Corporate identity in Slovenia

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to find out about: significance and understanding of corporate identity, its elements and CI management in Slovenian companies/Slovenian and international companies with exemplary and successful corporate identity and their characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted among the most successful Slovenian companies (by income and by profit). A total of 44 people, from 36 companies, who are responsible for managing corporate identity were interviewed.

Findings

The main finding is that managing corporate identity is of great importance for company success. Although there is no general definition of corporate identity at theoretical level, the understanding of corporate identity is quite homogeneous – the most common definition according to the research is: corporate identity is a mix of characteristics that organization possesses as a subject. Successful managing of corporate identity, has many positive effects on company's acceptation in a role of subject in the society.

Research limitations/implications

Future research in determining the influence of the chairman and his personality as well as the board and employees' personality on corporate identity would be important. It is recommended that in future, in similar studies, an even larger sample is included and the thought of comparing future studies with the present study should not be excluded.

Practical implications

The main practical implication of this paper is to raise the awareness of how important the local culture is when dealing with corporate identity management.

Originality/value

A brief literature review of Slovenian authors from the corporate identity field has been made and presented on an international level for the first time. Also, the empirical research on the question of how managers in Slovenian companies understand and manage corporate identity in their organizations is new. The main contribution is that results acquired in Slovenia can be partly compared with other similar researches in the EU.

Citation

Podnar, K. (2005), "Corporate identity in Slovenia", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 69-82. https://doi.org/10.1108/13563280510578213