Abstract
Persistence, the “ugly twin” of change, tends to be overshadowed by the more fashionable questions of innovation and novelty. Yet, especially in turbulent and shifting technological and socio-economic environments, questions have to be asked about why some organizations remain “frozen” and by what means they are capable of persisting and maintaining their structures. An environment that is supposed to be ever-changing is pushing organizations to develop adaptive capabilities. From this perspective, constant change becomes ordinary and predictable, whereas persistence is an oddity and inertia appears as the incapability to adapt. This general tendency can also be found in the growing body of literature that deals with organizational identity (see Albert and Whetten, 1985; Cornelissen, Haslam, and Balmer, 2007; Whetten, 2006).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albert, S. and Whetten, D. A., 1985. Organizational identity. Research in Organizational Behavior, 7 (1), pp. 263–95.
Arthur, W. B., 1989. Competing technologies, increasing returns, and lock-in by historical events. The Economic Journal, 99 (1), pp. 116–31.
Arthur, W. B., 1994. Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in Economics. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Ashforth, B. E. and Mael, F. A., 1996. Organizational identity and strategy as a context for the individual. Advances in Strategic Management, 13 (1), pp. 19–64.
Barney, B. J. and Stewart, A. C., 2000. “Organizational identity as moral philosophy: Competitive implications for diversified corporations”, in M. Schultz, M. J. Hatch and M. H. Larsen (eds) The Expressive Organization: Linking Identity, Reputation, and the Corporate Brand. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 36–48.
Barney, J. B., Bunderson, J. S., Foreman, P., Gustafson, L. T., Huff, A. S., Martins, L. L., Reger, R. K., Sarason, Y. and Stimpert, J. L., 1998. “A strategy conversation on the topic of organization identity”, in D. A. Whetten and P. C. Godfrey (eds) Identity in Organizations: Building Theory through Conversations. Thousand Oaks: Sage, pp. 99–168.
Beyer, J., 2006. Pfadabhdngigkeit: Über institutionelle Kontinuitdt, anfdllige Stabilitdt und fundamentalen Wandel. Frankfurt a.M. etc.: Campus.
Beyer, J., 2010. The same or not the same–on the variety of mechanisms of path dependence. International Journal of Social Sciences, 5 (1), pp. 1–11.
Bouchikhi, H. and Kimberly, J. R., 2003. Escaping the identity trap. MIT Sloan Management Review, 44 (3), pp. 20–6.
Brown, A. D., 2001. Organization studies and identity: Towards a research agenda. Human Relations, 54 (1), pp. 113–21.
Brunninge, O., 2005. Organisational Self-understanding and the Strategy Process: Strategy Dynamics in Scania and Handelsbanken. Jönköping: Internationella Handelshögskolan.
Burgelman, R. A., 2002. Strategy as vector and the inertia of coevolutionary lock-in. Administrative Science Quarterly, 47 (2), pp. 325–57.
Burgelman, R. A., 2008. Strategic consequences of co-evolution lock-in: insights from a longitudinal process study. Research Paper Series. No. 2007. Stanford Graduate School of Business. Stanford.
Carney, M. and Gedajlovic, E., 2002. The co-evolution of institutional environments and organizational strategies: The rise of family business groups in the ASEAN region. Organization Studies, 23 (1), pp. 1–29.
Chreim, S., 2005. The continuity-change duality in narrative texts of organizational identity. Journal of Management Studies, 42 (3), pp. 567–93.
Coombs, R. and Hull, R., 1998. “Knowledge management practices” and path-dependency in innovation. Research Policy, 27(3), pp. 237–53.
Corley, K. G., 2004. Defined by our strategy or our culture? Hierarchical differences in perceptions of organizational identity and change. Human Relations, 57 (9), pp. 1145–77.
Corley, K. G. and Gioia, D. A., 2004. Identity ambiguity and change in the wake of a corporate spin-off. Administrative Science Quarterly, 49 (2), pp. 173–208.
