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The purpose of this paper is to develop further understanding of the interdependence between product and organization subsystems in the context of major projects by empirically elaborating the volume-variety matrix.

Projects are perceived as systems that include a product subsystem (the project outcome) and an organization subsystem (the temporary multi-firm organizational network that produces the project outcome). This study addresses product-organization interdependence by analyzing product and organization subsystem components in terms of their uniqueness and reuse across multiple projects. The empirical analysis focuses on four global renewable fuels refinery projects implemented by Neste from 2003 to 2011. The refineries are based on the same proprietary technology but are unique at the project level.

The findings indicate interesting interdependencies between product and organization subsystems when analyzed at the component level: the findings suggest both diagonal and off-diagonal positions in the volume-variety matrix. An example of an off-diagonal position is a reused organization subsystem component associated with a unique product subsystem component, meaning that choosing the same organization in a future project can be used for acquiring an improved and, thereby, unique product subsystem component.

The study elaborates upon the volume-variety matrix in the context of major projects. The findings related to off-diagonal positions in the matrix provide new knowledge on combinations at the component level where a reused organization can be associated with a unique product, and vice versa. This has direct implications for management of projects.

The study has origins in paradoxical foundations: although the trends in the theory of organizational change emphasize organizational uniqueness, in a case study it was found that metacultural ideals about the rules, order, hierarchy and predictability were privileged and had a remarkable effect on organizational change. It is suggested that metalevel “Grand Story”, hiding ideals about what is a “real” organization still exists strongly in the societal memory, and especially in circumstances of rapid change and financial problems of an enterprise this “Grand Story” easily grasps the uniqueness of that organization.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the factors affecting consumer’s fast fashion brand loyalty by examining US college students’ perceptions and loyalty toward fast fashion.

Using consumer-based brand equity approach, a research model which examines the factors affecting consumer’s brand loyalty in the fast fashion context was proposed. It was hypothesized that consumer’s perceptions of fast fashion, including brand awareness, perceived quality, perceived value, brand personality, organizational associations, and brand uniqueness, affect consumer brand loyalty. Based on the valid data from 419 US college students, this study employed structural equation modeling to investigate the factors affecting US college students’ brand loyalty toward fast fashion.

Results reveal that for the US college students, brand awareness, perceived value, organizational associations, and brand uniqueness are the contributing factors to generating consumer’s loyalty toward fast fashion brands.

Due to the fact that fast fashion has become a key feature of the global fashion industry over the last decade, there is phenomenal growth in the availability of fast fashion brands in the US markets. This study provides valuable insights about young consumers’ perceptions of fast fashion brands and the factors’ contributions to their brand loyalty.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of the organisation identity construct by briefly considering the intellectual development of the organisation identity research field since “emergence”, and introducing previously unreported empirical studies pursued from within the framework provided by organisation identity theory (OIT).

Mixed methods, qualitative and quantitative designs characterise the seven empirical (field) studies that explored the definitional parameters, existential nature and relevance of organisation identity. Observations are bolstered through conceptual and methodological triangulation across studies.

Organisation identity (OI) is usually articulated in fairly general terms and empirical research is scarce. In the seven studies reported here, OI is substantially reified and operationalised as the sense of organisational identity (SoI) and the fact of organisational identity (FoI). The studies consistently affirm the existential nature of OI as defined and demonstrate the relevance of OI for contemporary scholars and managers in the relationship of OI with organisational performance.

Apart from being a source of stability for organisations during transition and change, organisation identity will increasingly become a significant consideration in performance, competitive strategy, talent attraction and retention, and organisational sustainability. An identity‐centric managerial approach that suggests that management consciously address OI, is proposed.

Over the past two decades, conceptual contributions on OI proliferated while empirical studies were rare and generally lacked theoretical coherence. The paper reports on one of the few coherent and systematic approaches to researching OI. It offers a brief account of a series of purposeful, theory‐informed studies since 1999. Unlike previous research, these studies are all empirical in nature and pursued from within the same theory frame (OIT). The studies consistently reveal organisation identity as a significant multifunctional organisational construct.

The purpose of this paper is to address corporte social responsibility (CSR) as a form of corporate self‐storying that highlights isomorphic processes influencing legitimacy as a key organisational concern.

Having constructed a theoretical framework incorporating CSR and corporate identity literature, the paper draws on a discourse perspective to analyse the legitimation strategies applied by a single organisation storying its CSR involvement. The strategies are subsequently addressed in relation to isomorphic discourses of legitimacy.

