Online corporate history in banking
How global banks portray their corporate history online
and the differences in Europe, Asia and North America
Master’s Thesis
Graduate School of Communication
MSc Programme Communication Science
University of Amsterdam
Author: Nahuel Mercedes Manchego Student number: 11129654
Supervisor: Iina Hellsten
1 ABSTRACT
This study assesses how global banks portray their corporate history online through
quantitative and qualitative analysis of the websites of the 100 most valuable banking brands according to Brand Finance in 2016. More specifically, this research illustrates the way banking firms from different regions present their history online in terms of content features and rhetorical dimensions. Hereby, differences between the Europe, Asia and North America are measured. The data was extracted from the online history sections and online mission statements of 100 banks originating from 27 countries. The main findings of the study were diverse but generally indicated a wide use of corporate history on the websites of banks suggesting the importance of the genre. Most banks used historical narrative and included cultural paradigms in their history. Also, business growth was the most used rhetorical dimension. The influence of culture on corporate history was relatively low and requires improved conceptualisation. Finally, the study concludes that corporate history plays an essential role in the communication of banks and potentially as part of the online corporate identity. It is proposed that more evidence is needed of online corporate history across industries and countries. Future research also should further define the potential functions and benefits of history on websites and online identity management.
INTRODUCTION
Many organisations often remember their past and communicate their history towards internal and external audiences via numerous channels. Corporate history is more than the mere account of past events but is inherently intertwined with the identity of an organisation (Anteby & Molnar, 2012). Through the years the business community has increasingly regarded corporate history as a management tool to emphasise competitive advantage, engage internal and external stakeholders and incentivise change processes (Kroeze &
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Keulen, 2013). Consequently, transmitting history through narrative and rhetorical discourse generate collective understanding of corporate identity, culture and values among all
organisational stakeholders (Foster et al., 2016; Brunninge, 2009). This study will analyse the online corporate history of banks. The financial industry knows many century-old institutions with historically rooted brands (Pennings & Harianto, 1992). Communication of corporate history is particularly interesting in the financial industry given that the recent past of many banks is characterised by turbulent events that generated many challenges for reputation and PR-managers (Powell, Elving, Dodd & Sloan, 2009). Additionally, rapid innovation and technology advancements are pressuring traditional banking brands (Larson et al., 2011). Hence, banks require relatively more guidance in corporate identity
management and corporate communication (Melewar & Bains, 2002; Balmer & Stotvig, 1997; Lentner, Szegedi & Tatay, 2015). Between cultures, organisations tend to differ in the way of communicating corporate identity features (Halliburton & Ziegfeld, 2009). Accordingly, corporate history on websites can differ according to cultural aspects (Robbins & Stylianou, 2010; Booth & Rowlinson, 2006). In research, several scholars have begun to demonstrate interest in the potential benefit of using corporate history in external communications to generate differentiated corporate identities (Blömback & Brunninge; Kroeze & Keulen, 2013). However, empirical studies of corporate history in external communications are still scarce (Cooper et al., 2013). Meanwhile, digital channels have provided more interactive outlets for the corporate message in the last decades and the formats and contents of how corporate historyis presented have become very diverse (Craig et al., 2016). Nowadays, numerous companies include corporate history on their websites (Stallworth & Williams, 2008). This study will analyse how corporate history is presented on the websites of 100 banking firms through quantitative and qualitative content analysis of the history sections and online mission statements. First, the research will determine the extent of history content and identify the presence of narrative elements and mention of human actors. Secondly, the rhetorical dimensions will be determined and the link between corporate history and overall corporate identity will be discussed. The findings will show which formats of corporate history
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are presented and which corporate history elements of prior research are applied. Furthermore, the main differences between Europe, Asia and North America will be determined. Suitably the following research question applies:
RQ: How do banks communicate corporate history on their websites and what are the main differences between banks from Europe, Asia and North America?
The aim of this research is to illustrate the current state of how banks communicate their corporate history online and on which levels this differs between banks from Europe, Asia and North America. Also, the findings of the study will be used to discuss the connection between corporate history features and corporate identity and the possible implications that arise. Finally, for academics this study can initiate the first steps of an integrated pragmatic approach of corporate history in an online environment and the influence of cultures thereof. For communication professionals and managers, this research can enable new perspectives on the pragmatic use of corporate history in strategic communications and online identity management. Hereby, conclusions drawn from examples in the financial industry can be possibly applied to other service-oriented business segments. This thesis is organised as follows. First, the main literature and concepts will be explicated in the theoretical
background and corresponding hypotheses are formulated. Second, the sample is presented and the operationalisation of variables and methodology is described. Hereafter, results will be presented addressing the hypotheses. Conclusively, main findings will be discussed, directions for future research will be proposed and the limitations of the study will be discussed.
