Managing Industry Reputation: The dynamic tension between collective and competitive reputation

Abstract

To broaden understanding of the dynamics of collective reputation management, we conducted a longitudinal, qualitative study of two industries whose legitimacy was under sustained and intense attack by environmental stakeholders. Our study traces the emergence of, and dynamic tension between, collective and competitive reputation management, and examines the motives for and effects of specific strategies used by the industry, individual firms and groups of firms. The paper contributes to theory building on the dynamic interplay of, and tensions between, collective and competitive reputation management.