Cornelissen, J. P., Haslam, S. A. and Balmer, J. M. T., 2007. Social identity, organizational identity and corporate identity: Towards an integrated understanding of processes, patternings and products. British Journal of Management, 18, pp. 1–16.
Crouch, C. and Farrell, H., 2004. Breaking the path of institutional development? Alternatives to the new determinism. Rationality and Society, 16 (1), pp. 5–43.
David, P. A., 1985. Clio and the economics of QWERTY. The American Economic Review, 75 (2), pp. 332–37.
David, P. A., 1994. Why are institutions the “carriers of history”?: Path dependence and the evolution of conventions, organizations and institutions. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 5 (2), pp. 205–20.
David, P. A., 2007. Path dependence: A foundational concept for historical social science. Cliometrica, 1 (2), pp. 91–114.
Djelic, M. L. and Quack, S., 2007. Overcoming path dependency: Path generation in open systems. Theory and Society, 36 (2), pp. 161–86.
Dobusch, L., 2008. Windows versus Linux: Markt — Organisation — Pfad. Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag Sozialwissenschaften.
Dutton, J. E. and Dukerich, J. M., 1991. Keeping an eye on the mirror: Image and identity in organizational adaptation. The Academy of Management Journal, 34 (3), pp. 517–54.
Elsbach, K. D. and Kramer, R. M., 1996. Members’ responses to organizational identity threats: Encountering and countering the business week rankings. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41 (3), pp. 442–76.
Fiol, C. M., 2001. Revisiting an identity-based view of sustainable competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 27 (6), pp. 691–99.
Fiol, C. M., 2002. Capitalizing on paradox: The role of language in transforming organizational identities. Organization Science, 13 (6), pp. 653–66.
Fiol, C. M. and Huff, A. S., 1992. Maps for managers: Where are we? Where do we go from here? Journal of Management Studies, 29 (3), pp. 267–85.
Foray, D., 1997. The dynamic implications of increasing returns: Technological change and path dependent inefficiency. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 15 (6), pp. 733–52.
Fox-Wolfgramm, S. J., Boal, K. B. and Hunt, J. G., 1998. Organizational adaptation to institutional change: A comparative study of first-order change in prospector and defender banks. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43 (1), pp. 87–126.
Garfinkel, H., 1984. Studies in ethnomethodology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Garud, R. and Karnøe, P. (eds), 2001. Path creation as a process of mindful deviation. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Gioia, D. A., 1998. “From individual to organizational identity”, in D. A. Whetten and P. C. Godfrey (eds) Identity in Organizations: Building Theory through Conversations. Thousand Oaks: Sage, pp. 17–31.
Gioia, D. A. and Chittipeddi, K., 1991. Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation. Strategic Management Journal, 12 (6), pp. 433–48.
Gioia, D. A., Schultz, M. and Corley, K. G., 2000. Organizational identity, image, and adaptive instability. The Academy of Management Review, 25 (1), pp. 63–81.
Gioia, D. A. and Thomas, J. B., 1996. Identity, image, and issue interpretation: Sensemaking during strategic change in academia. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41 (3), pp. 370–403.
Goffman, E., 1969. Wir alle spielen Theater: Die Selbstdarstellung im Alltag. München: Pieper.
Hannan, M. T., Baron, J. N., Hsu, G. and Kocak, O., 2006. Organizational identities and the hazard of change. Industrial Corporate Change, 15 (5), pp. 755–84.
Hannan, M. T., Burton, M. D. and Baron, J. N., 1996. Inertia and change in the early years: Employment relations in young, high technology firms. Industrial Corporate Change, 5 (2), pp. 503–36.
Hannan, M. T. and Freeman, J., 1977. The population ecology of organizations. American Journal of Sociology, 82 (5), pp. 929–64.
Hannan, M. T. and Freeman, J., 1984. Structrual interia and organizational change. American Sociological Review, 49 (2), pp. 149–64.