The analysis supports the view that corporate self‐storying of CSR balances between the needs for differentiation and conformity. Organisations thus navigate between the value associated with compliance with societal norms and expectations and the value of promoting organisational uniqueness.

Institutional processes result in isomorphic organisational practices also in relation to legitimacy reflected in the storying of CSR involvement. However, this study implies that isomorphism also offers organisations opportunities to stand out.

The contribution of the paper is twofold. First, it articulates a framework for addressing CSR communication as a form of corporate self‐storying that is embedded in a differentiation/conformity paradox. Second, it explores how an organisation's extended responsibility – i.e. responsibility for supplier practices – is storied in a way that suggests that addressing legitimacy is a question of navigating the paradox.

Discusses the process of imitation using the vocabulary of translation, taking as an example the temporary organization Stockholm – Cultural Capital of Europe 1998. Describes the process of change in an organizational order that can be characterized as (con)temporary. The description reveals several paradoxes typical of today’s organizing and focuses in particular on a temporary organization’s struggle for immortality.

Stanford contributed significantly to the organizational culture movement that occurred in organization studies from 1970–2000. This chapter traces developments at Stanford and puts the contributions of its researchers and scholars in the context of the many influences that shaped the study of organizational culture during this period. In addition to the historical account, there is speculation about why the culture movement at Stanford more or less ended but might yet be revived, either by those studying institutionalization processes or by those who resist them.

The paradigmatic separation of the strategy and identity literatures constitutes an ongoing problem for the extension of either into more global contexts. The theorization proposed in this chapter presents rhetoric as the means by which the ‘strategy work’ of reimagining future options and the ‘identity work’ of reformulating the meaning of past actions may be integrated in the present moment. By locating both strategy work and identity work within the continuity of experience, we suggest that scholars will be better able to develop theoretically integrated, empirically grounded and globally relevant studies of strategy.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on how firms draw on historical references in corporate marketing. The paper seeks to analyze the logic behind such efforts from a corporate identity perspective and to propose potential risks and/or benefits of doing so. The paper aims to inspire the understanding of how references to history are used in marketing and the outcome of such use.

The paper mainly draws on literature relating to corporate marketing and the use of history in organizations. Combining these theories, and pointing at empirical examples, the paper clarifies why references to history can be important manifestations of corporate identity. The paper comes up with propositions concerning what consequences the reference to history in corporate marketing can have for firms' marketing strategies and business development.

The paper outlines a connection among corporate identity, organizational identity, and image through corporate communications. It suggests that among the range of corporate characteristics, historical references can be particular valuable for corporate communications thanks to the reliability age can provide (as opposed to liabilities of newness). Still, elaborations suggest that the planned use of historical references has both pros and cons in terms of business development.

Despite the notion that history, as an inevitable and distinctive firm feature, can play an important role in corporate marketing, research on the topic is quite scarce. This paper offers some remedy to this gap by elaborating on the internal and external rationales for applying historical references and how these can be explained in connections between corporate identity and history.

The paper investigates the successful establishment of a strong corporate brand with a particular emphasis on analysing the corporate branding literature’s assumptions about coherency. Successful corporate branding is claimed to imply a shared set of coherent statements about the company’s values towards its external and internal stakeholders over time. An empirical test is applied to the coherency assumption. First, the coherency of a corporate brand over time is investigated as it develops in the media. Secondly, the coherency between two stakeholders’ perceptions of the corporate brand, organisational members and the media is investigated. This research suggests there are three distinct types of coherencies in corporate branding strategies over time: statement coherency, interpretation coherency and uniqueness coherency. On the one hand, a strong corporate brand is characterised by tight coherency, as top management’s statements about values remain the same over time and towards different stakeholders, ie statement coherency. On the other hand, a strong corporate brand is simultaneously characterised by a loose, or even absent, coherency between stakeholders’ interpretations of top management’s statements as well as a lack of coherency in stakeholders’ interpretations of the corporate brand over time, ie interpretation coherency. Finally, a third coherency phenomenon is observed, ie stakeholders’ emphasis on changing topics over time, which they relate to the corporate brand. Stakeholders agree that these themes are unique features and hence the company is considered unique, ie the uniqueness coherency. The implications of multiple interpretations are discussed as well as changing interpretations in corporate branding. It is argued that statement coherency is a necessary element in successful corporate branding, and the viability of the ambition to develop interpretation coherency over time and across stakeholders in corporate branding is discussed from the point of view of allowing room for interpretation incoherency. Finally, the question of maintaining uniqueness coherency is discussed: for how long can a company represent “newness” in the eyes of its stakeholders – including itself? Implications for management are discussed.