Rhetoricians of the past: Rhetorical history and the crafting of organizational identity

Abstract

The past is a central element in crafting an organizational identity. However, the past is interpreted subjectively, resulting in ambiguity and multiplicity of interpretations. This study investigates the use of rhetorical history in crafting an organizational identity by analyzing differences between an organization as an actor and organizational members in applying rhetorical history. Our analysis is grounded on the self-representations of 28 watchmaking firms located in two watchmaking clusters in Germany based on their Web pages and interviews with 75 current and former members of watchmaking firms in these two clusters. Our results reveal that there are differences between the organization as an actor and its members not only regarding which claims of rhetorical history they emphasized but also with respect to the temporal and content-wise past to which they refer. While they share a pattern in terms of temporal structure, the organization as an actor emphasizes both near and distant history, creating a kind of “valley of oblivion,” while the members of the organization show a stronger focus on near-history aspects. Our findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of rhetorical history, showing that the use of rhetorical history is strongly influenced by rhetoricians of the past. With a focus on the importance of rhetorical history for crafting an organizational identity, our findings also allow us to draw conclusions about sources of multiple identities and how such identities can emerge—namely, through differentiated rhetorical interpretations of the past by groups of actors.