Identity studies in a New Zealand context: organisational image in the information technology industry

Abstract

Identity studies are an emerging discipline within management studies. Exponents of identity studies contend that an organisation's stakeholders are able to identify and understand an organisation through recognising the unique attributes that it is comprised of. This thesis constructs a model of the organisational image of New Zealand Information Technology (IT) organisations based on data from both external and internal stakeholders in these organisations. Such a model is important because if managers can understand how those who interact with their organisation perceive it, they will be in a better position to adapt the organisation's behaviour to exploit or alter those perceptions, or to act on areas of competence identified by stakeholders and thereby meet organisational goals. In the light of such activities this thesis examines the competitive position of New Zealand IT organisations from the perspective of identity studies and uses the model of organisational image to determine areas of competitive advantage or disadvantage for these organisations. A model of organisational image was constructed through the use of content analysis of media texts and company websites. This model determined 12 key themes used to characterise New Zealand IT organisations of which 4 were core themes. These themes; Export Focus, Technology Development, Working Together and New Zealand Business Commonalities illustrate that although the specific businesses in which IT organisations operate are varied and divergent, the way in which they are perceived and perceive themselves is shared and interlinked as a result of the reflexive process of identity and image construction. Strategic analysis of the model highlights the importance of the New Zealand government within the New Zealand IT industry as a source of direction, funding and as a consumer of IT products. The analysis also reveals the ability of New Zealand IT organisations to develop new or innovative technologies as sources of competitive advantage. Further analysis has determined that through such organisations entering into collaborative arrangements such as industry clusters the positive outcomes of government activity and technology development as sources of competitive advantage can better harnessed. This thesis creates a theme based picture of the organisational image of New Zealand IT organisations and demonstrates how such a picture can be used to determine areas of competitive advantage for the organisation.