LEGITIMATION ENDEAVORS - IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES USED BY ANDORGANIZATION IN CRISIS

The impression management strategies embedded in the external discours e of an organization in crisis are identified and a typology of impres sion management strategies used by organizations is developed. Existin g documents were used to collect 799 statements dealing with how stake holders presently viewed or should view the organization. Ingratiation was the primary strategy appearing in the statements, with most ingra tiation being self-enhancing communication. No apologies were present. Different impression management strategies occurred in messages direc ted to different stakeholders. Intimidation was used with special inte rest groups. Denouncement strategies were embedded in messages to comp etitors, special interest groups, and suppliers. Results are discussed in light of institutional theory and the impression management litera ture.