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A Temporal Perspective on Organizational Identity

Authors:

Majken Schultz,

Tor HernesAuthors Info & Claims

Organization Science, Volume 24, Issue 1

Pages 1 - 21

https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1110.0731

Published: 01 January 2013 Publication History

Abstract

We offer as our main theoretical contribution a conceptual framework for how the past is evoked in present identity reconstruction and the ways in which the past influences the articulation of claims for future identity. We introduce the notion of textual, material, and oral memory forms as the means by which organizational actors evoke the past. The conceptual framework is applied in a study of two occasions of identity reconstruction in the LEGO Group, which revealed differences in ways that the past was evoked and influenced claims for future identity. Our study suggests that 1 a longer time perspective in the use of memory enabled a longer time perspective in formulating claims for future identity, 2 a broader scope of articulated identity claims for the future was related to the combination of a broader range of memory forms, and 3 the depth of claims for future identity was related to the way in which memory forms were combined. At a more general level, our paper illustrates how viewing identity construction from the perspective of an ongoing present adds a new dimension to understanding the temporal dynamics of organizational identity.

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Cited By

Otto BSchuessler ESydow JVogelgsang L(2024)Finding Creativity in PredictabilityOrganization Science10.1287/orsc.2020.1474335:5(1795-1822)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/orsc.2020.14743
Bednar JGalvin BAshforth BHafermalz E(2019)Putting Identification in MotionOrganization Science10.1287/orsc.2018.127631:1(200-222)Online publication date: 14-Nov-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/orsc.2018.1276
Garud RSchildt HLant T(2014)Entrepreneurial Storytelling, Future Expectations, and the Paradox of LegitimacyOrganization Science10.1287/orsc.2014.091525:5(1479-1492)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/orsc.2014.0915

A Temporal Perspective on Organizational Identity
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cover image Organization Science

Organization Science Volume 24, Issue 1

January-February 2013

317 pages

ISSN:1526-5455

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INFORMS

Linthicum, MD, United States

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Published: 01 January 2013

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Cited By

Otto BSchuessler ESydow JVogelgsang L(2024)Finding Creativity in PredictabilityOrganization Science10.1287/orsc.2020.1474335:5(1795-1822)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/orsc.2020.14743
Bednar JGalvin BAshforth BHafermalz E(2019)Putting Identification in MotionOrganization Science10.1287/orsc.2018.127631:1(200-222)Online publication date: 14-Nov-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/orsc.2018.1276
Garud RSchildt HLant T(2014)Entrepreneurial Storytelling, Future Expectations, and the Paradox of LegitimacyOrganization Science10.1287/orsc.2014.091525:5(1479-1492)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/orsc.2014.0915

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