders. It is argued that both perspectives can be of value in comprehending contemporary organisations.
... Britta Timm Knudsen a , Anne Ellerup Nielsen b* , Sophie Esmann Andersen b , Trine SusanneJoh... more ... Britta Timm Knudsen a , Anne Ellerup Nielsen b* , Sophie Esmann Andersen b , Trine SusanneJohansen b , Carsten Stage a a Nordic Institute, University of Aarhus ... representative Bobby Shriver, as a new approach to generating awareness and ensuring ...
Abstract This study explores how corporate citizenship challenges the notion of corporate centric... more Abstract This study explores how corporate citizenship challenges the notion of corporate centricity underpinning the corporate marketing discipline. Theoretically, the argument is developed with reference to the concept of corporate citizenship and cultural branding theories. Methodologically, the study applies a discourse analysis to Instagram posts and comments associated with Bodyformuk’s cultural brand campaign #bloodnormal as an illustrative case of corporate citizenship. By focusing on the interplay between the micro-processes of individual consumers’ brand interactions and macro-level cultural discourses, the study shows that a) users hold active agency in rearticulating the corporately conveyed cultural discourses and, hence, claims of corporate citizenship; and b) the brand actively uses these user-driven counter discourses as source material for continuously rematerializing corporate citizenship. The study contributes to the corporate marketing literature by highlighting the challenges of corporate centricity when the brand becomes part of a politized discourse and enacts corporate citizenship.
Corporate Communications: An International Journal
PurposeThe aim is to review and discuss main conceptualizations, themes and assumptions within or... more PurposeThe aim is to review and discuss main conceptualizations, themes and assumptions within organizational-level visual identity (VI) in order to identify potential avenues of theoretical advancement of VI as an independent construct.Design/methodology/approachAn integrative review approach offers a structured, nuanced perspective on the concept by synthesizing extant literature through an iterative, critical and qualitative process.FindingsThe synthesis identifies three overlapping terms [corporate visual identity (CVI), visual brand identity (VBI) and VI] and two main themes (visual consistency and authenticity). The dominant assumptions underpinning consistency and authenticity are challenged by alternative understandings, which provide a platform for perceiving visual consistency and authenticity in new ways.Research limitations/implicationsThe review offers an overview of organizational-level VI that helps define the concept as well as critical reflections which open up for ...
Corporate Communications: An International Journal
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conceptually and empirically explore and challenge the do... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conceptually and empirically explore and challenge the dogma of Corporate visual identity (CVI) consistency. The goal is to nuance the current polarized debate of consistency or no consistency. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research strategy is employed in this paper. Specifically, the empirical work rests on an interview study with strategists from ten different CVI agencies. The interview transcripts are analyzed using template analysis. Findings In terms of findings, both empirical and conceptual arguments for and against CVI consistency are presented. Many of these arguments rest on conflicting assumptions of CVI communication, CVI authenticity and CVI management, which all influence the debate of CVI consistency. Practical implications CVI practitioners are presented with a more reflective approach to dealing with consistency and hands on examples for inspiration. Originality/value This paper offers alternative and more nuance...
International Studies of Management & Organization, 2016
The purpose of the study is to conceptualize the identity of non-profit organizations as suspende... more The purpose of the study is to conceptualize the identity of non-profit organizations as suspended between various stakeholders who present the organizations with different challenges, paradoxes and dilemmas. Thus it seeks to answer the questions: How do we define and study the relational identity of a non-profit organization (NPO)?And how do stakeholders participate in NPO identity constructing practices? Theoretically, the study draws on and contributes to the relational conceptualization of organizational identity as a discursive accomplishment. Based on a discourse analysis of an online discussion on the micro lending NPO Kiva, the study's findings point to complex articulations of both the organization and its stakeholders. Conclusively, the study suggests that NPO identity can be defined and studied through multiple discourses articulated by stakeholders. In addition, it points to understanding NPO identity alongside stakeholder identities, as stakeholders construct a number of different identities simultaneously.
