(Un)Mind the gap How organizational actors cope with an identity–strategy misalignment

In this article, we explore how organizational actors cope with a perceived misalignment between their organization’s identity and strategy. Based on an inductive, interpretive case study at a public broadcasting organization, we identify three cognitive tactics through which organizational members...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Strategic organization Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 212 - 244
Main Authors: Wenzel, Matthias, Cornelissen, Joep P., Koch, Jochen, Hartmann, Michael, Rauch, Madeleine
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London, England Sage Publications, Ltd 01.02.2020
SAGE Publications
Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects:
Special Issue: Exploring the Strategy-Identity Nexus
misalignment
organizational identity
strategy
cognitive tactics
coping
ISSN:1476-1270, 1741-315X
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:In this article, we explore how organizational actors cope with a perceived misalignment between their organization’s identity and strategy. Based on an inductive, interpretive case study at a public broadcasting organization, we identify three cognitive tactics through which organizational members cope with an identity–strategy misalignment: contextualization, abstraction, and fatalism. Furthermore, we show that the enactment of these cognitive coping tactics coincides with specific strategy-related tasks that prioritize different aspects of an organization’s identity and, therefore, invokes different conceptions of the identity–strategy misalignment. Based on these findings, we develop a framework that conceptualizes how organizational members cope with an identity–strategy misalignment. We end the article by discussing the implications of our study for further research on the linkages between organizational identity and strategy.
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ISSN:1476-1270
1741-315X
DOI:10.1177/1476127019856524