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Organizational Identity Formation: Processes of Identity Imprinting and Enactment in the Dutch Microbrewing Landscape 1

Jochem J. Kroezen and Pursey P. M. A. R. Heugens

in Constructing Identity in and around Organizations

On the basis of a qualitative study of fifty-nine recently founded Dutch microbreweries, we develop a conceptual model of organizational identity formation. We employ old institutionalism as a ... More

On the basis of a qualitative study of fifty-nine recently founded Dutch microbreweries, we develop a conceptual model of organizational identity formation. We employ old institutionalism as a theoretical lens to integrate several prior findings concerning the potential sources of organizational identity, such as (a) the identities of authoritative organizational insiders, (b) the preferences and judgments of organizational audiences, and (c) the identities of organizational peers. Each of these sources is shown to critically influence the two most central identity formation processes: the initial imprinting of potential identity attributes upon organizations, and the subsequent enactment of a selection of these by organizational insiders.Less

Exploring Cultural Mechanisms of Organizational Identity Construction

Mary Ann Glynn and Lee Watkiss

in Constructing Identity in and around Organizations

We explore the cultural embeddedness of organizational identity and highlight the role of cultural mechanisms in the construction of the organization’s identity claims. We conceive of an organization ... More

We explore the cultural embeddedness of organizational identity and highlight the role of cultural mechanisms in the construction of the organization’s identity claims. We conceive of an organization as a social actor who functions as a skilled cultural operative, sufficiently agentic so as to select those cultural elements that align with its internal character, but not so insensitive as to adopt those elements that are culturally inappropriate or illegitimate. By appropriating and interpreting cultural resources, the organization makes identity claims of “who we are” and “what we do.” Drawing from the organizational and social science literatures, we identify six cultural mechanisms—framing, repertoires, narrating, symbolization and symbolic boundaries, capital and status, and institutional templates—whereby organizations incorporate cultural elements into their identities and show their correspondence to identity elements.Less

Constructing Identity in and around Organizations: Introducing the Second Volume of “Perspectives on Process Organization Studies”

Majken Schultz, Steve Maguire, Ann Langley, and Haridimos Tsoukas

in Constructing Identity in and around Organizations

The introductory chapter elaborates on the relevance of a process perspective to studies of identity, and presents the eleven individual chapters included in this volume, which focuses specifically ... More

The introductory chapter elaborates on the relevance of a process perspective to studies of identity, and presents the eleven individual chapters included in this volume, which focuses specifically on the concept of “identity” in and around organizations. The constructing of identities—those processes through which actors in and around organizations claim, accept, negotiate, affirm, stabilize, maintain, reproduce, challenge, disrupt, destabilize, repair, or otherwise relate to their sense of selves and others—has become a critically important topic in the study of organizations. Part I of the volume presents seven chapters dealing explicitly with this theme, while Part II offers four complementary contributions that address broader issues in process organization studies.Less

Identity as Process and Flow

Dennis A. Gioia and Shubha Patvardhan

in Constructing Identity in and around Organizations

Rather than viewing organizational identity in the usual fashion as some sort of entity, thing, or “being,” we suggest that identity might be better viewed in terms of ongoing process or flow. We ... More

Rather than viewing organizational identity in the usual fashion as some sort of entity, thing, or “being,” we suggest that identity might be better viewed in terms of ongoing process or flow. We argue that such a counterintuitive stance generates a different way of understanding identity, which when viewed in concert with its more usual portrayal, actually produces a more insightful understanding of this key concept. We touch on several of the debates surrounding organizational identity and suggest approaches to studying its dynamics from a process research perspective.Less

Organizational Union Identity

Bob Smale

in Exploring Trade Union Identities: Union Identity, Niche Identity and the Problem of Organizing the Unorganized

This chapter explores ‘organisational union identity’ projected by unions that organise within employer defined membership territories. These unions project three forms of organisational identity, ... More