4 Concept of corporate history
Virtually, all organisations have a history, ranging from century old legacies to recently founded start-ups. In both cases, there is always a story to tell: whether it is a founder’s story, a family chronicle or other noteworthy events that occurred since the incorporation of a business. The term corporate history has increasingly become a subject of study (Blömback & Brunninge, 2008; Berhnd-Klodt, 2016). Naturally, the identity of a corporation is heavily influenced by the wheels of time. It can be argued, that corporate history is thus directly linked to the concept of a corporate identity (Schultz & Hernes, 2013). Melewar & Karaosmanoglu (2006) state that the corporate history and identity are intrinsically
connected. Several other scholars argue that the history of an organisation also is a main determinant of the corporate culture and indirectly influences the corporate identity (He & Balmer, 2013; Melewar & Karaosmanoglu, 2006; Schultz & Hernes, 2013). As nearly every corporate history is different from the other, it can be argued that historical references in corporate communication promote an inherently unique identity (Schultz & Hernes, 2013; Blombäck & Brunninge, 2009; Cornelissen, Haslam & Balmer, 2007). Overall, it is agreed that historical awareness is essential for the development of a corporate identity due to the fact that past and present behaviour and beliefs of employees develop over time and
become a point of reference in communication (Melewar & Karaosmanoglu, 2006; Schultz & Hernes, 2013; Anteby & Molnár, 2012). Consequently, the history and origins of an
organisation can be very resourceful in terms of collected knowledge and experience through the years. Therefore, many organisations have historically rooted principles, values and norms (Lasewicz, 2015; Anteby & Molnar, 2012). In corporate communication, using historical references can provide more meaning to a message among stakeholders (Rowlinson, Hassard & Decker, 2014). As such, Delahaye et al. (2009) denominated corporate history as following:
5 (Delahaye et al., 2009, 32).
Benefits of historical discourse
Several scholars state historical references in corporate communication of an organisation can be strategically beneficial to organisational stakeholders (Ybema, 2014; Blombäck & Brunninge, 2009). However, the positive effects of corporate history are divergent and
require more empirical evidence (Suddaby et al., 2010). For the purpose of the current study, the main benefits of corporate history are discussed. Company executives and researchers are showing more interest in the strategical advantages of historical content, often to accomplish organisational advantages such as strengthen the collective culture, engage organisational members, shaping corporate identity and emphasising unique characteristics and justifying executive decisions (Foster et al., 2016; Schultz & Hernes, 2013). Moreover, transmitting corporate history through symbolic and romanticised stories can afford strong and enduring associations with the values and ideologies of an organisation among audiences based on collective memory and understanding (Burghausen & Balmer, 2014; Leitch & Motion, 1999; Ybema, 2014; Foster et al., 2016; Kroeze & Keulen, 2013). Delahaye et al. (2009) and Foster et al. (2016) pointed out the main strategical dimensions of corporate history and stated that historical communication can be used to address identity, authenticity, culture, legitimacy. Simultaneously, the dimension of uniqueness and similarity can be
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Figure 1. Strategical use of historical narrative (Foster et al., 2016, 13)
The case review of a large Finnish production company demonstrated the effectiveness of historical communication material. The family-owned company actively merchandised past product prototypes to distributors and built a history museum where company artefacts and first generation family members were introduced to customers. By actively inserting historical themes into different layers of the company activities, the relationship with stakeholders was strengthened and ultimately sales performance has proved to go up (Blombäck & Brunninge, 2009). In the field of branding, history elements and symbols are used purposefully to create distinguished brands (Kroeze & Keulen, 2013; Blombäck & Brunninge, 2009; Balmer, 2013). Brands that predominantly uphold such historical attributes are defined as heritage brands (Burghausen & Balmer, 2014). Heritage brands are positioned and promoted primarily based on their heritage. The brand heritage identity is constructed by its longevity, track record, past values, use of symbols and the recurring emphasis on the relevance of history (Wiedmann et al., 2013; Urde, Balmer & Greyser, 2007).
History on corporate websites
Very few scholars have analysed the content of corporate history in an online environment but the account of corporate history often is a component of the communicated corporate identity (Schultz & Hernes, 2013; Lasewicz, 2015). Most perspectives on corporate history originate from the field of business history (Clark & Rowlinson, 2004). Empirical evidence on the use of corporate history is mainly provided by qualitative research including literature
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reviews, company case studies, interviews and action research (Kroeze & Keulen, 2013; Burghausen & Balmer, 2015; Foster et al., 2016; Cooper, Merrilees & Miller, 2015). Studies on heritage branding however, have identified history and heritage elements applicable to external communications (Balmer, 2013). A specific framework to analyse the corporate history in online communications has not yet been developed. In the current paper, two proposed models from respectively research on historical narrative (Delahaye et al., 2009) and brand heritage quotients (Urde et al., 2007) are used for the analysis and are explicated below.
Narrative elements of corporate history
Articulating history through narrative and storytelling gives more context to the past and enables sensemaking among all stakeholders (Suddaby et al., 2010). Delahaye et al. (2009) developed a framework to define corporate history as a genre and developed several
features relating to narrative content. For this study the following three are measured as a narrative element: (1) Event Narrative, (2) Characters/actors and (3) Cultural Paradigms.
Event narrative refers to the way of ordering events according to time periods. On one hand
this can be done with a chronological order, mentioning dates with for example a timeline. Second, this can be done through a thematic narrative following a storyline while focusing on a certain topic (Delahaye et al., 2009).
Human actors and refers to the presence of certain individuals that played an important role
in the history of the organisation. Hereby, the main actors are the leaders, founders,
shareholders, customers and employees. Each character can obtain a different focus or role within the historical discourse and contribute to a stronger engagement with organisational members (Foster et al., 2016; Brunninge, 2009).
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history, iconic products, cultural symbols, political situations. The presence of cultural paradigms in corporate history discourse is mainly used to stress out the relevance of the organisation to a national or societal level (Delahaye et al., 2009).
Rhetorical dimensions of corporate history
Corporate history discourse often consists of several rhetorical dimensions that reflect positive aspects from the past in order to point out a competitive advantage or the distinct character of the organisation (Blombäck & Brunninge, 2009). In this study there are distinguished five rhetorical dimensions. The first element is that of (1) Business growth, based on the thematic features of (Delahaye et al., 2009). The other four elements are based on the heritage brand quotients proposed by Urde, Balmer & Greyser (2007): (2) Track Record, (3) Longevity, (4) Core Values, (5) History explicitly important to identity. In addition there is added the dimension of trust.
Business growth refers to the historical performance of the organisation. In practice this is
often communicated in terms of past financial growth, profits, company size or international expansion (Delahaye et al., 2009).
Track record refers to the theme of experience and past track record of achievements by the
organisation. The track record is often articulated as having built a significant expertise in a specific field and always having delivered value to customers. Organisations often relate to their past experience and track record while memorising their past (Anteby & Molnar, 2012).
Longevity refers to the focus on the age of an organisation which represents endurance and
strong reputation and recognition among stakeholders.
Core Values refers to the fact that the past is intrinsically connected to the values, philosophy
9 past and are often emphasised by organisations.
History is important refers to the explicit expression of historical awareness and importance
of the history to the identity of the organisation without providing further reasons (Urde et al., 2007).
Trust stands for the confidence organisations have built in the past. This is based on the
assumptions history generates trustworthiness between organisations and stakeholders (Wiedmann et al., 2013)
The role of mission statements
Corporate identity management is a main exercise for branding and marketing departments and thus is reflected well in external communication channels such as corporate websites (Balmer & Van Riel, 1997; Hatch & Schultz, 2008; Cornelissen et al., 2007; Tsai, 2008). In research, corporate websites are often used as indicators of the external corporate identity as these are a crucial communication portal between organisations and their audiences (Abdullah, Nordin & Aziz, 2013; Pollach, 2005). A more concrete source to identify and analyse the corporate identity is the mission statement. The term mission statement is used to describe what the organisation is, has and does. Most mission statements are constructed following the works of Pearce and David (1997) (Cornelissen et al., 2007; Balmer, 2001; Ingenhoff & Fuhrer, 2010; Balmer & Van Riel, 1997) and contain the following elements: target stakeholders, geographical reach, products and services, values and vision for the future.
The historical identity of banks
Traditional and complex organisations such as banks, it can be a challenging task to communicate a unique and aligned corporate identity (Leitch & Motion, 1999). Banks in particular are struggling to differentiate themselves as they provide a generic service (Balmer & Stotvig, 1997; Lentner, Szegedi & Tatay, 2015; Buil, Catalan & Martinez, 2016). Besides,
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the identity of the overall banking sector stifled the development of unique identities. As most large banks exist for many years, the corporate identity of banks has often been associated with conservative and traditional attitudes (Cornelissen et al., 2007; Balmer & Stotvig, 1997). Accordingly, most banks incorporated the values of tradition, trust, security, and stability in their corporate messages (Melewar & Navalekar, 2002; Wilkinson & Balmer, 1996; Bravo et al., 2012). Nonetheless, comparable to many other service providers, banks and companies in the financial sector have been affected by drastic changes generating vulnerable banking brands in the last few decades (Balmer & Gray 2000; Zelenic & Davidovic, 2011). In terms of identity management, banks are inclined to hold on to their pasts and effectively include historical references while communicating their identity (He & Balmer, 2013; Cornelissen et al., 2007; Melewar & Karaomanoglu, 2006; Wilkinson & Balmer, 1996). Moreover, several case studies (Chreim, 2005; Brunninge, 2009; Anderson, 1981; Daffey & Abratt, 2002) found that banks from all over the world including BMO (Canada), Handelsbanken (Sweden), Wells Fargo (USA) and ABSA (South Africa) use their history in overall corporate communications such as CEO-speeches, marketing campaigns and interviews. However, the amount of empirical evidence on the use of history in corporate communications is still low (Brunninge, 2009). The contents and use of corporate history on websites of banks has neither been studied thus far. Delahaye et al. (2009) found that the vast majority of Fortune 500
companies had corporate history sections on their websites. Accordingly, most banks include corporate history on their websites. Consequently, considering the aforementioned evidence from case studies and the insights on the corporate identities in the financial industry, it is expected that most banks have history embedded in their corporate identity. Hereby, it is taken into account mission statements are the prime source to communicate an online corporate identity, specifically the part of ‘who we are’ (Abdullah et al., 2013). Based on the online corporate history and mission statements it will be stated that:
H1: Banks generally portray an online corporate identity that is constructed through historical references
11 Narrative elements in CH of banks
Brunninge (2009) states that many organisations are very selective in representing their past to match overall communication strategies. Organisations can purposely ‘forget’ the past and oppose future action against it; organisations can skip ‘bad’ periods and explicitly focus on the good times as exemplary guideline (Fridenson, 2004; Ybema, 2014). In order to shift the focus to positive periods of the past, many large organisations tend to use thematic narrative that describes only relevant themes (Foster et al., 2016; Kroeze & Keulen, 2013; Oertel & Thommes, 2015). Henceforth, the following hypothesis applies:
H2: Banks prefer to present their corporate history through a thematic narrative rather than a chronological overview.
