Who Are 'We' in 'Us and Them'? – The Varieties of Identification
(2022) BUSN49 20221Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- Organizational change due to digitalization trends puts established organizations under pressure to constantly adapt in order to compete in today’s markets. The disruptive nature of such transformational changes significantly impacts what organizations stand for and, thus, how organizational members relate to their organization. Taking an interpretivist stance, the aim of this study is to understand how identity dynamics unfold in organizations under change. This includes an investigation of the between-level dynamics of organizational, group, and
individual levels and how identity is (re)constructed in an organization characterized by two organizational logics. Our study is based on a single case study conducted at a German omnichannel... (More) - Organizational change due to digitalization trends puts established organizations under pressure to constantly adapt in order to compete in today’s markets. The disruptive nature of such transformational changes significantly impacts what organizations stand for and, thus, how organizational members relate to their organization. Taking an interpretivist stance, the aim of this study is to understand how identity dynamics unfold in organizations under change. This includes an investigation of the between-level dynamics of organizational, group, and
individual levels and how identity is (re)constructed in an organization characterized by two organizational logics. Our study is based on a single case study conducted at a German omnichannel retail company. Following a purely qualitative and abductive research approach, data is collected through twelve semi-structured interviews with top-management and non-management employees from various company departments. Our study contributes to identity theory, specifically on hybrid organizational identities, by displaying the construction of hybridity in relation to culture and the desired future image based on Hatch and Schultz’s
(2002) model of identity dynamics. We find that the digitalization transformation leads to organizational identity evolvement, and divergent impacts on an individual level result in salient group identities and tensions. Despite these, our study displays how interactive motivation (Alvesson & Kärreman, 2012) eases each group’s identification with the new organizational identity and thus allows for conceptual development of how identity relates to motivation. Insights from this study are relevant for the practitioner involved in change management by shedding light on the evolving cognitive structure underpinning an organization. Identity management is relevant to understanding employee readiness and behavior to ensure the success of a change project. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9083287
- author
- Tuma, Tessa LU and Hörstel, Lukas LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Who Are 'We' in 'Us and Them'? – The Varieties of Identification - A Study on Identity Dynamics under Digitalization Transformation at a Retail Organization with Two Distinct Organizational Logics
- course
- BUSN49 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Organizational Change, Identity, Organizational Identity, Hybrid Identity, Identification, Organizational Identity Change, Organizational Culture, Image, Digitalization
- language
- English
- id
- 9083287
- date added to LUP
- 2022-06-21 09:26:08
- date last changed
- 2022-06-21 09:26:08
@misc{9083287,
abstract = {{Organizational change due to digitalization trends puts established organizations under pressure to constantly adapt in order to compete in today’s markets. The disruptive nature of such transformational changes significantly impacts what organizations stand for and, thus, how organizational members relate to their organization. Taking an interpretivist stance, the aim of this study is to understand how identity dynamics unfold in organizations under change. This includes an investigation of the between-level dynamics of organizational, group, and
individual levels and how identity is (re)constructed in an organization characterized by two organizational logics. Our study is based on a single case study conducted at a German omnichannel retail company. Following a purely qualitative and abductive research approach, data is collected through twelve semi-structured interviews with top-management and non-management employees from various company departments. Our study contributes to identity theory, specifically on hybrid organizational identities, by displaying the construction of hybridity in relation to culture and the desired future image based on Hatch and Schultz’s
(2002) model of identity dynamics. We find that the digitalization transformation leads to organizational identity evolvement, and divergent impacts on an individual level result in salient group identities and tensions. Despite these, our study displays how interactive motivation (Alvesson & Kärreman, 2012) eases each group’s identification with the new organizational identity and thus allows for conceptual development of how identity relates to motivation. Insights from this study are relevant for the practitioner involved in change management by shedding light on the evolving cognitive structure underpinning an organization. Identity management is relevant to understanding employee readiness and behavior to ensure the success of a change project.}},
author = {{Tuma, Tessa and Hörstel, Lukas}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Who Are 'We' in 'Us and Them'? – The Varieties of Identification}},
year = {{2022}},
}