Hannan, M. T., Pólos, L. and Carroll, G. R., 2003. Cascading organizational change. Organization Science, 14 (5), pp. 463–82.
Hatch, M. J. and Schultz, M., 2002. The dynamics of organizational identity. Human Relations, 55 (8), pp. 989–1018.
Helfat, C. E., 1994. Evolutionary trajectories in Petroleum Firm R&D. Management Science, 40 (12), pp. 1720–47.
Ibarra, H. and Barbulescu, R., 2010. Identity as narrative: prevalence, effectiveness and consequences of narrative identity work in macro work role transitions. Academy of Management Review, 35 (1), pp. 135–54.
Jacobs, G., Christe-Zeyse, J., Keegan, A. and Polos, L., 2008. Reactions to organizational identity threats in times of change: Illustrations from the German police. Corporate Reputation Review, 11 (3), pp. 245–61.
Karim, S. and Mitchell, W., 2000. Path-dependent and path-breaking change: Reconfiguring business resources following acquisitions in the US medical sector, 1978– 1995. Strategic Management Journal, 21 (10–11), pp. 1061–81.
King, B. G., Felin, T. and Whetten, D. A., 2009. Finding the organization in organizational theory: A meta-theory of the organization as a social actor. Organization Science, 21 (1), pp. 290–305.
King, B. G. and Whetten, D. A., 2008. Rethinking the relationship between reputation and legitimacy: A social actor conceptualization. Corporate Reputation Review, 11 (3), pp. 192–207.
Kirchner, S., 2008. Pfadabhängigkeit als Mehrebenenphänomen: Grundlagen und Erweiterungen des Pfadansatzes. Hamburg Review of Social Science, 3 (3), pp. 317–43.
Kirchner, S., 2010. Organizational identities and institutions dynamics of the organizational core as a question of path dependence. Working Paper 10/4. Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies. Cologne.
Kirchner, S., 2012. Wer sind wir als Organisation? Frankfurt a.M.: Campus.
Koch, J., 2008. Strategic paths and media management: a path dependency analysis of the German news-paper branch of high quality journalism. Schmalenbach Business Review, 60 (1), pp. 51–74.
Kogut, B. and Zander, U., 1992. Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology. Organization Science, 3 (3), pp. 383–97.
Lawrence, T. B. and Suddaby, R., 2006. “Institutions and institutional work”, in S. R. Clegg, C. Hardy, T. B. Lawrence and W. R. Nord (eds) The Sage Handbook of Organization Studies. 2nd edn Thousand Oaks: Sage, pp. 215–54.
Luhmann, N., 2000. Organisation und Entscheidung. Opladen etc.: Westdeutscher Verlag.
Maguire, S. and Hardy, C., 2005. Identity and collaborative strategy in the Canadian HIV/AIDS treatment domain. Strategic Organization, 3 (1), pp. 11–45.
Mahoney, J., 2000. Path dependence in historical sociology. Theory and Society, 29 (4), pp. 507–48.
March, J. G. and Simon, H. A., 1976. Organisation und Individuum: Menschliches Verhalten in Organisationen. Wiesbaden: Gabler.
Nag, R., Corley, K. G. and Gioia, D. A., 2007. The intersection of organizational identity, knowledge, and practice: Attempting strategic change via knowledge grafting. Academy of Management Journal, 50 (4), pp. 821–47.
Ortmann, G. and Salzman, H., 2002. Stumbling giants: The emptiness, fullness, and recursiveness of strategie management. Soziale Systeme, 8 (2), pp. 205–30.
Pierson, P., 2000. Increasing returns, path dependence, and the study of politics. American Political Science Review, 94 (2), pp. 251–67.
Rao, H. and Singh, J. V., 2001. “The construction of new paths: Institution-building activity in the early automobile and biotechnology industries”, in R. Garud and P. Karnøe (eds) Path Dependence and Creation. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 243–67.
Ravasi, D. and Schultz, M., 2006. Responding to organizational identity threats: Exploring the role of organizational culture. Academy of Management Journal, 49 (3), pp. 433–58.
