Abstract
AbstractThere is a paucity of knowledge of one key aspect of diversity in and around international organizations: national identity. This is especially the case with research on multinational corporations (MNC) that has focused on cultural differences instead of processes of national identification or national identity construction. Drawing on a critical discursive approach, this paper offers four perspectives that can help to advance this area of research. First, MNCs can be viewed as sites of identity politics, within which one can study ‘us vs. them’ constructions and the reproduction of inequalities. Second, MNCs can be seen as actors engaged in identity building and legitimation vis‐à‐vis external stakeholders, and the analysis of the discursive dynamics involved illuminates important aspects of identity politics between the organization and its environment. Third, MNCs can be viewed as part of international relations between nations and nationalities, and analysis of discursive dynamics in the media can elucidate key aspects of the international struggles encountered. Fourth, MNCs can be seen as agents of broader issues and changes, which enables us to comprehend how MNCs advance neocolonialism or promote positive change in society.
Highlights
A key issue that unites and divides organizations and organizational members is national identity
Identity politics in turn is originally associated with the implications of identification and categorization about race, ethnicity, and gender (Smith, 1983), but we see it more broadly as a concept that allows us to focus on the ways in which national identity constructions are linked with interests and ideologies and the implications thereof
We argue that identity politics can – and must – be connected to national identity if we are to better understand key aspects of diversity in and around contemporary multinational corporations (MNC)
Summary
A key issue that unites and divides organizations and organizational members is national identity. We first offer an overview of how cultural differences have been studied in international management research and contrast it with a view on diversity and its management This leads us to argue for a novel conceptualization of identity politics as a fruitful way to connect these largely separate literatures to better understand the ways in which constructions of difference based on national identity matter in and around MNCs. Table I below offers a comparison of the three perspectives. We argue that there is a need for a shift of perspective from cultural differences to identity politics in and around MNCs. Identity politics is about people identifying with positions in society that are based on perceived shared experiences, interests and perspectives as members of specific social groups. Powerful leaders can influence and change people’s ways of being national(ist) by making use of a variety of historical repertoires in a given ‘nation’ (Aydin-Duzgit, 2018)
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