Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Reactions to Organizational Identity Threats in Times of Change: Illustrations from the German Police

  • Academic Research
  • Published:
Corporate Reputation Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Change projects can affect core features of an organization's identity, because changes made to the managerial practices of an organization can result in misalignments with existing organizational culture. Such misalignments produce threats to organizational identity generating uncertainty and evoking distrust among members of the organization. Faced with projects that introduce changes to managerial practices, people engage in search-and-adjustment processes in order to confirm that organizational identity is intact, producing second-order changes, the pathways of which cannot be predicted and might also undermine the intentions of change leaders. Using case-study evidence, we show how change projects in the German police force produced violations of cultural norms that were central to the continuity and stability of the police. We argue that the change enthusiasm of organizations be tempered given the potentially negative outcomes for individual employees faced with excessive change, and also because of the threats to organizational identity that can result from inherently unpredictable change processes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albert, S. and Whetten, D. (1985) ‘Organizational identity’, in L. L. Cummings and B. M. Staw (eds.), Research in Organizational Behavior, Vol. 7, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 263–295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashforth, B. and Mael, F. (1996) ‘Organizational identity and strategy as a context for the individual’, in J.A.C. Baum and J.E. Dutton (eds.), Advances in Strategic Management, Vol. 13, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 19–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aucoin, P. (1990) ‘Administrative reform in public management: Paradigms, principles, paradoxes and pendulums’, Governance, 3, 115–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balogun, J. and Johnson, G. (2005) ‘From intended strategies to unintended outcomes: The impact of change recipient sensemaking’, Organization Studies, 26, 1573–1601.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barzelay, M. (2001) The New Public Management, University of California Press, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Behr, R. (2000) Cop Culture – Der Alltag des Gewaltmonopols: Männlichkeit, Handlungsmuster und Kultur in der Polizei, Leske+Budrich, Opladen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christe-Zeyse, J. (2004) Controlling in der Polizei. Leitfaden für ein wirkungsorientiertes Management, Boorberg, Stuttgart.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christe-Zeyse, J. (2006a) ‘Neue Steuerung in der Krise? Ein Forschungsbeitrag zur Evaluation erfolgskritischer Faktoren in Reformprojekten der Polizei’, in R. Hoffmann (ed.), Empirische Polizeiforschung VII: Evaluation in der Polizei, Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft, Frankfurt/Main, pp. 33–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christe-Zeyse, J. (2006b) ‘Mit Polizeiarbeit hat das nichts zu tun: Neuere Forschungen zur mangelnden Akzeptanz moderner Managementinstrumente’, Polizei heute, 3, 78–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christe-Zeyse, J. (2007) ‘Von Profis, Bürokraten und Managern – Überlegungen zu einer Theorie innerorganisationalen Widerstandsverhaltens in der Polizei’, in T. Ohlemacher, J.-T. Werner and A. Mensching (eds.), Empirische Polizeiforschung VIII: Organisationskultur(en) und Organisationsreform in der Polizei, Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft, Frankfurt/Main, pp. 175–202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corley, K.G. and Gioia, D.A. (2004) ‘Identity ambiguity and change in the wake of a corporate spin-off’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 49, 173–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corley, K.G., Harquail, C.V., Pratt, M.G., Glynn, M.A., Fiol, C.M. and Hatch, M.J. (2006) ‘Guiding organizational identity through aged adolescence’, