Identity Ambiguity and Change in the Wake of a Corporate Spin-off
2004/06/01 by Kevin G. Corley, Dennis A. Gioia · 2,150 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Psychology · #Ambiguity #Collective identity #Computer science #Identity (music) #Identity change #Innovation and Knowledge Management #Law #Management Theory and Practice #Management and Organizational Studies #Organizational change #Organizational commitment #Organizational identity #Physics #Political science #Psychology #Public relations #Social psychology #Sociology
paper · doi:10.2307/4131471
published in Administrative Science Quarterly 49(2), 173-208 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2004/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract
We report on the findings of an inductive, interpretive case study of organizational identity change in the spin-off of a Fortune 100 company's top-performing organizational unit into an independent organization. We examined the processes by which the labels and meanings associated with the organization's identity underwent changes during and after the spin-off, as well as how the organization responded to these changes. The emergent model of identity change revolved around a collective state of identity ambiguity, the details of which provide insight into processes whereby organizational identity change can occur. Additionally, our findings revealed previously unreported aspects of organizational change, including organization members' collective experience of “change overload” and the presence of temporal identity discrepancies in the emergence of the identity ambiguity.
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