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A General Theory of Organizational Stigma

Wisconsin School of Business, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
Raj Soin College of Business, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio 45435
Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824
Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322
cdevers{at}bus.wisc.edu
todd.dewett{at}wright.edu
mishina{at}bus.msu.edu
carrie.belsito{at}usu.edu

In recent years, the term stigma has been widely applied to organizations. However, scholars have yet to advance a theoretically consistent definition or comprehensive theory of organizational stigma. The purpose of this paper is to define the construct of organizational stigma and provide a general theory that explains the conditions under which organizational stigmas are likely to arise, how this process unfolds, and the initial effects stigmas inflict on organizations. In doing so, we distinguish organizational stigma from both individual-level stigma and the organizational-level constructs of reputation, status, celebrity, and legitimacy. We then build upon multiple streams of research to develop a richer theoretical explanation of the roles social context, social processes, and social actors play in the origination and effects of an organizational stigma.

Key Words: organizational stigma; stigma origination; social evaluation; value incongruence; social control; disidentification