Banking entities and financing activities are commonly regarded to have a deepening influence on national economies and societal events, and are often linked to the
development of a region (Pennings & Harianto, 1992). Lasewicz (2015) showed that banks and other large multinationals relate their corporate history to society and culture with the use of cultural paradigms. Moreover, banks are commonly known to highlight national and
cultural paradigms in their communication (Balmer, 1997; Bargenda, 2015; Harris, 2002; Huppatz, 2005; Anderson, 1981). Hence, the following expectation is presented:
H3: The majority of banks formulate cultural paradigms in their corporate history
Communicating corporate history is partially meant to be a binding factor between organisational members and external stakeholders (Burghausen & Balmer, 2014). Also, corporate history communication influences the customer value of an organisation
(Wiedmann et al., 2013). The recent financial crisis has affected particularly customers of banks, more than other stakeholders. In order to regain trust, most banks regard the
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1997). In an online environment, Bravo et al. (2013) found that websites of banks mainly aim at customers rather than other audiences. Therefore, the following statement is presented:
H4: Among the human actor categories, banks will address customers the most in their corporate history than other actors
As history is often used to achieve organisational goals, emphasising positive performance through the years of organisations is a very relevant function (Chreim, 2005; Wiedmann et al., 2013). In banking, the growth of a business is not only directly linked to financial services but also is a main influencer of identity and strategy of banks (Larson et al., 2011; Clark et al., 2004). Bravo et al. (2013) found that the most disclosed information by banks’ is related to financial performance and business activities (Bravo et al., 2013). As such the hypothesis below applies:
H5: Among the determined rhetorical dimensions, business growth is used more by banks than the track record, longevity, core values and history is important
History related to the future
Despite that corporate history plays an important role in corporate identity development, an account of the past does not automatically flourishes in a present and future context (Schultz & Hernes, 2013). Therefore, in order to create enduring corporate identities and incentivise progress, the notion of continuity and future has to be expressed in corporate history (Foster et al., 2016; Blombäck & Brunninge, 2009; Chreim, 2005). In banking, Melewar & Navalekar (2002) observed that large banks often maintain century-old norms and traditions that are strongly embedded in the culture and identity of the firm (Melewar & Navalekar, 2002). Absence of notion for the future can hurdle organisational change processes (Kroeze & Keulen, 2013). Chreim (2005) showed that in his speech, BMO chairman, Matthew Barrett evidently placed the company’s past in relation to the future:
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“From our predecessors we inherit an institution of stability, strength and character. On this foundation we can build confidently for the future (…) we are proud of our traditions
and our place in history (…) with a clear sense of purpose and identity” (Chreim, 2005, p. 575)
Nowadays, banks are facing rapid technology advancements while experiencing difficulties meeting all modern consumer demands (Cornaggia et al., 2015). Organisations that face such transformations are more likely to express a vision for the future on their websites (Jones, 2010). Accordingly, the concern for future survival and innovation is growing among banks (Larson et al., 2011).In branding and corporate communication many banks have increasingly emphasised future strategies (Alloza, 2008). Thus far, no empirical evidence is provided for the mention of the future in (online) corporate history. Nonetheless, taking into account the ongoing changes within banking it is expected that the future will be a present feature in the online corporate history of most banks. As such:
H6: Most banks relate the online corporate history to the future
Culture differences in corporate history
Corporate history communication and branding are significantly influenced by the national culture of the organisation (Balmer, 2013). Although there has not been conducted any research on the cultural differences of online corporate history content, scholars suggests that culture plays a large role while communicating online corporate identities (Banerjee, 2008; Hakala et al., 2011). In external communication, organisations tend to exercise
different priorities on highlighting identity elements such as history (Bravo et al., 2013). Also, culture can influence to what extent certain company information is disclosed (Hannifa & Cooke, 2005). Hofstede (2011) proposed five dimensions in which regional and national cultures differ; high vs. low power distance, high vs. low uncertainty avoidance, individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity vs. femininity, and short- vs. long-term orientation. Several scholars have used these dimensions to explain diversity in corporate communication
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cultures. Particularly relevant for this study is long-term orientation; this reflected by a predominant direction towards the future whereas a short-term orientation relies on the past and the present (Hofstede, 2011). This study compares the main differences of online
corporate history between Europe, North America and Asia. These clusters are often used in cross-cultural communication studies (Alden et al., 1999; Gill, Dickinson & Scharl, 2008). Robbins & Stylianou (2010) found that long-term oriented cultures, such as most Asian countries, generally include less corporate history on their websites than short-term oriented cultures such as North American, Australian and European countries. In the same light, Hakala et al. (2011) states that European organisations generally have a more elaborate
H7: Generally, European banks make use of more corporate history in expressing the online corporate identity than other regions.
Cultural paradigms
Cultural paradigms are closely linked to cultures where organisations operated in (Delahaye et al., 2009). Asian companies are less likely to report about societal relevance and ethical dimensions compared to western organisations (Chapple & Moon, 2005). Simultaneously, US-based companies are much more likely to emphasise their contributions to society
compared to European and other regions (Maignan & Ralston, 2002). Callahan (2005) states that North American organisations have a position their company activities and products more often as a relevant part of national culture. Simultaneously, according to McDowell (2008) European organisations operate in a more globalised market with increasing continental policies and thus express less connection with their national heritage.
