Who does a company’s past belong to and how can companies stay true to their history?

<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/742141/original/file-20260602-57-knf3x3.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&amp;rect=0%2C0%2C4896%2C3264&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1050&amp;h=700&amp;fit=crop" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many companies have shady pasts.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pattaya-thailand-august-3-2019-lacoste-1483417619?trackingId=cd52928d-f4fe-4d7d-a614-c68f448f992b&amp;listId=searchResults">AkuraYochi/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Corporate history belongs to everyone. It belongs just as much to communications professionals keen to craft unifying narratives for their clients and staff, as it does to historians who advocate honesty when it comes to the grey areas. To prevent the past from being rewritten, researchers are calling for the promotion of an ‘ethic of organisational memory’.</p> <p>The way organisations construct their past is never trivial; it is the res