Narrating corporate values and co-creating organizational change: A case study on the use of social media to engage employees

When management introduces a change in corporate identity and values, companies risk experiencing a disconnection from the actual organizational identity and narratives felt and shared among employees. The main challenge therefore is making sure that corporate identity is rooted in organizational identity and shared by employees by facilitating dialogical and sensemaking processes. After a review of relevant literature on corporate identity, organizational identity and internal social media, this paper presents main findings from a large Italian company that has used internal social media to engage employees in making sense of the new corporate values in an open and dialogical manner. Activities encompassed digital storytelling on corporate values and organizational change projects aimed at translating these values into concrete behaviours and organizational processes. Critical areas in the use of social media for internal communication and future research avenues are highlighted.