Managing Organizational Impressions in Crisis Situations: Exxon Corporation and the Exx on Valdez Oil Spill

No. NA16RGO162-01. Only the authors are responsible for the analysis presented here. Managing Organizational Impressions in Crisis Situations: Exxon Corporation and the Rxxon Valdez Oil Spill Like individuals, organizations engage in impression management: occasionally they also must cope with stigma arising from their mistakes. We apply these ideas to public performances made by representatives of the Exxon corporation following the disastrous Exxo n Valdeg oil spill, Using a grounded theory approach, we identify four types of "image salvaging " strategies Exxon representatives used in these performances: competence enhancement; information control: personalization; and redefinition of the event. Use of a dramaturgical framework helps explain how organizations achieve and.. maintain legitimacy in an institutional environment. the same time, institutional theory sheds light on why some performances--namely those of highly At institutionalized actors 3ike corporations--are more effective than others