H8: North American/Australian include more cultural paradigms in their CH than Asian and European banks
15 Human actors in corporate history
Few is known about the influence of culture on the mention of human actors in corporate history of banks. However, cross-cultural studies of corporate websites showed that the presentation of company leaders differs between countries (Spreitzer et al., 2005; Robbins & Stylianou, 2010). According to Maignan & Ralston (2002) executives of North American organisations are featured more in external communication than in European and Asian countries. Moreover, Callahan (2005) pointed out Asian organisations will present company leaders in a more collective way by addressing and depicting executives as a group or as ‘the management’. Conversely, European and North American countries tend to apply an individual presentation of leaders with a mere focus on the CEO in pictures and direct quotes (Callahan, 2005). The following expectations therefore apply:
H9: North American/Australian banks have the more company leaders present in their CH than European and Asian banks
H10: Asian banks depict their company leaders more collectively than European and North American/Australian banks
Rhetorical dimensions Business growth
The way in which rhetorical dimensions like business growth, longevity, track record are used in corporate history can differ per culture (Hakala et al., 2011). According to Hofstede (2011) cultures with high masculinity, such as many Asian countries, often highlight competitive features such relating to business growth and profitability. Furthermore, in online reporting Asian firms tend to express past performance more often than European and North American firms (Gill et al., 2008). Instead, European and North American organisations tend to express the value of the organisation more in terms of ethical and social aspects rather than
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H11: Asian banks refer more to business growth than banks from Europe and North America
Future and history
Banerjee (2008) showed that Asian organisations with a long history are more inclined to express future strategies in brand management. This is in line with the views of Hofstede (2011) who identified Asian cultures more long-term orientated than western counterparts. Short-term oriented cultures, such as Europe and North America, hold on to more values of the past and the present (Callahan, 2005). Following this, it is expected that:
H12: Asian banks relate their history more to the future than banks from Europe and North America/Australia
METHODOLOGY
This study examines the online corporate history on the websites of European, North American and Asian banks. Concretely speaking, this paper investigates if and how banks present online corporate historical content as part of ‘who they are’ and how this differs per region. In addition, it is defined how the corporate history is presented and which rhetorical dimensions apply. Based on the online history sections and mission statements, a
quantitative analysis is conducted to measure format elements and rhetorical content per region. In addition textual examples are extracted to substantiate the results on a qualitative level. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights on the functional use of corporate history in banking and other business segments in online communication.
Sample
The sample consisted of 100 webpages of global banks. The selection was based of the number 1-100 listed on the 2016 index of the worlds’ most valuable banking brands
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published by consultancy firm Brand Finance (Brand Finance, 2016). This ranking was chosen due to its relevant brand valuation metrics including the stakeholder equity, business performance and marketing value (Brand Finance, 2016). Therefore, this ranking is suitable in the field of marketing & communications (Abratt & Bick, 2003; Alon & Vidovic, 2015). In order to measure cultural differences, the country of origin was determined based on the banks’ headquarters as this is mostly representative for the main operating market (Berger et al., 2003). The sample consists of banks originating from 27 countries. For the analysis, the three main regional clusters were formed: Europe (including Russia) (n = 36), North America (including Australia) (n = 28), Asia (n = 28). The remaining countries were located in the Middle East (n = 4) and Latin America (n = 4) and were only included for the overall results. A detailed overview of the countries per region and amount of banks can be found in
Appendix A. The oldest bank (Credit Mutuel, France) dates from 1645 while the newest bank was established in 2007 (Emirates NBD, UAE). Within the full sample, the average age was of 104 years old (foundation year 1912). As not all banks used English as their primary language, only the global or investor websites in English aimed at an international audience were included. Some banks in the sample were subsidiaries of a parent company with
sometimes several banking brands on one website. For practical reasons, only the subsidiary pages were considered.
Procedure
The current study focuses on the online corporate history and mission statement of banks. The corporate history section is normally accessible through “About Us” page of the website and is often titled as ‘history’, ‘company history’ or ‘our roots’ (Pollach, 2005; Delahaye et al., 2009). The corpus showed that the corporate history was almost always accessible without any difficulties through the “About Us” page via one or more clicks. In some cases the link to the history subpage was not clearly retrievable on the home page and had to be accessed through Google searching the bank name followed by the term ‘history’. Some banks disclosed their history only in external sources. For the purpose of consistency, corporate
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history content that was featured externally (i.e. separate websites or document files) was excluded. Consequently, 85 out of 100 banks (85%) did not have a corporate history on their website. With regards to the online content, some textual elements were visualised in an image format and were not possible to copy as text. This content was not included in the overall word count. Also, due to the limited time frame, the online video material was marked present but not analysed further. All 100 banks had an online mission statement that served for the analysis. The online mission statements were identified through the “About Us” section and were frequently denominated as mission, vision, values, strategy, company profile, who we are (Stallworth Williams, 2008; Leuthesser & Kohli, 1997; Abdullah, Nordin & Aziz, 2013). In some cases the mission statement elements were not present on one page but had to be found through one or more links.
