The success of impression management strategies depends on both societal cultural norms on appropriate social behaviour (DePaulo, 1992) and on organization-specific culture (Drory & Zaidman, 2007), as well as individual characteristics (Snyder, 1974). Individuals with knowledge on impression management strategies may therefore successfully utilise this knowledge to, for example, maximise their capacity to influence their organization’s policies and practices. There is considerable evidence in organizational settings that impression management by employees can influence supervisors’ ratings of them (Wayne & Liden, 1995 Vilela et al, 2007), increase chances of promotion (Westphal & Stern, 2007) and increase others’ perceptions of ones credibility (Leigh & Summers, 2002). Impression management is the strategic attempt to control how one is perceived by others in order to fulfil a deeper aim (Rosenfeld, Giacalone & Riordan, 1995), such as exuding competence in a particular knowledge field or being taken seriously as an expert. An individual can strategically manipulate the nonverbal signals that they transmit through a process known as impression management or self presentation (Leary & Kowalski, 1990). Nonverbal cues therefore have an important communicative function (DePaulo, 1992), such as in terms of conveying information on emotional states (Ekman & Friesen, 1971). This could be their perception of a certain person (including you), a material possession or an event. Communication between humans usually involves nonverbal cues such as facial expressions, gestures, body posture, tone of voice, gaze, clothing style and use of props. Impression management is the effort to control or influence other peoples perceptions. The success of knowledge transfer often depends on incidental or subsidiary information accompanying the knowledge itself.

Multinational corporations can also benefit from utilising the knowledge presented in this chapter in their international public relations efforts. A cultural knowledge base can thus be created through cross-cultural training of and knowledge transfer by expatriates. collectivist culture or individualist culture) or organization-specific cultural adjustments are needed.

This chapter argues that impression-motivated employees or corporations need to perform a three-step knowledge audit: (i) knowing what their impression deficits are (ii) knowing what impression management strategy is needed to address that deficit, based on the taxonomy of impression management strategies tabulated here (iii) knowing what societal (e.g. Cultural knowledge is powerful capital in impression management, yet this has not been sufficiently explored in previous literature. Employees or corporations can deploy impression management strategies in order to manipulate others’ perceptions of them. AbstractImpression management is a powerful psychological phenomenon with much unexplored potential in corporate settings.

Self impression management definition