| Abstract: | This paper is concerned with the image of two large engineering firms, both based in the UK, but with global ambitions rapidly being realized. In both cases, the firm's image had conveyed the impression of a Midland's ‘metal-basher’, a traditional engineering firm manufacturing a wide range of uncomplicated products. In neither case was this image an accurate reflection of the firm's businesses, and in neither case was the image deliberately cultivated. However, in one case senior management saw the metal-bashing image to be so incompatible with global aspirations that it was deliberately expunged. In the other, the same image was deemed less damaging to international aspirations and no specific efforts were made to change it. The paper examines some of the strategic implications of making such a change, and considers some of the lessons that might be derived for organizational change in general. Senior managers in both companies were interviewed over a two-year period and their views are recorded in quotation throughout the paper. |