Analysis
In order to analyse the data thoroughly a quantitative and qualitative content analysis was conducted. The sample was analysed with a codebook including coding instructions (see Appendix B). Content analysis is widely used to structure large amounts of texts and measure theoretical concepts (Krippendorff, 1980) and scholars often apply this method to measure corporate identity on websites, news articles, press releases and annual reports (Bravo et al., 2011; Pollach, 2005; Cornelius et al., 2007; Haniffa & Hudaib, 2007). The regions Europe, North America and Asia served as independent variables (IV’s) to measure cultural differences. The dependent variables are based on the corporate history features of Delahaye et al. (2009) and the brand heritage elements of Urde et al. (2007). Accordingly, a total of 11 dependent variables (DV’s) with 10 sub-variables were developed and were identified through dichotomous coding items. In order to substantiate the answer of the main RQ, the first seven variables contained items measuring the visual formalities of the
corporate history including the use of text and images, videos and interactive timelines.Also, the specific location of the corporate history on the website and the amount of words was coded. Hereafter, the historical content was measured through three variables with
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corresponding sub-items extracted from the works of Delahaye et al. (2009) being: Event Narrative (full chronological disclosure/thematic narrative), Human Actors
(leaders/shareholder/customers/employees), Cultural Paradigms (i.e. national history or cultural icons). The rhetorical dimensions based on Delahaye et al. (2009) and Urde et al. (2007) were measured with six dichotomous items: Business Growth (profit/performance), Longevity (age/recognition), Track Record (experience/legacy), Trustworthiness (reliable), Core Values and History important to the identity. Next, it was measured how history was related to the future with one dichotomous item. Then, historical references were measured in the online mission statements, and to which element of Pearce & David (1987) these were linked; activities, strategy, values and culture, all of dichotomous nature. Prior to the analysis, the reliability of the items was tested by coding ten percent of the sample twice by two
different coders. Thereafter, for every item the inter-coder reliability (ICR) was calculated with the Krippendorff’s Alpha (Kalpha). The first outcomes generated divergent Kalpha scores and generally below average. After a second coder training scores improved slightly, ultimately ranging between .19 and .78. The lowest scores were caused by the rhetorical dimensions Trustworthiness (.29), Stability (.36) and Longevity (.19). These were not excluded as the hypotheses were not affected. A complete overview of items and Kalpha’s can be found in Appendix A and B.
RESULTS
History as part of online identity
Based on the corporate history sections and the mission statements on the websites of banks, it was expected that overall history content was embedded in the overall
communicated online corporate identity of banks (H1). Results show that a minority of banks stated explicitly that their history is important to their identity (7 of 85, 8,2%). Simultaneously, when looked at the history references in mission statements showed 38% of all banks did include history in their online mission statement (n = 100). An example by UK-based bank
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HSBC showed how history was referred to in their mission statement:
[…] Throughout our history we have been where the growth is, connecting customers to opportunities. (Online
mission statement, HSBC. Retrieved from: www.hsbc.com/about-hsbc/)
Moreover, it was assessed in which of the mission statement elements proposed by Pearce (1987) history was particularly present. It appeared that history in the mission statement appeared more in the part of ‘who they are’ rather than in other parts (e.g. vision, activities, values). However, a Chi-square test χ2(1) = 26.32, p = .102 (p < .05) marked this result as insignificant. Based on these observations it can be stated that corporate history is not a relevant part of the overall corporate identity. H1 can be rejected.
Format & presentation
When looking at the location of the corporate history on each website, most banks only have a history sub-page (64 of 85, 75,3%) instead of present corporate history content on the front pages. In other words, most About Us-pages do not disclose any history information but solely show a link to the corporate history sub-section. Regarding the presentation format of corporate history sections, most banks only use images in combination with text (47 of 85, 55,3%). The use video is scarce as only nine banks use video material. The presence of a chronological timeline however, seems to be a popular choice among banks (47 of 85, 55.3%). The use of an interactive timeline (26 of 85, 30,6%) is slightly higher than a static timeline (21 of 85, 24,7%).
The use of narrative
The second hypothesis (H2) stated that most banks (n = 85) rather would present their corporate history content through a thematic narrative instead of a chronological overview such as time-specific milestones or a full historical disclosure including every year since the foundation of the bank. Results show that banks chose to transmit their history applying a thematic narrative (43 from 85 banks, 50,6%) rather than a full history disclosure (20%) or
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milestones (28,4%). As this variable consisted of more than two nominal categories a Chi-square test was conducted to prove significant differences. This showed χ2(4) = 47.00, p = .000 (p < .05) a significant difference. H2 was thus supported as most banks rather present the past according to a storyline while focusing on specific themes or topics without
mentioning years and dates.
Cultural paradigms
H3 postulated that most banks would include cultural paradigms in the corporate history. A majority of banks did include cultural paradigms (45 from 85, 52,9%). A Chi-square showed this is a significant result χ2(2) = 15.500, p = .000 (p < .05). This statement was supported.
A closer look on the use of cultural paradigms reveals a wide use of national history content linked to their corporate history. This is reflected through the following examples extracted from the corpus:
[…] The name Wells Fargo is forever linked with the image of a six-horse stagecoach thundering across the
American West. The full history, over more than 160 years, is rich in detail with great events in America’s history. (Online
corporate history, Wells Fargo. Retrieved from: https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/corporate/history/)
Wells Fargo (USA) explicitly stressed out that the stagecoach is a somewhat a renowned icons for all Americans. Bank of America does this without concrete artefacts but certainly articulates its important relationship with the country.
[…] At Bank of America, our history covers more than two centuries and includes people who helped to shape life
as we know it in this country. The stories of our history and heritage connect us to some of the greatest achievements and
advancements of all time. (Online corporate history, Bank of America. Retrieved from:
http://about.bankofamerica.com/en-us/our-story/our-history-and-heritage.html)
22 European society.
[…] Since 1822, history has made us a key player and a witness of transformations taking place in society
and economy in Europe and around the world. (Online corporate history, BNP Paribas. Retrieved from: https://group.bnpparibas/en/group/history-centuries-banking)
Human actors
H4 expected that between the identified human actors, customers were referred to the most in the corporate history of banks. 36 of 85 banks (42%) mentioned customers. To determine the significance of the proportions of these dichotomous variables, a Chi-square test pointed out that customers were not significantly addressed the most by banks χ2(1) = 19.88, p = .159 (p < .05). H3 was rejected.
