5 Communicating Identity Individually and Collectively Organizations (like individuals) increasingly talk about ‘having” identities, seek- ing identities, and even changing identities. Expressions of identity have become almost sacred points of reference when organizations seek to navigate in today’s world. Organizations are highly preoccupied with the messages they convey to their surroundings, not only with respect to their products and services but also in terms of social, environmental, and ethical issues. Many organizations also focus on the com- munication of their employees, believing that people represent the organization even after hours and contribute to the overall message about the organization’s identity. On their part, employees often think of their workplace as an integral dimension of their personal identity and expect their employing organization to communicate profes- sionally and convincingly with them as employees as well as with the larger world. In this chapter we look at the multiple dynamics and paradoxes involved when organi- zations pursue solid identities in a world saturated with corporate messages. Defining Organizational Identity At the broadest level it is useful to think of identity as something every living sys- tem is doing—and in fact must do—in order to maintain itself. As systems theorists have pointed out, identity is closely related to the ways living systems make sense of themselves and their environments. Any living system needs to delineate boundaries between itself and its surroundings and to monitor and maintain those boundaries constantly. Just as we need to have some awareness of the boundaries of our bodies (one characteristic of some forms of schizophrenia is that people are unable to tell where their bodies end and the rest of the world begins), so do organizations require a sense of “self” to maintain coherence. There’s nothing mystical about this—it’s a matter of keeping track of who and what you are. To do less than that means schizophrenia for the individual and loss of the capacity to “hold things together” for the organization. Economic globalization, networks, and technological advancement greatly complicate the issues of boundaries for organizations, as we will discuss in this and later chapters. What do we mean when we talk about identity and, in particular, organizational identity? Identity has become such a widely used term that we rarely consider its specific 107 108 < Chapter Five meaning. In the context of everyday language, we typically talk about identity when we want to refer to something special or unique that characterizes a social entity and sets it apart from its surroundings. In this commonsense understanding, identity is what makes it possible for us to recognize an individual or an organization as distinct. For example, what makes you distinct as an individual? Consider the same question with respect to your university or an organization. What is distinctive about these organiza- tions, and how stable and persistent are the identities that we perceive? Social psychologists talk about identity as structures or patterns—of, for example, behaviors, looks, or opinions—that can be recognized and validated as unique, auton- omous, and relatively stable in time and space. But what does this mean when we talk about organizations? Management scholars Stuart Albert and David Whetten view identity as the consistent thread that runs through an organization over time. Specifically, they refer to organizational identity as the central, distinct, and enduring dimensions of an organization. What, however, makes an organization special or per- haps unique? And how stable does it need to be in order for us to perceive and accept its identity? Is it even realistic to say that an organization has an identity—in the sense of something essential or enduring? There are no simple answers to these questions. The first difficulty in assessing organizational identity is that organizations are not really unique in and of themselves. Ideas about organizational uniqueness develop from perceptions of differences between or among organizations—a fact that reminds us just how dependent an identity is on its surroundings. For example, how can we understand the unique position of Italy's Benetton without acknowledging the differences between its advertisements and those of other clothing companies? Clearly," "difference" presupposes "sameness," and there is no way we can understand one without the other. Interestingly, in their pursuit of identity and difference, many organizations end up demonstrating conformity and imitation. For example, in efforts to render themselves distinct, organizations often describe themselves as "innovative" or "participatory" and initiate a range of programs including diversity seminars, sug- gestion boxes, "lunch with the boss,' and employee shareholding packages. Yet the actual structure and content of such programs do not differ significantly from one organization to another. As we have stressed elsewhere in this text, there's nothing so common as an "innovative organization" these days! Second, stability with respect to organizational identity begs the question of what it means to be "stable." Change, variation, and even conflict are inevitably part of organizational identity because, like human identity, it is shaped by multiple resources (social, political, psychological, material) over the course of time. The late nineteenth-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche provided perhaps the most provocative formulation of identity from a communication standpoint. He con- ceived of messages about who we are in terms of narrative. From this point of view, the stories that organizations tell about themselves, their work, and their world con- struct their identity—that is, the stories themselves fold into the identity and in a