This chapter explores ‘organisational union identity’ projected by unions that organise within employer defined membership territories. These unions project three forms of organisational identity, namely, ‘organisational union identity’, where the unions such as Advance seek to organise the whole organisation, ‘sub-organisational union identity’, as with Skyshare which organises pilots employed by NetJets and ‘multi-organisational union identity’ where unions including NGSU operate at a group level. The chapter explores the observable characteristics of organisational union identity together with the impact of mergers, membership benefits, affiliations and political alignment. It further recognises that whilst organisational unions were often formed with employer encouragement as part of union avoidance strategies, that many have now progressed to become certified trade unions and some to have merged with more broadly based trade unions. Therefore, given that there would seem to be a ‘direction of travel’ from formation to certification, it is argued that fermenting new organisational unions might perhaps be a route to restoring trade union membership.Less

The Sociological Congruence of Record Company Deception¹

Damon J. Phillips

in Shaping Jazz: Cities, Labels, and the Global Emergence of an Art Form

This chapter examines the sociological congruence of record company deception. It explores deception through the lens of organizational role identities, where role identities are a function of when ... More

This chapter examines the sociological congruence of record company deception. It explores deception through the lens of organizational role identities, where role identities are a function of when an organization was founded. It also discusses the role of pseudonyms by focusing on Victorian-era firms and the anti-jazz sentiments they faced. In particular, it considers the relationship of firm identities to the costs and success of highbrow versus lowbrow jazz recordings. The chapter shows that Victorian-era firms used deception to overcome two types of identity threats: their association with profitable but illegitimate types of jazz, and the actions of newer entrants that blurred the incumbents' identity.Less

Revealing Research on Organizational Identity and Related Issues

Craig R. Scott

in Anonymous Agencies, Backstreet Businesses, and Covert Collectives: Rethinking Organizations in the 21st Century

This chapter reviews the literature from fields such as management and communication that has examined a range of organizational identity issues. These include work on organizational and corporate ... More

This chapter reviews the literature from fields such as management and communication that has examined a range of organizational identity issues. These include work on organizational and corporate identity, branding, reputation, and image, as well as research examining the sense of identification organizational members may experience for an organization. Also included here is a smaller body of research examining issues of organizational anonymity, secrecy, privacy, transparency, and disclosure. Finally, the work on organizational stakeholders and publics is relevant here, given that most, if not all, of these identity constructs are ultimately negotiated via interactions with various audiences.Less

Staying the Same While Changing: Organizational Identity in the Face of Environmental Challenges

Mary Ann Glynn, Christi Lockwood, and Ryan Raffaelli

in Leading Sustainable Change: An Organizational Perspective

Identity is an enduring property of organizations that consists of “who we are” and “what we do” that are made to both internal and external constituencies. The chapter explores the role of ... More

Identity is an enduring property of organizations that consists of “who we are” and “what we do” that are made to both internal and external constituencies. The chapter explores the role of organizational identity in the adoption of new sustainability practices, focusing on how identity functions as a driver of (or sometimes a drag on) adoption. Drawing on illustrations from the US hotel industry, the chapter examines the diffusion of sustainability practices diffused across firms in an institutional field. Focusing on two exemplar hotels, the chapter shows that sustainability is not only “what we do” as an organization, but also “who we are.” The chapter also shows how organizational efforts to balance identity sameness and difference shift with the institutionalization of sustainability practices across the industry. The chapter discusses avenues for future research on sustainability from an identity perspective and reflect on implications for practice.Less

Firms: Just Like an International Firm The Advantage of Not Being Global

Swethaa S. Ballakrishnen

in Accidental Feminism: Gender Parity and Selective Mobility among India's Professional Elite

This chapter extends the analysis of novelty from the individual level to a more organizational perspective. No doubt the advantage of newness played a big part in scripting how individuals were ... More

This chapter extends the analysis of novelty from the individual level to a more organizational perspective. No doubt the advantage of newness played a big part in scripting how individuals were viewed and treated, but equally important were the ways in which novelty moderated how organizations identified and wanted to be seen. In exploring the ways in which this organizational identity was presented and negotiated, the chapter reveals the building blocks for another counter-intuitive finding — that it was domestic law firms, rather than local offices of international firms, where women professionals seemed to flourish. It shows that this unique structural premise forces them to use two distinct logics of emergence. First, firms use a differentiation logic to distinguish themselves from traditional firms that foreign clients are likely to see as “traditional” and kinship based — and therefore not modern and sophisticated enough. Second, they use a mimicking logic that mirrors global processes to aggressively signal compatibility and likeness with their global peers.Less