Rhetoric dimensions of corporate history
H5 stated that the most frequent rhetorical dimensions in online corporate history is the business growth in comparison with the track record, longevity, stability, trust and history is important. Comparing the differences between these categorical variables with a Chi-square showed significant results χ2(1) = 6.857, p = .009 (p < .05). As such, business growth was the most used rhetorical dimension by banks (54 of 85 banks, 63.5%). This suggests
business growth and financial performance are still considered assets that boost competitive advantage in corporate communications. H5 was supported. Examples from the data show how this dimension is formulated in online history of banks.
[…] This success story continued over the next century and a half […] this was achieved through strong organic growth. (online corporate history, Credit Suisse. Retrieved from:
https://www.credit-suisse.com/lu/en/about-us/our-company/history.html)
The observed frequencies for all rhetorical dimensions in the corporate history of the studied banks are illustrated in Table 1.
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Table 1. Separate frequencies of rhetorical dimensions in corporate history of banks
Total sampleᵃ Frequencyᵇ % pᶜ Business growth 54 64% .012 Longevity 12 14% .000 Experience 13 18% .000 Trust 7 8% .000 Core values 15 15% .000 History important to identity 7 7% .000 a. n = 85
b. Amount of banks that included this dimension
c. p < .05
History related to the future
H6 expected that most banks relate their online corporate history to the future. Only 21.2% (18 of 85) of studied banks related their history to the future. H6 could be rejected. The following citations were extracted from the sample and proved exemplary for the ways the future can be grasped in the historical discourse:
[…] 230 years of looking ahead. (online corporate history, BNY Mellon. Retrieved from: https://www.bnymellon.com/us/en/timeline.jsp)
[…] Our history is also a natural part of our future. (online corporate history, Swedbank. Retrieved from:
https://www.swedbank.com/about-swedbank/our-history/)
[…] A proud history, a strong future together (Online corporate history, Wells Fargo. Retrieved from:
https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/corporate/history/)
Cultural differences
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variable. Given that most items were of dichotomous nature (value 1 when present and value 2 when absent) the means will range between 1 and 2, whereas more presence of the measured items is reflected by lower means. An overview of reported means per category is included in Appendix A.
History in corporate identity
H7 postulated that European banks include history in their overall mission statements more often than banks Asia and North America do. The t-test showed that Asian banks (M = 1.50,
SD = .577) included corporate history more often than European banks (M = 1.69, SD =
.467) and North American banks (M = 1.71, SD = .460) while t (78) = -1.627, p =.110, 95% CI [-.353, .037]. There was no violation of assumption of equal variances, Levene’s F (78) =.117, p = .734. Finally, H7 was also not supported.
Cultural paradigms
H8 postulated the predominant use of cultural paradigms by North American banks in comparison with Asian and European banks. However, in this case European banks (M = 1.29, SD = .458) used more cultural paradigms than North American and Asian regions, t (78) = 2.26, p =.027, 95% CI [.041, .673]. There was no violation of assumption of equal variances, Levene’s F (37) = .089, p = .27.Thus, H8 was not supported.
Leaders
H9 postulated that North American banks depict more leaders than other regions. The t-test showed that in comparison with Asia and Europe, North American banks had relatively more leaders in their corporate history (M = 1.39, SD = .705), t (78) = 2.26, p =.027, 95% CI [.041, .673]. There was no violation of assumption of equal variances, Levene’s F (37) = .089, p = .27. As the results show significant more use of leaders by North American banks than other regions, H9 could be accepted.
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H10 stated that Asian banks represent their organisational leaders more often in a collective way than European and North American banks. As this variable was dichotomous a Chi-square test was applied and revealed significant differences among between individual and collective presentation of leaders χ2(12) = 25.19, p = .014 (p < .05). However, between the three regions the t-test did not indicate significant differences with regard to the mention of leaders, t (78) = .852, p = .128 (p < .05), 95% CI [-.338, .838]. H10 could therefore not be supported.
Business growth
H11 expected that Asian banks would be more likely to emphasise more on business growth than European and North American banks. Comparing the means between groups, a t-test showed that Asian banks (M = 1.43, SD = .507) did not include more business growth than other North American (M = 1.35, SD = .487) and European banks (M = 1.38, SD = .493), t (88) = -3.34, p =.740, 95% CI [-.324, .231]. There was no violation of assumption of equal variances, Levene’s F (37) = .382, p = .539. H11 was rejected.
The future
H12 suggested that Asian banks will be more likely to direct the history discourse more to the future in comparison with European and North American banks. This was measured
comparing the means of the dichotomous variable per group. The t-test showed that North American banks related more to the future (M = 1.61, SD = .499) in comparison with European banks (M = 1.79, SD = .410), Asian banks (M = 1.95, SD = .218) and, t (78) = -1.627, p =.110, 95% CI [-.353, .037]. There was no violation of assumption of equal variances, Levene’s F (78) = 14.211, p = .637. Finally, H12 was not supported.