very real sense become the identity. Nietzsche's conception of identity is much more fluid than our usual, everyday sense of identity as something solid, reliable, and immuta- ble. In line with this general perspective, management scholars Blake Ashforth and Fred Mael define organizational identity as "unfolding and stylized narratives about the 'soul or essence of the organization."5 Other organizational theorists argue that organizational identity is fluid and unstable because it is related to the organization's image, which is constantly shaped by external pressures and interpretations. The 110 < Chapter Five Then consider the image and the reputation of McDonald's. Are these the same? What are the differences? How do the French, or the Indonesians, or the Egyptians see McDonald's, as opposed to its image, its identity, and its reputation in the United States? If you compare your answers with those of your friends, you'll see how difficult these questions are and how much the answers depend on individual definitions of terms. Identity in Historical Context It's interesting to look at the history of the term identity. The ancient Greek concept of tautotes, rendered into classical Latin as identitas, referred not so much to differences between individuals but rather to sameness. Identity in the pre-Western past pointed mainly to what was shared and in common—the bonds that tied people together. The idea of a unique special self emerged from the ideas of the Enlightenment writers in England and France in the late eighteenth century. As mentioned in chapter 4, nineteenth-century sociologist Émile Durkheim observed a marked contrast between tribal or preindustrial societies and modern or industrialized societies. In tribal or preindustrial societies, Durkheim noted, identity was largely ascribed to the individual by the social group or the collectivity. Rather than having choices available, every individual in that society was expected to share the same beliefs, religion, economic system, culture, etc. The social order was largely taken for granted, and individual identity was virtually inseparable from collective identity. In fact, many languages of the preindustrial world did not have the first per- son pronoun 'I' (some of these languages still exist). An individual expressed his beliefs or her opinions indirectly through reference to the group. In modern or indus- trialized societies, identity is essentially undefined. In sociological terms, modern identities are achieved—that is, constructed and constantly shaped, positioned, and negotiated vis-à-vis the surrounding world. (We'll discuss some implications of this Box 5.2 A 'Decorporated' Society French philosopher Olivier Mongin uses the body (or corpus) as a metaphor for traditional society. Conversely, he describes modernity as a process of "decorporation," a process that dis- solves the ancient relations of community and authority through which people traditionally defined their status, roles, and positions in society. Modern society, according to Mongin, has no "corporeality" and thus no capacity to ascribe enduring positions to its members. Being decorpo- rated, the modern individual lacks a stable source of identity, a lack that results in a constant search for points of identification. This problem is not confined to the individual (in, say, her "identity crisis" or his need to "find himself") but reflects a collective identity crisis of modernity." 10 Modern society is thus characterized by an inherent weakness. Without a clear, shared symbolism to unite and integrate its members, modern society regularly needs to reinvent and rearticulate collective visions and collective representations. What interests Mongin in particular are the attempts of the present age to reestablish and assert shared social bodies. He finds such attempts in various versions of totalitarianism, both at the extreme right and the extreme left of the political spectrum. Later in this chapter, we will discuss contemporary business organizations that see themselves as providers of corporeality (community, identity, and power). 112 < Chapter Five the Creating Identities with the Organization Organizations have become important sources of identity for the citizens of industrialized societies. In the 1960s, 'I'm an IBMer" defined and distinguished a size- able portion of the workforce. Can you think of other slogans that express allegiance to an organization? Careerism developed as a modern phenomenon, and many large corporations began to dominate the identity landscape of the United States, Japan, and Europe after World War II. Attachment to employing organizations, as well as to brand names, became more and more common. The Organization Man, written in the 1950s by William H. Whyte, pointed to the paradox of rampant conformity within a supposedly individualistic society (the United States). To put it in other terms, it is ironic that many of us express our uniqueness primarily through affiliation and identifi- cation with particular groups, organizations, classes, brand names, nations, etc. Social psychologists, however, have demonstrated that our identities are highly dependent on continuous validation by significant others. We get to know who we are through gaze of the other.12 Identification, thus, is a process through which our personal identities achieve social currency. Knowing that we can acquire a more positive identity in the eyes of our signifi- cant others through associations with popular or respected organizations, we tend to experience threats to those organizations as threats to our own identities. In addition, we tend to associate more strongly with organizations that have a strong and positive image.13 Because we generally define who we are through attachments to organiza- tions, we are keen to protect and affirm positive perceptions of the organizations to which we belong. Thus, organizational attachments become self-reinforcing. Knowing that they have become important sources of identity for the individual, organizations increasingly seek to extend the corporate community beyond the work- place. 