Calls for papers

 

International Journal of Business Environment

 

Special Edition on: "Organisational Identity and the Business Environment"

Guest Editor: Dr. John C. Camillus, University of Pittsburgh, USA

The topic of this special issue is the interaction of organisations’ identities and the business environment.

Traditionally, the business environment relevant to an organisation has been formally identified substantially based on its mission and competitive strategy. With today’s fast changing business context, the domains in which organisations function often transform causing competitive strategies to become obsolete rapidly and requiring that even the organisations’ missions evolve. Strategies and missions are now becoming shifting and ephemeral bases for defining the relevant business environment. Organisations would be well served by more enduring bases or vantage points from which to define and assess their business environment, Such bases, in addition to being enduring, need to capture what is core to and distinctive about the organisation.

A construct that is by definition core to an organisation, represents what is distinctive about the organisation and is expected to be enduring, is that of the organisation’s identity. The values espoused by an organisation can be argued to possess these three attributes in full measure. Another presumably enduring characteristic of an organisation is its distinctive competencies. A third plausible element of an organisation’s identity is the aspirations embraced by it. It would be logical therefore, as is sometimes done, to define an organisation’s identity as comprised of its values, competencies and aspirations.

An organisation’s identity may be demonstrated to consist of alternative or additional elements beyond its values, competencies and its aspirations. No matter how it is defined or constructed, an organisation’s identity, if it is core, distinctive and enduring, may usefully serve as a lens or vantage point from which to view and define the business environment. The attributes of an organisation’s identity could influence the domain and boundaries of the business environment addressed by the executives in an organisation. The perceived environment might also be influenced in interesting ways when viewed through the lens of identity.

There is evidence that an organisation’s identity, even if it is not explicitly employed as the lens through which to view the business environment, can influence how the environment is understood. For instance, the traditional market-based identification of competitors may be organically enriched by an organisation’s identity to include organisations with the same values, similar competencies and comparable aspirations. There could be value to such definitions of competitors. For instance, the blue-ocean spaces that might be identified by an organisation may logically appeal to other organisations with similar identities.

While an organisation’s identity can be expected to be more enduring than its strategies and its mission, it still can and will evolve. Dynamic capabilities, for instance, would naturally cause the identity to evolve. Such dynamism would result from the interaction of the organisation with its business environment.

The relationship between organisations’ identities and their business environments is bi-directional. This relationship can influence the selection of domains in which to operate and the strategies chosen for navigating the domain. In the opposite direction, organisations’ identities can be altered by their interaction with their business environments.

Qualitative and quantitative as well as conceptual approaches to defining, understanding, managing and utilising the relationship of organisational identities and business environment are appropriate and encouraged.

Subject Coverage
Topics that would be welcomed include, but are certainly not limited to, the following:

• The influence of the organisation’s identity on the perceived business environment
• The influence of the organisation’s identity on the selection of the business domain
• The effect of the business environment on organisations’ identities
• Constructs of identity that support strategy formulation and implementation
• Elements of the business environment that relate to organisational identity
• Constructs of the business environment that link with organisational identity
• Managing the relationship between organisations’ identities and their environment
• Organisational identity-based definitions of competition and competitors
• The performance implications of organisational identity-based approaches to strategy
• The business environment and dynamic capabilities
• The business environment and organisations’ enduring aspirations
• The business environment and organisational values

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. (N.B. Conference papers may only be submitted if the paper was not originally copyrighted and if it has been completely re-written).

All papers are refereed through a peer review process. A guide for authors, sample copies and other relevant information for submitting papers are available on the Author Guidelines page

Important Dates

Deadline for submission: 1 May, 2010 (extended)