Decoding Organisational Dress: Institutional Control and the Transformation of Dress Communication

Liu, Yuzhong; Baruch, Yehuda; Gardner, Trang

Abstract

Dress is widely recognised as a potent medium that conveys important messages. Yet prior research has centred largely on what dress communicates—signals about identity or status—rather than on how these communicative processes unfold. In particular, the role of organisational dress remains under explored, as does its distinction from non-organisational dress. Data was collected via 50 semi-structured interviews in two different Chinese organisations. Findings indicate that the organisation, takes on the role of primary “information sender,” while the individual becomes an interpreter. We offer several theoretical contributions upon its completion. First, establishing that institutional control is the essential characteristic of organisational dress, fundamentally distinguishing it from non-organisational dress. Second, introducing a model that employs the intensity of organisational control as an analytical axis, thereby enabling various forms of organisational dress to be examined as a unified construct. Finally, demonstrating that the mechanisms of information transmission in organisational vs. non-organisational dress.

Primary Track

Organisational Studies

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Decoding Organisational Dress: Institutional Control and the Transformation of Dress Communication

Abstract

Primary Track