Organizational Impression Management: Utilizing Anticipatory Tactics

Abstract

The current pair of studies are the first to empirically show that the proposed tactics/processes (i.e., accommodation, legitimation, intimidation, bureaucratic) of the anticipatory organizational impression management (OIM) model decrease initial challenges to an event and prevent the escalation of an already existing challenge. Moreover, our data showed that variables specified by the model mediated the relationship between the tactics and the respective dependent measures (i.e., initial challenges, escalation of challenges). Our results offer compelling evidence for the OIM model, an empirical case that has been heretofore absent from the literature.

Notes

¹We thank an anonymous reviewer for this suggestion.

²Hospitals may have focused on averting these requests, rather than on merely responding to the initial questions, because performing billing audits is a time-consuming and expensive service (pp. 79–80).

³We thank an anonymous reviewer for this suggestion.

⁴In addition, participants also answered four items (α = .86) to measure attention to the bill (e.g., I would exert significant efforts to examine the bill; I would be vigilant in looking at the bill; I would pay close attention to the bill). The same analysis using the four-item attention measure mirrored the results the attention measure utilizing the actual time that participants spent examining the bill.

⁵It is important to note that although contentment may represent a positive affect, it does not necessarily involve liking. For instance, in an interpersonal context, one may be content that another person is a very responsible individual, but still adamantly dislike him or her. The correlation between liking and contentment was .35.

⁶The correlation between fear and frustration was .12.