Using content analysis to reveal organizational identity orientation: Evidence from the newspaper industry

Abstract

Purpose

Organizations face various situations that require to give decisions. There are many factors that influence their decisions. Organizational identity is one of the factors that can be used as an interpretive schema for decisions. Not only for decisions but also for recognition, legitimacy, allocating the organization among the others organizational identity is viewed as a construct that organizations want to protect. This study aims to contribute to measurement of organizational identity.

Design/methodology/approach

National, daily newspapers were chosen as sample for the study. Influence of organizational identity on decisions is highly reflective for newspapers. When they face conflicting demands, they tend not to make any concession from their identities. They want to behave in compliance with their identities. To reveal organizational identity orientation of newspapers, data were collected based on the 18 interviews with executive editors of newspapers.

Findings

Content analysis was concluded with ten categories that help in understanding organizational identity orientation. These ten categories were grouped within two broad orientations as business oriented and journalism oriented organizational identity. These categories reveal not only average organizational identity orientation of newspapers industry but also the variations in organizational identity orientation between newspapers.

Research limitations/implications

Limitation of the study is the way to reveal organizational identity orientations studied on only newspapers. Undoubtedly, using this method for other organizations that operate in different industries, contributes to the generalizability of findings.

Originality/value

Significance of the study is to reveal a method to measure organizational identity orientation based on content analysis approach.

Citation

Aracı, Ö. (2019), "Using content analysis to reveal organizational identity orientation: Evidence from the newspaper industry", Management Research Review, Vol. 42 No. 3, pp. 314-331. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRR-01-2018-0018