Moral Branding - The role of a moral brand in a context of organizational culture, identity & change

Abstract

Purpose: To gain an understanding of how organizational culture and identity are seen as interrelated with a moral brand, by investigating a company that is going through an organizational change. In addition to this, we intend to explore what happens with a company’s moral brand, culture, and identity, when going through these kinds of changes. Research question: How are culture and identity related to a moral brand, and how are they affected by rebranding and expansion? Method: A qualitative hermeneutic study within an interpretive paradigm. The empirical data was foremost collected by 13 semi-structured interviews in order to capture the employees’ experiences of the change. In addition to this, we observed the company internally and externally through their social media channels, in order to gain a richer insight in the company. Findings: The company had a strong moral brand, working as a unifying force, interrelated with the culture and identity. It further had a strong cultural alignment, and the moral brand values appeared to be deeply rooted in the culture and identity. The change led to an identity-shift and the creation of two subcultures. However, the change seemed to strengthen the moral brand values. Our research indicated how the moral brand worked as a unifying force, holding the company together. It was striking how the product had a central role in the moral brand, identity and culture.