Given the ever-changing nature of contemporary organizations, members often renegotiate how they ... more Given the ever-changing nature of contemporary organizations, members often renegotiate how they view the identity of their organization. One way they do so is by expanding or contracting their conception of organizational identity. In studying these processes, we develop the construct of "identity elasticity" - the tensions that simultaneously stretch, while holding together, social constructions of identity. To explicate the parameters of elasticity, we problematize previous conceptions of the three foundations of organizational identity - centrality, endurance, and distinctiveness - and document the dialectic tensions experienced in their social constructions. We show how identity is experienced not only through a listing of attributes but also by negotiating a set of processual tensions. In so doing, we also bring together two competing views on organizational identity - process and characteristic. We show how experiencing and navigating the tensions of elasticity is a...
Given the ever-changing nature of contemporary organizations, members often renegotiate how they ... more Given the ever-changing nature of contemporary organizations, members often renegotiate how they view the identity of their organization. One way they do so is by expanding or contracting their conception of organizational identity. In studying these processes, we develop the construct of "identity elasticity" - the tensions that simultaneously stretch, while holding together, social constructions of identity. To explicate the parameters of elasticity, we problematize previous conceptions of the three foundations of organizational identity - centrality, endurance, and distinctiveness - and document the dialectic tensions experienced in their social constructions. We show how identity is experienced not only through a listing of attributes but also by negotiating a set of processual tensions. In so doing, we also bring together two competing views on organizational identity - process and characteristic. We show how experiencing and navigating the tensions of elasticity is a...
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Papers by G. Kreiner