14 In addition to using the pronoun "we" in advertising and other forms of offi- cial communication, a growing number of organizations organize day-care centers, social clubs, or fitness centers for their employees. By organizing such activities, orga- nizations hope to build stronger bonds with their members, to stimulate motivation, and to heighten loyalty—in other words, to increase identification. An extreme exam- ple of this extension of the 'organizational self" to the individual is the creation of cor- porate burial plots in contemporary Japan. Identification with an employer is apparent in behavior that communicates loy- alty to the organization, its values, and policies. It is also visible in artifacts like uni- forms, logos, plaques on the wall, etc. All of these emblems of identification express the bond of the individual to the organization. Social theorist Nelson N. Foote defined identification in terms of naming, in that individuals and groups struggle over what to call one another even as they try to find out 'who they are."15 Consider, for example, how the naming of opponents in conflicts or war ('freedom fighters' or 'terrorists') are essential in identifying supporters and spurring collective action. The concept of identification first surfaced in the psychoanalytic writings of Sig- mund Freud. He viewed the process as a defense mechanism, as when a person iden- tifies with his boss as if the boss were his father. To Freud, this tendency was a natural though problematic extension of one kind of social bond to another; it is an inappro- priate, although understandable, 'transference' of affection and authority that helps to protect the ego. Psychologists and sociologists have emphasized the important role of identification in personal development, stressing how the individual internalizes or 126 < Chapter Five To create goodwill among stakeholders and in the media, organizations couple corporate visibility with a sense of purpose and legitimacy. Stakeholders increasingly demand more explicit communication that links corporate identity with social values. Finally, to attract and retain good employees, organizations need to create a cohesive identity and a sense of community and belongingness. As we have already discussed, there is a growing expectation that organizations will provide their members with clear points of identification. Thus, there are many different audiences for an organi- zation's identity efforts. The Pursuit of Integration Organizations can assert their identities in many different ways. During the last two decades, such efforts have been shaped by the ideal of 'integrated communica- tion," the notion that organizations, in order to establish their presence and legitimacy in the marketplace, must communicate consistently across different audiences and dif- ferent media.62 By coordinating and aligning all messages from the organization (including visions, strategies, and identity themes), organizations pursuing integrated communication hope to create a unified impression of what the organization is and what it stands for.63 While some organizations only integrate their communications at the level of specific marketing campaigns (seeking synergy between advertising, sales promotions, point-of-purchase communications, etc.), more and more organizations have begun to think of their communications in their entirety—as a total 'body' of communication that includes virtually everything the organization says or does. 64 From a managerial perspective, integrated communication makes a lot of sense. Proponents of integrated communication, thus, argue that consistency helps corporate messages "break through the clutter' in a world saturated with commercial symbols and messages. Simultaneously, it allows organizations to bolster their branding efforts and to build a reputation of distinction and trustworthiness. Moreover, we are told, integration makes it easier to brief the communication agency, to make sure that media budgets are spent more efficiently, to obtain a higher degree of precision in campaigns, and, consequently, to assure that economic resources are employed optimally. In today's business landscape, the pool of arguments in favor of consistency and integration has expanded into a field of corporate accountability. In the aftermath of the corporate meltdown, and especially under the impact of the current financial cri- sis, the call for corporate credibility has become more pronounced than ever before. While such pressures are not new, their intensity and impact on contemporary organi- zations are remarkable. In their efforts to respond to social expectations and to present themselves as coherent, reliable, and trustworthy institutions with nothing to hide, organizations across sectors increasingly embrace measures of integration. As Lars Thøger Christensen and Roy Langer argue, contemporary organizations adapt to the growing demand for information and stakeholder insight through strategies of consist- ency—that is, by formalizing all communications and pursuing uniformity in every- thing they say and do.66 While such efforts are understandable, the ideal of integration tends to ignore the difficulties of managing and controlling all messages that emanate from an organiza- tion, let alone the interpretations of these "integrated" messages by different audi- ences. As research into consumer behavior has demonstrated, receivers of corporate messages are playful cocreators of meaning who often interpret and use corporate symbols and messages differently from their original purpose, reshape and adapt them 65 Purchase answer to see full attachment

