Dean, School of Graduate and Continuing Studies, Olivet Nazarene University, Illinois, United States; Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University, Florida, United States; Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Spittal, R.D., Dean, School of Graduate and Continuing Studies, Olivet Nazarene University, Illinois, United States; Abratt, R., Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University, Florida, United States, Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
As organisations grow and expand past their operational headquarters, individual branches may reflect a different identity than that of the headquarters. The question then is, 'Is senior management able to transcend geographical boundaries and communicate the identity that has shaped their strategy for the organisation?.' The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of geographical expansion on the reflected perceptions of internal stakeholders related to the organisation's intended identity as defined by the senior management. The authors review the literature on identity in relation to image and reputation in order to seek answers to this question. The paper concludes with four propositions that need to be tested empirically in the future.