Organizational Image

Organizational image refers to people's global impressions of an organization; it is defined as people's loose structures of knowledge and beliefs about an organization. Organizational image represents the net cognitive reactions and associations of customers, investors, employees, and applicants to an organization's name. Accordingly, it serves as a template to categorize, store, and recall organization-related information.

It should be noted that there is no such thing as the organization's image because an organization typically has multiple images. These multiple images result from various groups (also known as stakeholders or corporate audiences) holding different images of the same organization. At least, one might distinguish among the following organizational images. First, investors and executives hold an image of an organization as an economic performer. These investors typically rely on factual economic figures as a basis of their beliefs about the organization. Second, there is the image of an organization as a social performer in the general society (also known as corporate social performance). Third, customers or clients hold an image of an organization as a provider of goods and services. Fourth, each organization has an image as an employer among current employees and (potential) applicants (also known as company employment image or employer image). This is the image that is assessed in rankings such as Fortune magazine's “The [Page 569]100 Best Companies to Work For.” These multiple organizational images might not always coincide. For example, the firm's image as an employer as held by either employees or job seekers might be different from its image as a provider of goods and services in the minds of customers or clients.

Organizational images typically develop over longer periods of time. They result from, among other things, media coverage, individual or group sensemaking, and communication on the part of the organization (as reflected in an organization's advertising, sponsorships, and publicity). However, it should be clear that organizational images are not static. Specifically, organizations often audit their images. In these image audits, the aim is to carefully determine which factors make up the image among various stakeholders. Next, organizations aim to strategically modify the image held by these stakeholders. For example, this might be done by increasing an organization's exposure or by highlighting specific attributes in advertising campaigns.