Making and breaking sense: an inquiry into the reputation change

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to expand knowledge of reputation change as a social process and to explore the implications of a social constructivist view of reputation for the challenge of reputation management.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors analyze the main characteristics of a social constructivist view of reputation, and study its implications for the task of reputation management by means of an interpretative arena model of reputation change.

Findings

The authors build a framework for analyzing reputation change as dialogical interaction between an organization and active stakeholders.

Practical implications

The arena model is a tool for analyzing the task of corporate reputation change management across a variety of contexts. The arena model provides a conceptual tool for making sense of the crucial and intricate challenge of strategic reputation management, which places organizations engaging in struggles and collaborations with the stakeholders in symbolic environments.

Originality/value

The arena model is the first framework seeking to bridge the theoretical challenge of social constructivism with the managerial task of reputation change.

Citation

Aula, P. and Mantere, S. (2013), "Making and breaking sense: an inquiry into the reputation change", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 340-352. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534811311328380