Making Use of Organizational Identity - Authentic Organizations

are we as an organization, and how should be behave”, Heartland’s members asked themselves
instead “what would Carrie do". “What would Carrie do" was asked consistently whenever
organization-wide issues were being considered. The idea that Carrie had come to represent
what defined the organization itself was borne out in the ways that organization members
appropriated Carrie and her story to explain their expectations of the organization and to explain
organization-wide decisions that were neither relevant to the brand nor particularly dramatic.
For example, Carrie was used to explain why the organization had their cafeteria sell "carry out"
dinners that employees could take home to feed their families, as well as why they had a dry
cleaner and a nail salon in their headquarters building.
Carrie understands what it's like to be a working mother -- a working
parent -- and she wants to make it as easy as possible for all of us to take care of
day-to-day things too. And, Carrie knows that sometimes you just need a nice
manicure and as a treat.”(AH)
Having Carrie as an organizational icon gave Heartland a way to capture, cohere and
begin to surface the intrinsic and ineffable attributes that defined their organization, and gave
them something to talk about as they sought collectively to articulate and understand who they
were as an organization. Carrie and her story functioned as a tool for constructing meaning and
provided a “centering narrative” (Boyce, 1995) that enabled Heartland members to shape, revise
and enact their organizational identity.
How an Icon Makes Organizational Identity Easier to Use
Why would organization members use a symbol as a proxy for their organizations
identity rather than referring directly to the organizational identity itself I argue that an
organizational symbol, specifically a human characterization such as an icon, makes it easier for
Making Use of OI 10/2006
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