The Patterning of Interactive Organizational Identity Work

This study contributes to the literature on organizational identity work by examining the ongoing micro-political processes of influence and negotiation that arise as conceptions of organizational identity are proposed and debated in the moment. To do so, we focus on interaction episodes, rather than on top management discourses or participant narratives as the key locus of organizational identity work. Specifically, based on a longitudinal case study of an open innovation organization from inception, we reveal five patterns of interactive organizational identity work emerging over time, that we label monologue, polyphony, dialogue, deadlock and rupture. While Monologue is a one-sided pattern that involves the dominance of a single voice, Polyphony involves episodes of engaged collective conversation about identity issues that lack clear resolution. In Dialogue, we see interactions where critical issues accumulate towards temporary compromises on identity concerns, while the Deadlock pattern arises when compromises appear unattainable, potentially culminating in Rupture, as interactions around identity lead members to dissociate themselves from the organization. We show how the direct and indirect focus on organizational identity issues (i.e., whether identity is the focal topic of conversation, or emerges as an issue underlying another decision), as well as the intensity of personal identity engagement among participants (i.e., the degree to which the conversation addresses speakers’ personal identity commitments) may be implicated in the emergence of these patterns. Moreover, we show how the multiplicity and singularity of identity constructions are expressed through the different interaction patterns, with variable consequences for organizational collaboration and continuity among organization members.