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Constructing Organizational Identities on the Web: A Case Study of Royal Dutch/Shell

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  • Christine Coupland
  • Andrew D. Brown

Abstract

In this paper we analyse two of the e‐mail exchanges that had been posted on Royal Dutch/Shell's Web site in order to investigate how organizational identities are constructed through processes of description, questioning, contestation and defence. Organizational identities may be regarded as ongoing arguments between insiders and between ostensible insiders and outsiders, who deploy various persuasive techniques in their efforts to render hegemonic their versions of an organization's identity. Making plausible through persuasive rhetoric is a complex task, and requires a discourse analytic methodology and an analytical focus on whole utterances, in order to explicate how identity‐as‐argument is enacted. The research implications of our paper are twofold. First, by focusing on language as an opaque phenomenon, taken‐for‐granted ways of being persuasive are made strange and hence more visible. Second, our understanding of organizations as situated in ongoing, multi‐focused arguments, illustrates a new way of conceptualizing the polyphonic, genre‐relevant nature of institutional identities.

Suggested Citation

  • Christine Coupland & Andrew D. Brown, 2004. "Constructing Organizational Identities on the Web: A Case Study of Royal Dutch/Shell," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(8), pages 1325-1347, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:41:y:2004:i:8:p:1325-1347
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2004.00477.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Krista Bondy & Jeremy Moon & Dirk Matten, 2012. "An Institution of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Multi-National Corporations (MNCs): Form and Implications," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(2), pages 281-299, December.
    2. Wæraas, Arild, 2017. "The external presentation of organizational identity orientation: A study of employment advertisement s 1975-2015," Working Paper Series 07-2017, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, School of Economics and Business.
    3. Glen Whelan, 2013. "Corporate Constructed and Dissent Enabling Public Spheres: Differentiating Dissensual from Consensual Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(4), pages 755-769, July.
    4. David Oliver & Matthew Statler & Johan Roos, 2010. "A Meta-Ethical Perspective on Organizational Identity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(3), pages 427-440, July.
    5. Sörgärde, Nadja, 2020. "Story-dismantling, story-meandering, and story-confirming: Organizational identity work in times of public disgrace," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(3).
    6. Breit, Eric, 2014. "Discursive practices of remedial organizational identity work: A study of the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 231-241.
    7. Ludovico Bullini Orlandi, 2017. "Am I an Entrepreneur? Identity Struggle in the Contemporary Women Entrepreneurship Discourse," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 11(4), December.
    8. Lutz Preuss & David Dawson, 2009. "On the Quality and Legitimacy of Green Narratives in Business: A Framework for Evaluation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(1), pages 135-149, January.
    9. André Spicer & Graham Sewell, 2010. "From National Service to Global Player: Transforming the Organizational Logic of a Public Broadcaster," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(6), pages 913-943, September.
    10. Beech, Nic & Gilmore, Charlotte & Cochrane, Eilidh & Greig, Gail, 2012. "Identity work as a response to tensions: A re-narration in opera rehearsals," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 39-47.
    11. Yasir Rashid, Muhammad Zeeshan, 2018. "Customer Attitude towards Online Ads of Smartphone Brands: A Netnographic Analysis of User Generated Comments on YouTube," Journal of Management Sciences, Geist Science, Iqra University, Faculty of Business Administration, vol. 5(2), pages 40-64, October.
    12. Elizabeth Goodrick & Jennifer Ling Bagdasarian & Lee C. Jarvis, 2022. "Not on Skid Row: Stigma Management in Addiction Treatment Organizations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(8), pages 2067-2100, December.
    13. Brown, Andrew D., 2018. "Making sense of the war in Afghanistan," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 43-56.
    14. Krista Bondy & Dirk Matten & Jeremy Moon, 2008. "Multinational Corporation Codes of Conduct: Governance Tools for Corporate Social Responsibility?," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 294-311, July.
    15. Nadine Kammerlander & Andreas König & Melanie Richards, 2018. "Why Do Incumbents Respond Heterogeneously to Disruptive Innovations? The Interplay of Domain Identity and Role Identity," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(7), pages 1122-1165, November.
    16. Leonhard Dobusch & Dennis Schoeneborn, 2015. "Fluidity, Identity, and Organizationality: The Communicative Constitution of Anonymous," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(8), pages 1005-1035, December.
    17. Blake E. Ashforth & Kristie M. Rogers & Kevin G. Corley, 2011. "Identity in Organizations: Exploring Cross-Level Dynamics," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1144-1156, October.

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