Publicly funded museums, history books and scholarly-led archives are considered to be the legiti... more Publicly funded museums, history books and scholarly-led archives are considered to be the legitimate wardens of history. However, private and commercially oriented corporations, too, can influence people's perception of history as well. Infamous-and extreme-cases, such as Volkswagen's deception related to crimes during the National Socialist era in Germany (Röpke & Steinhoff, 1999), demonstrate how interwoven corporations are with politics, culture, history, and the public perception of "facts". Similar discussions and critiques have emerged when it comes to other German organizations' portrayal of their actions and roles from 1933 to 1945 (Fleiter, 2007; Grieger, 2019). This portrayal includes commercial corporations making use of forced labour, such as BMW, Bahlsen and Dr. Oetker, as well as public organizations who not only followed orders, but actively contributed to atrocities. Other examples, contingent on national history, can be identified across Europe. In a Danish context, a much-discussed theme in Danish politicial and organizational history writing is the collaboration politics during the German occupation of Denmark 1940 to 1945, including Danish business' collaboration with the occupational forces in establishing the Atlantic Wall (Lueg & Johansen, 2021; Lauridsen, 2002). In the aftermath of the war years and up until the present, corporations and other organizations had to develop strategies for dealing with their past.
The Dark Side of Organiational Socialization: 3rd International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Discourse and Communication in Professional Contexts, 2021
Purpose: Although communication management is a widely used term, little emphasis is given to und... more Purpose: Although communication management is a widely used term, little emphasis is given to understanding it as a concept in its own right. The paper aims to establish a foundation for acknowledging communication management as a distinct concept through charting its multiple understandings in order to identify its defining features. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic review of understandings of communication management in public relations, corporate communication, strategic communication, and integrated communication literature was performed. Out of a total of 113 sources 40 were reviewed through a narrative synthesis. Findings: There is widespread and ambiguous use of the term rooted in two main strands of literature and a third, less coherent, strand. In addition, the different understandings point to central features linking communication, management, and strategy. Theoretical and practical implications: To make fully use of the potential of communication management as a...
Subject positioning Organizational and individual identities are well-established research areas.... more Subject positioning Organizational and individual identities are well-established research areas. One strand of research argues in favor of applying narrative as a theoretical lens for exploring organizational and individual identity. Rooted in a narrative conceptualization, the purpose of this study is to analyze and discuss how employees at a dairy cooperative simultaneously construct their individual identities and the identity of their organization. Based on observations of employees’ practices as they narrate the cooperative to an external audience, the different subject positions assigned by employees to themselves and the organization are explored. The exploration sheds light on how the interplay between individual and organizational identities manifests as part of everyday narrative practice. The study thus contributes with insight into the complex nature of identity construction and argues that if the identity construction of individual and organization is to be fully under...
International Journal of Strategic Communication, 2012
Narrative is assigned a central role in conceptualising and constructing both individual and coll... more Narrative is assigned a central role in conceptualising and constructing both individual and collective identity. The purpose of this article is to articulate a narrative vocabulary of corporate identity in order to address its implications for analyzing and storying identity. The central argument is that a narrative corporate identity vocabulary questions the usefulness of integrated communication and consequently introduces polyphonic assumptions regarding strategic organizational self-storying. Following a brief overview of existing corporate identity vocabularies articulated within mainstream research, a narrative vocabulary is constructed with reference to select contributions from organizational studies research. Third, an illustration of what corporate identity is when articulated from within a narrative point of view is offered with reference to the storying of the Danish-Swedish dairy cooperative Arla Foods during the controversy surrounding the 2006 Mohammed cartoon incident. Attention is given to the narrative construction and negotiation of the organization's identity with Danish consumers on its weblogs. In conclusion, focus is placed on the potential consequences a narrative vocabulary has for strategic self-storying. The consequences include ambiguous, collaborative and emergent storytelling practices.
This issue provides an overview of stakeholder theory and corporate identity scholarship marshall... more This issue provides an overview of stakeholder theory and corporate identity scholarship marshalling insights from the corporate marketing and corporate communications fields. In examining the corporate identity-stakeholder interface the authors compare and contrast endogeneous and exogenous approaches to the territory. The first, endogeneous and institutional, approach represents the orthodox and dominant perspective which focusses on an organization’s inherent corporate identity traits, ethos, and capabilities: an approach informed, in part, by stakeholder theory. The second, exogenous and relationnal, approach exemplies a critical and construcionist perspective where corporate identities are seen to be constituted by interactions with stakeholders. It is argued that both perspectives can be of value in comprehending contemporary organisations.
