Identity in organisations : a methodological study

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study examined organisational identity from a substantive and methodological point of view. Withthe burgeoning interest in the organisational identity construct, there have been a multitude ofperspectives and meanings associated with the term. These perspectives formed the basis of threejuxtapositions used to evaluate the nature of knowledge generated by various research designs used tostudy organisational identity. These designs included survey design, content analysis, case studydesign, ethnography, narrative analysis and discourse analysis. I concluded that the choice for aparticular research design does constrain or make possible the generation of different types ofknowledge regarding OI. The effect of design type has long been suspected and argued for, and thisstudy provides further substantiation for this view. The choice of research design is not a neutral onebut plays an integral role in the nature of the knowledge generated, and should be taken seriously aspart of the research process.Also from a methodological perspective, the aim was to explore whether an Internet-based, open-endedqualitative survey could provide a suitable description of organisational identity, and whether it would bepossible to develop identity narratives from these responses. Data was gathered in a South African basedmulti-national engineering firm, the result of a recent merger of two engineering firms. Based on theresponses to the survey, I was able to develop descriptive narratives of each of (what had been termed) theheritage organisations, each narrative comprising a series of inter-related identity statements capturingvarious facets of organisation identity. Three broad narratives for each heritage organisation dealt with thenature of the organisation and its position in the market, the importance of the profession and clients, andthe value of people in the organisation.Given the pervasive nature of technology, and that work in many corporate and professional settings isconducted via the internet, an internet-based qualitative survey allows information regardingorganisational identity to be gathered fairly easily. The research undertaken in this study thus adds to thebody of knowledge surrounding the use of a web-based qualitative survey in accessing organisationalidentity, and suggests that this form of data gathering in the organisation can be successful, provided thatparticipants are computer literate and have access to the Internet.The organisations in question were chosen as merger partners due to their similarity, and using thedescriptive narratives developed from the survey, I was able to examine the question of distinctiveness insimilar organisations, which has not yet been addressed. Despite the similarities, the identity of bothorganisations was arguably distinct, and this could be traced to two factors. The first was an element ofsocial actor, in this case the size of the organisation, which coupled with other factors influencedorganisation identity in very specific ways. Secondly, distinctiveness arose from the construction ofmeaning around specific elements of the social actor by members of the organisations. Thus, much likepersonal identity, organisational identity is associated with similarity and difference (Buckingham 2008).

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University