Managing the identity paradox in inter‐organisational collaborations

Abstract

A persistent contradiction in inter-organisational collaborations (IOCs) is between individual actors' IOC identity and their other multiple identities, and the subsequent need to maintain a delicate balance between these opposing but mutually dependent identities. Using a paradox lens and individual actors as the unit of analysis, this ethnographic study defines the "identity paradox" often present in IOCs as the interaction between actors' professional, personal, team and organisational identities with an overall IOC identity. The case demonstrates that the identity paradox allows actors to maintain a balance between adhering to IOC, which offers stability, and adjusting to emergent needs, which enables innovative behaviour. The theorisation of the identity paradox reveals that the conditions that trigger each identity tension relate to the IOC tensions of cooperation and competition, rigidity and flexibility, trust and mistrust, and confrontation and dialogue. The findings offer contribution to IOC research and to management practice.

Board diversity as strategic choice and why it should matter to SMEs

“…Mitchell et al (2015) find support for the positive influence on team performance diverse groups have when managed by an inclusive leader who recognises the relevance of identity and differences in individuals' status. Although coopetition is one of the features observed in collaborative teams within organisations (Kourti, 2021), our results suggest that the benefits outweigh the drawback caused by conflict. Extended board member tenures do detract from the nationality diversity of boards, which in turn has a knock-on effect on firm performance.…”

Exploring identity interplay through performative textual analysis

“…This processual understanding of identity suggests that, as organizational members engage in everyday work, the context of interaction shifts, requesting individuals to bring forward different identities to respond to the changing needs of the organization (Kourti et al, 2018). Through identity interplay, organizational members can make use of the deposit of identities they have available and bring forward identities that fit emerging organizational situations, needs and contexts (Kourti, 2021).…”

Differences in dialogue : the voices we hear in interorganizational collaboration

“…Especially when leadership is distributed or plural (as might be expected in interorganizational collectives; Kramer et al, 2019), better comprehending how multiple agencies constitute successful leadership or not can reveal much of the complex and relational aspects of leading. Professionals' identity work (Brown, 2021;Kourti, 2021) in interorganizational collectives is another promising phenomenon to explore. How do members create identification with their collective while simultaneously identifying with their organizations, professions, etc.?…”

“…Similarly, the boundary object examined in Chapter V had both conjunctive and disjunctive effects. While literature says something about the general power of quitting collaborations (e.g., Huxham & Vangen, 2004), more insight is needed into the nuanced and situated unfolding of such distancing, silencing, or disorganizing work-certainly when considering the many tensions that tend to characterize interorganizational collectives (Gray & Schruijer, 2010;Kourti, 2021;Lewis et al, 2010;Vangen, 2017).…”