organizational identity

Beyond Positioning: Establishing Authentic Optimal Distinctiveness

February 23, 2011

Every organization needs to establish optimal distinctiveness – a competitive position within your field, where you are similar enough to other organizations to be seen as legitimate, but different enough that you’re seen as having something unique to offer.  But, optimal distinctiveness is more than being in a competitive place in your field. Optimal distinctiveness [...]

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Measuring Meaningful Differences: College Rankings and Identity

September 16, 2010

Here’s a mini-exam for you. College ranking systems are: A. A great way to sell magazines and get your publication’s name in the news B. A scam that preys on the social and economic insecurities of educational organizations C. A somewhat-helpful guide to prospective students D. A process that is entirely gamed by the organizations [...]

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Does the iPad Signal a Change in Apple’s Core Brand & Identity?

February 2, 2010

If products reflect an organization’s values and an organization’s identity, does Apple’s new iPad tell us something about where Apple as a company is headed? And, if that’s where Apple is going, do we all want to go there too? Here’s a proposition: Apple as an organization is changing, from an organization that’s “about” creativity [...]

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Networks and the Myth that Flatter Organizations are Better

January 15, 2010

Are flatter organizations really “better”? If they are better, how? Hey, I already wrote a dissertation, so I’m not going to take on that question in its entirety. And, I’m not going to do the proper academic thing of being super-specific and qualifying my points. You got complaints? Email me and I’ll send you the [...]

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The Happiness Project for Organizations

January 5, 2010

Like many fans of Gretchen Rubin’s blog, The Happiness Project, I spent a lot of time last week checking my front porch for a heavy box from Amazon (pay phrase: “biblio hyperemptor”).  Once my 9 my pre-purchased copies of her new book arrived, and after I gifted away 8 copies, I was able finally to settle [...]

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