... Britta Timm Knudsen a , Anne Ellerup Nielsen b* , Sophie Esmann Andersen b , Trine SusanneJoh... more ... Britta Timm Knudsen a , Anne Ellerup Nielsen b* , Sophie Esmann Andersen b , Trine SusanneJohansen b , Carsten Stage a a Nordic Institute, University of Aarhus ... representative Bobby Shriver, as a new approach to generating awareness and ensuring ...
Abstract This study explores how corporate citizenship challenges the notion of corporate centric... more Abstract This study explores how corporate citizenship challenges the notion of corporate centricity underpinning the corporate marketing discipline. Theoretically, the argument is developed with reference to the concept of corporate citizenship and cultural branding theories. Methodologically, the study applies a discourse analysis to Instagram posts and comments associated with Bodyformuk’s cultural brand campaign #bloodnormal as an illustrative case of corporate citizenship. By focusing on the interplay between the micro-processes of individual consumers’ brand interactions and macro-level cultural discourses, the study shows that a) users hold active agency in rearticulating the corporately conveyed cultural discourses and, hence, claims of corporate citizenship; and b) the brand actively uses these user-driven counter discourses as source material for continuously rematerializing corporate citizenship. The study contributes to the corporate marketing literature by highlighting the challenges of corporate centricity when the brand becomes part of a politized discourse and enacts corporate citizenship.
Corporate Communications: An International Journal
PurposeThe aim is to review and discuss main conceptualizations, themes and assumptions within or... more PurposeThe aim is to review and discuss main conceptualizations, themes and assumptions within organizational-level visual identity (VI) in order to identify potential avenues of theoretical advancement of VI as an independent construct.Design/methodology/approachAn integrative review approach offers a structured, nuanced perspective on the concept by synthesizing extant literature through an iterative, critical and qualitative process.FindingsThe synthesis identifies three overlapping terms [corporate visual identity (CVI), visual brand identity (VBI) and VI] and two main themes (visual consistency and authenticity). The dominant assumptions underpinning consistency and authenticity are challenged by alternative understandings, which provide a platform for perceiving visual consistency and authenticity in new ways.Research limitations/implicationsThe review offers an overview of organizational-level VI that helps define the concept as well as critical reflections which open up for ...
Corporate Communications: An International Journal
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conceptually and empirically explore and challenge the do... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conceptually and empirically explore and challenge the dogma of Corporate visual identity (CVI) consistency. The goal is to nuance the current polarized debate of consistency or no consistency. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research strategy is employed in this paper. Specifically, the empirical work rests on an interview study with strategists from ten different CVI agencies. The interview transcripts are analyzed using template analysis. Findings In terms of findings, both empirical and conceptual arguments for and against CVI consistency are presented. Many of these arguments rest on conflicting assumptions of CVI communication, CVI authenticity and CVI management, which all influence the debate of CVI consistency. Practical implications CVI practitioners are presented with a more reflective approach to dealing with consistency and hands on examples for inspiration. Originality/value This paper offers alternative and more nuance...
International Studies of Management & Organization, 2016
The purpose of the study is to conceptualize the identity of non-profit organizations as suspende... more The purpose of the study is to conceptualize the identity of non-profit organizations as suspended between various stakeholders who present the organizations with different challenges, paradoxes and dilemmas. Thus it seeks to answer the questions: How do we define and study the relational identity of a non-profit organization (NPO)?And how do stakeholders participate in NPO identity constructing practices? Theoretically, the study draws on and contributes to the relational conceptualization of organizational identity as a discursive accomplishment. Based on a discourse analysis of an online discussion on the micro lending NPO Kiva, the study's findings point to complex articulations of both the organization and its stakeholders. Conclusively, the study suggests that NPO identity can be defined and studied through multiple discourses articulated by stakeholders. In addition, it points to understanding NPO identity alongside stakeholder identities, as stakeholders construct a number of different identities simultaneously.
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Papers by Trine Johansen