Dynamics of Organizational Practices and Identities

Patricia H. Thornton, William Ocasio, and Michael Lounsbury

in The Institutional Logics Perspective: A New Approach to Culture, Structure and Process

This chapter builds on the model of microfoundations elaborated in Chapter 4 to develop a model of how different kinds of social interaction — for example decision making, sense making, and ... More

This chapter builds on the model of microfoundations elaborated in Chapter 4 to develop a model of how different kinds of social interaction — for example decision making, sense making, and collective mobilization — mediate between institutional logics and the dynamics of identities and practices within and across organizations. The chapter bridges the literature on institutional logics, practice, and organizational identity; it links the organization and institutional field levels of analysis. It develops two novel process models to conceptualize organizational identity and practices as the key conceptual linkages between institutional logics and intra-organizational processes. The models are recursive in that institutional logics shape organizational identities and practices and vice versa.Less

We are Not All Activists: The Development and Consequences of Identity

in Patterns of Protest: Trajectories of Participation in Social Movements

This chapter examines how individuals develop identities through participation in social movements. It argues that not all participants who engage in a social movement organization or protests ... More

This chapter examines how individuals develop identities through participation in social movements. It argues that not all participants who engage in a social movement organization or protests identify themselves as activists, whereas those who engage in the same behaviors, from protesting to writing letters and meeting with fellow participants, may come to identify in different ways. It considers three general types of identities that can be developed in the course of political participation: an activist identity, an organizational identity, and a value identity. It shows that future participation can be influenced by the type of identity one develops during engagement. For example, one's identity affects the length of time one spends in a group as well as the possibility that a participant will transfer to another group or follow an abeyance pattern of participation. Thus, it is the ways in which individuals make sense of the contentious political behaviors and identify themselves, rather than their behaviors, that might influence their future engagement and activism.Less

Exit and Voice in Intra-Organizational Social Movements

Joyce M. Bell

in The Black Power Movement and American Social Work

This chapter analyzes the outcomes of black social workers' activism in these two relatively similar social work organizations: National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) and the ... More

This chapter analyzes the outcomes of black social workers' activism in these two relatively similar social work organizations: National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) and the Techni-Culture Movement (TCM). While both had the same goals, employed similar tactics, and had a cross-membership of activists, they pursued different strategies and had very contrasting outcomes. Leadership and organizational culture both have a significant role in explaining the different paths of these two intra-organizational social movements (IOSMs). The chapter claims that differences in the racial discourse and practices of the NFS and NCSW, along with organizational identities and legacies surrounding social action, formed their respective organizational cultures such that black activists encountered diverse targets. In addition, the leaders of the NABSW and TCM made decisions—which are turning points in their mobilization campaigns' trajectories—that also help explain their different outcomes.Less

Identity: struggles with personhood, nationhood and professional virtue

Jonathan Hearn

in Salvage Ethnography in the Financial Sector: The Path to Economic Crisis in Scotland

This chapter looks at questions of identity at various levels. It considers the Scottish identity of the Bank of Scotland, and how personal senses of Scottishness were refracted through that ... More

This chapter looks at questions of identity at various levels. It considers the Scottish identity of the Bank of Scotland, and how personal senses of Scottishness were refracted through that institutional national identity. It looks especially at how people’s personal identities in the Bank of Scotland were often bound up with an idea of being ‘professional bankers’ in contrast to more generic ‘sales people’ associated with the Halifax. It also considers the gendered dimension of identity. More generally, it is interested in how people invest their personal identities in larger social identities, and how this process is mediated by organisational contexts such as that of the Bank. The conceptual interlude in the middle argues the importance of this triad of the personal, the social, and the organisational, for understanding and analysing identity.Less