Reger, R. K., Gustafson, L. T., Demarie, S. M. and Mullane, J. V., 1994. Reframing the organization: Why implementing total quality is easier said than done. The Academy of Management Review, 19 (3), pp. 565–84.
Rometsch, M. and Sydow, J., 2006. “On identities of networks and organizations–the case of franchising”, in M. Kronberger and S. Gudergan (eds) Only Connect: Neat Words, Networks and Identities. Copenhagen: Liber & Copenhagen Business School Press, pp. 19–47.
Sahlin, K. and Wedlin, L., 2008. “Circulating ideas: Imitation, translation and editing”, in R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, R. Suddaby and K. Sahlin (eds) The Sage Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism. Los Angeles: Sage, pp. 218–42.
Schneiberg, M. and Lounsbury, M., 2008. Social movements and institutional analysis. The Sage Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism. Los Angeles: Sage.
Schreyögg, G. and Sydow, J., 2011. Organizational path dependence: A process view. Organization Studies, 32 (3), pp. 321–35.
Schüßler, E., 2009. Strategische Prozesse und Persistenzen: Pfadabhängige Organisation der Wertschöpfung in der Bekleidungsindustrie. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
Seidl, D., 2005. Organisational Identity and Self-Transformation: An Autopoietic Perspective. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Snow, D. A. and Anderson, L., 1987. “Identity work among the homeless: The verbal construction and avowal of personal identities”, The American Journal of Sociology, 92 (6), pp. 1336–71.
Snow, D. A. and Mcadam, D., 2000. “Identity work processes in the context of social movements: Clarifying the identity/movement nexus”, in S. Stryker, T. Owens and R. W. White (eds) Self, Identity and Social Movements. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 41–67.
Stimpert, J. L., Gustafson, L. T. and Sarason, Y., 1998. “Organizational identity within the strategic management conversation: Contributions and assumptions”, in D. A. Whetten and P. C. Godfrey (eds) Identity in Organizations: Building Theory through Conversations. Thousand Oaks: Sage, pp. 83–98.
Streeck, W. and Thelen, K., 2005. “Introduction: Institutional change in advanced political economies”, in W. Streeck and K. Thelen (eds) Beyond Continuity: Institutional Change in Advanced Political Economies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 1–39.
Sveningsson, S. and Alvesson, M., 2003. Managing managerial identities: Organizational fragmentation, discourse and identity struggle. Human Relations, 56 (10), pp. 1163–93.
Sydow, J., Schreyögg, G. and Koch, J., 2009. Organizational path dependence: Opening the black box. Academy of Management Review, 34 (4), pp. 689–709.
Teece, D. J., Pisano, G. and Shuen, A., 1997. Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 18 (7), pp. 509–33.
Thelen, K., 1999. Historical institutionalism in comparative politics. Annual Review of Political Science, 2 (1), pp. 369–404.
Thelen, K., 2003. “How institutions evolve: Insights from comparative-historical analysis”, in J. Mahoney and D. Rueschemeyer (eds) Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences. Cambridge: Cambrigde University Press, pp. 208–40.
Tolbert, P. S. and Zucker, L. G., 1996. “The institutionalization of institutional theory”, in S. R. Clegg, C. Hardy and W. R. Nord (eds) Handbook of Organizational Studies. London and Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, pp. 175–89.
Weick, K. E., 1995. Der Prozess des Organisierens. Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp.
Whetten, D. A., 2006. Albert and Whetten revisited: Strengthening the concept of organizational identity. Journal of Management Inquiry, 15 (3), pp. 219–34.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2013 Stefan Kirchner
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kirchner, S. (2013). How Organizations Become Enduring: Disentangling the Organizational Identity Paradox. In: Sydow, J., Schreyögg, G. (eds) Self-Reinforcing Processes in and among Organizations. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230392830_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230392830_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-35207-4
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-39283-0
eBook Packages: Palgrave Business & Management CollectionBusiness and Management (R0)