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DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION
The purpose of this study was to investigate how banks used corporate history on their websites between different cultures. The corporate history was assessed based on format, content and rhetorical dimensions proposed in studies of corporate history and brand heritage by respectively Delahaye et al. (2009) & Urde et al. (2007). Additionally, it was assessed how corporate history was part of the overall communicated online identity of banks. As most banks included corporate history on their website, the main conclusion of this research is that corporate history has claimed a considerable role in online corporate
communication. To explicate this further, the main research question of this study asked how
do banks communicate corporate history on their websites and what are the main differences between banks from Europe, Asia and North America? First of all, it was assessed how
history was linked to the online corporate identity. The findings show large amounts of history disclosed on the websites. However, most corporate history content was not visible on the front page while the links to history sub-pages were not easy to retrieve. Moreover, few banks did explicitly mention history as being important to their identity and only less than half of banks mentioned history in the mission statements. These findings suggest that the corporate history was generally not portrayed as a crucial part of the online corporate identity but rather as a separate genre. In some cases, this could certainly be in line with the
corporate identity strategy. Alternatively, it could also be the case that history plays a essential to the identity of some banks but has not yet been implemented well in identity communication. Besides, many large organisations still fail to align all corporate messages with identity attributes (Leitch & Motion, 1999). In practice, some banks make no reference to their history in mission statements but do have elaborate corporate history section, which implies that history is not irrelevant to the organisation. For external audiences such
discrepancies can raise confusion and ultimately lead to a decrease of credibility (Schultz & Hernes, 2013; Goia, Schultz & Corley, 2000). The format and content of corporate history sections contained relatively few videos and was mostly disclosed with text in combination
27
with images. Timelines were used frequently and indicate the importance of specific dates in time. As postulated, most banks did use historical narrative to articulate corporate history rather than focusing on dates. Historical narratives are useful to make past events
comprehensive for stakeholders in the present (Clark & Rowlinson, 2004; Delahaye et al., 2009). While, not much is known about narrative in corporate communication, this finding confirms the growing use of historical narrative by organisations and acknowledges the use in online communication (Foster et al., 2016). Also, following expectations, cultural
paradigms were oft-recurring among banks. This is in line with prior research which also pointed out the tendency among banks of transmitting cultural paradigms and societal
relevance in the past (Bargenda, 2015; Melewar & Navalekar, 2002). As research suggested, customers are the prime audience in online communication and corporate history (Balmer, 2013). Contradictory to the expectations, there was no salient mention of specific human actors in the corporate history of banks. Especially in banking, current customers have lost trust in their bank and became disengaged (Buil et al., 2016). Therefore, customers should obtain priority in communication. This result can initiate further studies on the role of different actors in corporate history considering that the digital space is particularly a beneficial
channel to build sustainable relationships with main stakeholders (Craig, Ngondo & Flynn, 2016; Ingenhoff & Fuhrer, 2010). As expected, the most featured rhetorical dimension in the online corporate history among banks was business growth. In external communication, organisations often emphasise their past performance and growth of the business to foster competitive advantage (Bravo et al., 2013) In corporate history messages, business growth and achievements are main recurring elements (Cooper et al., 2013). However, banks and other organisations that are communicating about profit can overshadow other relevant competitive advantages (Booth & Rowlinson, 2006). Also, organisations can generate optimistic expectations and images that are difficult to retain, possibly leading to reputational damage (Lasewicz, 2015). Many scholars stress out the relevance of continuity in corporate history messages, particularly for organisations that are facing innovation & transformation (Suddaby et al., 2010; Wiedmann et al., 2013; Harris, 2002). Yet, the lack of future notion in
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the corporate history of banks, call for further elaboration of history content in relation with vision for the future. Further research is needed to establish standardised models of rhetorical dimensions to measure corporate history but also determine the strategical advantages of different rhetorical dimensions in corporate history. As very little is known about the way corporate history is regarded by different cultures, this study compared the corporate history content and rhetoric between European, North American and Asian banks. Other scholars (Bravo et al., 2013; Callahan, 2005) expected that culture can influence the way organisations transmit corporate attributes on their websites. Moreover, Hofstede (2011) that the cultural clusters such as individualism and long-term orientation are related to the way organisations express their history and future. Robbins & Stylianou (2010) found that high levels of long-term orientation tend to increase the disclosure of company vision for the future whereas short-term orientated companies are inclined to transmit more traditional values and corporate history online. However, the findings of this study indicate that the influence of cultural region on different elements of online corporate history was low among banks. This may have been caused by strong culture for specific countries instead of
regions. Also, the insignificant cultural differences could have been influenced by the generic identity attributes of the banking industry (Melewar & Navalekar, 2002). Nonetheless,
depiction of leaders in history sections of banks showed differences between regions; as expected Asian banks portrayed their leaders more in a collective way than European and North American banks. This is supported by the assumption that many Asian cultures are characterised by high collectivism. Insignificant cultural differences could also have been caused by the strong cultures of single countries in the clusters. European countries, for example are known to have many cultural differences (Hofstede, 2011). In the future, academics can attempt to define the role of culture in corporate history communication by including more variables. Following this, it has to be acknowledged that this study was characterised by a number of limitations. First of all, the research design was based on a conceptual model of corporate history which has not been operationalised earlier, including company websites (Delahaye et al., 2009; Balmer, 2013). Considering the lack of empirical
29
evidence of corporate history in external communication and between cultural groups, the research design of this study may have some flaws. The chosen analysis could have been extended with additional measures between cultures. Also, some variables in this study had a low reliability. Overall reliability of the measured items was not considered very high. This has to be taken into account when interpreting the results. Also, the rhetorical dimensions trustworthiness and longevity appeared to be interpreted distinctly among coders. Finally, the main limitation of the sample was a low amount of different countries per region which may have caused less valid cultural clusters. Future studies of online corporate history can measure the differences between countries and other regions. The mixed findings of this study provide incentive for future research to further analyse corporate history on websites and determine relevant concepts to measure. Additionally, and other industries can be conducted. Eventually, the rhetorical components of corporate history have to be investigated further in order to identify possible strategical benefits in communication. Conclusively, the findings of this research, enables managers to consider the online
corporate history as an important part of corporate communication that can be aligned with the corporate message and linked to the online corporate identity.
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