Towards a Variety of Meanings – Multiple Representations of Reputation in the Small Business Context
通过对25位小企业主管理者的访谈，本文揭示了声誉在小企业中被建构为经济资源、社会认可、限制性控制机制和个人地位风险四种不同含义，并探讨了这些含义产生的语境。
This paper examines the discursively constructed meanings for reputation in the small business context – an area of reputation research that has so far attracted little attention. We argue that viewing reputation as a social construction makes it possible to uncover and understand the variety of meanings attached to the concept in small businesses. On the basis of 25 thematic interviews with owner‐managers we (re)constructed four meanings for reputation: reputation as an economic resource, as social recognition, as a restrictive control mechanism and as a risk for personal status. We also investigate the variety of discursive events in which these meanings are created. The study further emphasizes reputation as a phenomenon in which a small business becomes identified with its owner‐manager, adding to the complex and conflicting nature of reputation, including both positive and negative aspects.