Imaging the Organization: Language Use in Organizational Identity Claims

This article investigates the cognitive linguistic processes involved in organizational identity construction through language-based identity claims. The organizational imaging process constructs an organization’s identity in relation to a system of positively and negatively valued conceptual categories. It involves using language to establish a classification scheme and to define the organization within this scheme. The authors develop a framework for identifying these cognitive linguistic processes based on a grounded-theory study of language use in corporate mission statements. Their findings contribute to a deeper understanding of language’s role in organizational identity construction.