Alexander Bieri (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781781381373
- eISBN:
- 9781781384886
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781781381373.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
Crisis, Credibility and Corporate History aims to describe current expectations and strategies held within companies, within academia and amongst the general public for using a company’s history for ...
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Crisis, Credibility and Corporate History aims to describe current expectations and strategies held within companies, within academia and amongst the general public for using a company’s history for communication and marketing purposes. Ranging widely across case studies from major international businesses such as IBM, Maersk and Roche, this timely volume includes contributions from marketing specialists, corporate archivists and scholars. It is particularly useful for business and economic historians who are charged with communication projects linked to disputed historical issues or jubilee activities of businesses. For the first time, possibilities to bridge the gaps in between the scientific demands in reappraising historic events and the marketing requests of companies are explored in this volume.Less
Crisis, Credibility and Corporate History aims to describe current expectations and strategies held within companies, within academia and amongst the general public for using a company’s history for communication and marketing purposes. Ranging widely across case studies from major international businesses such as IBM, Maersk and Roche, this timely volume includes contributions from marketing specialists, corporate archivists and scholars. It is particularly useful for business and economic historians who are charged with communication projects linked to disputed historical issues or jubilee activities of businesses. For the first time, possibilities to bridge the gaps in between the scientific demands in reappraising historic events and the marketing requests of companies are explored in this volume.
Jonathan Steffen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781781381373
- eISBN:
- 9781781384886
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781781381373.003.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
What is corporate history, and what should companies do with it? Jonathan Steffen examines the place of company histories in our current world. What might we reasonably expect to learn from the ...
More
What is corporate history, and what should companies do with it? Jonathan Steffen examines the place of company histories in our current world. What might we reasonably expect to learn from the history of a company? Can there be a credible moral purpose to the way a commercial organization recounts its past? The text questions the purpose of history itself, reflecting on various definitions, the relationship between official and unofficial history-telling, and attributes of company histories. It meditates on the purpose of the corporation, from the days of Victorian high capitalism to today’s world of virtual companies, global brands and consumer activism, before addressing the question of who actually owns any company’s history and therefore gets to tell it. Finally, Jonathan asks whether companies should cultivate histories to preserve their values in the face of ever-new demands, or deliberately break with the past to evolve and survive in new forms.Less
What is corporate history, and what should companies do with it? Jonathan Steffen examines the place of company histories in our current world. What might we reasonably expect to learn from the history of a company? Can there be a credible moral purpose to the way a commercial organization recounts its past? The text questions the purpose of history itself, reflecting on various definitions, the relationship between official and unofficial history-telling, and attributes of company histories. It meditates on the purpose of the corporation, from the days of Victorian high capitalism to today’s world of virtual companies, global brands and consumer activism, before addressing the question of who actually owns any company’s history and therefore gets to tell it. Finally, Jonathan asks whether companies should cultivate histories to preserve their values in the face of ever-new demands, or deliberately break with the past to evolve and survive in new forms.
