The Locked-In Identity? : A case study of the management of multiple organizational identities in a dependent partner organization

Sammanfattning: For decades´ researchers as well as business managers have deliberated on the matter of what constitutes an organization´s core and identity. This paper investigates the management of multiple identities in a dependent partner organization, defined as an organization with products or services dependent on, and/or with a business derived from, a mother organization´s products or services. For managers, managing organizational identity on organizations with an increasing part of their business value dependent on partnering with another organization, this becomes a question of managing multiple identities. As an aid for managers in determining the relevant managerial response, Pratt and Foreman developed a framework classifying four different responses, presented in an article in the year 2000.  However, in limmiting the scope of their research to not include an organization´s perception of the identity of the external network in which it resides, the framework is not sufficient for managers of a dependent partner organization.  The current research has analyzed and further developed how the managerial response framework for multiple identities could be used in such a dependent partner organizational setting. The perception of how a mother organization is reflected in a dependent partner organization identity is investigated through interviews ina single case study at a specigic type of dependent partner organization, namely a dealer organization. The analysis of the data was deductive, based on the theoretical construct of organizational identity, and followed a theoretical thematic analysis methodology. The findings from the research reveal how different perceptions of the mother organization is reflected in every criterion of the dependent partner´s organizational identities. Also, results show how these organizations are high in synegry, as the mother organization creates a standard frame of reference for all units of the dependent partner. The results further develop the managerial framework by Pratt and Foreman for such an organizational setting by syggesting two responses from the framework as particularly suitable. For managers of a dependent partner organization the risk of the high presence of the mother organization in the own organizational identity is also coupled with decreased member identification. To manage this, it is suggested to engage in internal employee education and activities. Furthermore, an increased focus on fostering a strong leadership, capable of consciously managing the constant construction of organizational identity in the blurred lines between the partner and the mother organization, is needed. Due to the positioning of organizational identity as a constructed in the interaction between two parts, social constructionism is further suggested to be an appropriate epistemological view when studying the dependent partner organization.