Mastering the Art of Online Learning: Your Guide to Acing Online Courses

Introduction

In recent years, the popularity of online courses has skyrocketed, offering learners the flexibility to acquire new skills and knowledge from the comfort of their homes. However, succeeding in online courses requires a different approach compared to traditional classroom settings. To help you make the most of your online learning experience, this article presents essential strategies and tips to ace your online courses.

1. Set Clear Goals and Plan Ahead

Before embarking on an online course, establish clear goals and objectives. Determine what you hope to achieve by the end of the course and break down your goals into manageable milestones. Create a study schedule that aligns with your other commitments, ensuring you allocate dedicated time for coursework, assignments, and revision.

2. Create a Productive Study Environment

Establishing a conducive study environment is crucial for online learning success. Find a quiet, well-lit space where you can concentrate without distractions. Remove any potential interruptions, such as notifications from social media or email. Organize your study materials and have a reliable internet connection to ensure seamless access to course materials.

3. Actively Engage in the Course

Active participation is key to mastering online courses. Engage with course materials, including videos, readings, and interactive components. Take comprehensive notes, highlighting key concepts and ideas. Participate in discussion boards, forums, and virtual meetings to interact with instructors and peers, fostering a sense of community and enhancing your understanding of the subject matter.

4. Manage Your Time Effectively

Online courses offer flexibility, but it’s essential to manage your time wisely to avoid falling behind. Create a detailed schedule, allocating specific time slots for coursework, assignments, and studying. Break down larger tasks into smaller, manageable segments to prevent procrastination. Prioritize tasks based on deadlines and dedicate focused time to each one, ensuring consistent progress throughout the course.

5. Develop Effective Communication Skills

Online courses often rely on written communication, making it crucial to hone your skills in this area. Be concise and clear in your written responses, paying attention to grammar and spelling. Actively participate in discussions, asking thoughtful questions and providing constructive feedback to your peers. Regularly check your course emails and notifications, ensuring you stay updated with any important announcements or changes.

6. Utilize Available Resources

Take full advantage of the resources provided by your online course platform and instructors. Familiarize yourself with the learning management system (LMS) and explore its features. Access supplementary materials, such as textbooks, lecture slides, and external resources recommended by instructors. Utilize online libraries, research databases, and tutorial services to deepen your understanding of the subject matter.

7. Stay Motivated and Engaged

Maintaining motivation throughout an online course can be challenging, particularly when faced with competing priorities or a lack of face-to-face interaction. Set short-term goals and reward yourself upon their completion. Connect with fellow learners through virtual study groups or online forums to foster a sense of camaraderie. Regularly remind yourself of the benefits and personal growth associated with completing the course successfully.

8. Seek Support and Clarification

Don’t hesitate to seek support or clarification when needed. Reach out to your instructors for guidance or clarification on course material. Utilize online discussion forums to ask questions or engage in collaborative problem-solving. Leverage the support services provided by your course platform or institution, such as technical support or academic advising.

Conclusion

Online courses present unique opportunities for self-paced learning and personal growth. By setting clear goals, creating a productive study environment, actively engaging with course materials, and managing your time effectively, you can maximize your chances of acing online courses. Remember to stay motivated, seek support when needed, and make the most of the available resources. Embrace the flexibility and adaptability of online learning to achieve your educational goals.