The relationship between corporate identity management constructs and relationship management constructs: a case study of the North-West University

Abstract

This article investigates the relationship between corporate identity-management constructs and the quality of employer-employee relationships at the North-West University. Internal stakeholders such as employees are not so much concerned about how the organisation is visually represented as about the behavioural aspects of the organisation. Companies are continually finding themselves in positions where they are encouraged to manage their corporate identities with a view to managing their reputations so as ultimately to strengthen and maintain good relationships with their stakeholders. The realisation that employees form part of the external corporate identity of a company has shifted the focus of corporate identity management inwards towards employees as an internal stakeholder group. Although it is assumed that good corporate identity management leads to good relationships, little research has been done on the direct link between the two concepts. Research in this regard has found a relationship between employees' perceptions of how effectively the company upholds its values (as part of the non-visual corporate identity) and the quality of its employee relationships.