Bringing Organizational Studies Back into Social Movement Scholarship

Sarah A. Soule

in The Future of Social Movement Research: Dynamics, Mechanisms, and Processes

The once mutual relationship between social movement and organizational studies has recently become lopsided. Organizational studies scholars have increasingly drawn on insights from the social ... More

The once mutual relationship between social movement and organizational studies has recently become lopsided. Organizational studies scholars have increasingly drawn on insights from the social movements literature, at the same time social movement scholars have been ignoring advances in organizational studies. This chapter discusses several recent lines of inquiry in organizational studies that should be of great interest to social movement scholars.Less

Questioning Media Identity in the Digital Age

Brooke Erin Duffy

in Remake, Remodel: Women's Magazines in the Digital Age

This book explores the notions of remaking and remodeling the magazine by focusing on how women's magazines are evolving from objects into brands in the digital age, along with its implications for ... More

This book explores the notions of remaking and remodeling the magazine by focusing on how women's magazines are evolving from objects into brands in the digital age, along with its implications for both producers and consumers of content. It considers how “traditional” media industries are transforming in a digital era of media, and more specifically, how producers are confronting vexing questions about the identity of the women's magazine. The book highlights three identity constructions: organizational identity, professional identity, and gender identity. It also discusses the implications for how, when, and where media producers work; how the cross-platform and interactive logics of production challenge the traditional categories of readers and audiences; and what is at stake for the content that gets distributed in various media forms. It shows that, in light of the boundary shifts associated with media convergence, magazine producers are ostensibly compelled to (re)define their industries, their roles, their audiences, and their products. The goal of this book is to initiate debates about the shape-shifting nature of creative labor.Less

From Periphery to Core: A Process Model for Embracing Sustainability

Luciana Silvestri and Ranjay Gulati

in Leading Sustainable Change: An Organizational Perspective

There is a growing call for business enterprises to adopt sustainability principles and practices, yet many established organizations continue to struggle in their quest to embrace them. This chapter ... More

There is a growing call for business enterprises to adopt sustainability principles and practices, yet many established organizations continue to struggle in their quest to embrace them. This chapter analyzes how organizations that relegate sustainability to the periphery and those that incorporate it into their core differ in their approaches to organizational identity (how they think about sustainability), strategy (how they plan for sustainability), and design (how they act towards sustainability). Advocating a holistic approach to these three fundamental organizational elements, it presents a process model that shows, along four specific stages, how an established organization can effect change in order to bring sustainability into its core. It illustrates the model through the experience of The Ford Motor Company, a long-standing organization whose efforts to bring sustainability into its core span decades and are still ongoing.Less

Organizational Culture, Identity, and Institutions

Tor Hernes

in A Process Theory of Organization

Organizational culture and identity, although they are deeply entangled with the temporality of organizational life, are not often explicitly analysed as temporal phenomena. In this chapter some ... More

Organizational culture and identity, although they are deeply entangled with the temporality of organizational life, are not often explicitly analysed as temporal phenomena. In this chapter some ideas are developed about how the framework in the book may contribute to a temporality-based understanding of organizational culture and identity. A temporal view also enables the dynamics of institutions to be understood differently. Drawing upon an example, the notion of ‘stubborn facts’ derived from Whitehead is articulated in relation to the framework of the book.Less

The Gastropub and its Divided Identity: Drink, Food, and Sociality

Christel Lane

in From Taverns to Gastropubs: Food, Drink, and Sociality in England

The chapter first examines the economic situation of pubs in the twenty-first century and reviews the pub industry as a whole. It then analyses the dual organizational identity of gastropubs as both ... More

The chapter first examines the economic situation of pubs in the twenty-first century and reviews the pub industry as a whole. It then analyses the dual organizational identity of gastropubs as both restaurants and pubs. A focus on the resulting opportunities and tensions, experienced by publicans, follows. This involves an examination of the use of space for drinking and eating; the tension between preparing gastronomic fare, on the one side, and bar staples and traditional British roast dinners, on the other; and the effect of the dual focus on sociality. The chapter closes with an analysis of the ambiguous and divided organizational identity publicans express.Less