Social memory assets as a defense mechanism: the Onondaga Pottery in World War II

Abstract

ABSTRACT Organizations fall back on their identities in times of uncertainty as a way of making sense of unfamiliar situations and to reflect on their values in the face of attack. Identity formation is inextricably linked to memory, both that of the individual organization and its members and the collective memory of the society in which it functions. The collective memory of the United States holds wartime service in high esteem, and for an organization facing hardship, this can open the door to an opportunity to build goodwill by linking identity to that narrative for an external audience. In this article, I analyze a case study of the Onondaga Pottery in World War II using the concept of social memory assets (SMAs) to see how management created an SMA based on the memory of their contributions to the war effort and deployed it as a tool when threatened by cuts in tariff rates during the Cold War. I demonstrate that SMAs can be used not only to proactively create a competitive advantage for an organization but as a defensive strategy as well.