In our source of the month we examine how companies have used the past in their internal communications to deliver value for the present and for the future. We look at the ways in which company magazines over a seventy-five year period (from 1918 to 2002) have created historical content in their pages to create strategic value for their organisations. In our research we looked at a sample of magazines from Unilever, the BBC, Cadbury and Boots. We show that these companies used historical content in their magazines to create value in the present through acts of commemoration, what we call Marking History, and how they use this content to chart new strategic pathways in the future through what we call Making History. We have developed models from this research which we have uploaded onto our Downloadable Resources section on our website. These have been developed, in conjunction with this source of the month feature, to assist IC practitioners who aim to use organisational heritage in their content. We recommend colleagues to do so as heritage and an organisation’s history offer an incredibly strategic resource for IC practitioners as we will demonstrate in this feature. These slides can be adapted to suit your needs.
We applied the concept of rhetorical history to our research. Rhetorical history does not refer to a study of the past per se, but how organisations in the present use their past for strategic goals such as creating powerful brands, forging relations with stakeholders, motivating employees, carrying out successful change management programmes or developing new strategic pathways. While we studied how our four companies created and used history in their company magazines in the past, we always looked at this through the eyes of their present – how these companies at the time attempted to use their heritage in their IC. What is incredible is that although we conducted our study over a seventy-five year period, we found patterns in the use of this past that ran throughout the period. Based on our work on the history of IC up to the present and conversations with IC practitioners, we are confident that our findings can be applied to contemporary IC settings and are useful today.
In our research we discovered that companies and IC practitioners used different types of what we call internal historical narratives to apply their past to the present or future. We also found that IC practitioners used different styles of history in their writings. These were divided between ‘tradition’, a style of history where change was gradual and slow and rooted in the culture and values of the company, and ‘innovation’ where historical change was fast and disruptive but linked to a tradition of dynamism and successful company change management. This was placed on a two-by-two matrix (see our Internal Historical Narratives Genre Matrix in our Downloadable Resources) where we established four internal historical narratives (see adjustable slides for each of these narratives). These are: Longstanding Stability (marking history with tradition) where narratives use the past to commemorate the present and emphasise the rootedness of this present in the past. Continued relevance (marking history with innovation) where the ability of historical organisational institutions such as identity and culture are celebrated for their dynamism and ability to adjust and stay relevant in a changing world. A New Chapter narrative (making history with tradition), tells a narrative of innovation framed within the traditions of the organisation. This makes future change continuous and familiar. By contrast, in a narrative of Enduring Values (making history with innovation), change for the organisation is presented as being discontinuous with the present and past, but this is narrated as a historic trait of the company – something it has always successfully done.
For each of our four narratives we looked at two examples of the uses of the past in articles in the company magazines we studied. For Longstanding Stability we showcased the 1977 centenary in Boots and the 50th anniversary of the move to the Bourneville Factory for Cadbury in 1929. These were both narrated as traditional anniversaries. For Continued Relevance we chose the 50th anniversary of television at the BBC and a tree planting ceremony for the 1977 Boots centenary. These celebrated the longevity of television production at the BBC and Boots’ anniversary and also emphasised how they had changed and stayed relevant in the present. It’s interesting to note how Boots used different narratives to emphasise different historical elements of the company for its centenary anniversary.
In relation to a New Chapter we chose the 1930 merger of Lever Brothers and Margarine Unie to create Unilever and the launch of ITV in 1955 which ushered in competition for the first time in its history for the BBC. Both of these were potentially disruptive challenges for these companies and required strategic change for the future. In both cases the traditions of these historical companies were used to calm fears amongst employees about this change. Finally in regards to Enduring Values, we looked at the 1918 founding of a works council at Cadbury and the establishment of the 2002 Code of Business Principles at Unilever. Both of these were framed as disruptive changes, but the narratives of both events in the company magazines narrated these as normal in their respective companies. The Unilever article compared the new Code with the socially aware values of the founder of the company William Hesket Lever a century earlier and argued the company had always been a pioneer in CSR.
It can be seen from our Internal Historical Narratives Genre Matrix that the past and heritage can be used creatively and strategically by companies and IC practitioners. Most importantly it can also be used flexibly depending on present and future needs. One thing that rhetorical history teaches us is that heritage is a resource in organisations that can be used for strategic purposes in the present and future and is not fixed. Rhetorical histories are narratives of the past that can be flexibly adapted and skillfully applied. Historical awareness is important, but so too are the present and future needs of the company and its employees and stakeholders. Our four internal historical narratives are frameworks for how IC practitioners can tell history and use heritage for their companies. We hope you use it and find it useful.