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Personal reputation and the organization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2015

Robert Zinko  and
Mark Rubin
Robert Zinko*
Affiliation:
College of Business and Law, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Mark Rubin
Affiliation:
College of Business and Law, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
*
Corresponding author: robert.zinko@newcastle.edu.au
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Abstract

Drawing from fields such as marketing psychology, strategy, social psychology, and organizational behavior, the present examination explores the individual and organizational bases for personal reputation; specifically, how different bases interact with one another to produce an individual’s reputation within organizations. It is proposed that individuals use personal reputations to satisfy their need for positive self-esteem as well as to secure their sense of belonging in organizations. Furthermore, reputation allows individuals to obtain rewards such as autonomy, power, and career success and the opportunity to signal key information to audiences. Likewise, organizations utilize personal reputations to predict their members’ behaviors, market those who are a part of the organization to others, build their own corporate reputations, and signal information to consumers and competitors. To further this understanding of personal reputation an examination is presented as to how organizations serve as an essential context within which individuals realize their personal reputations and regulate their behavior.

Keywords

personal reputationreputationself-presentationgossipsignaling
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , March 2015 , pp. 217 - 236
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2015 

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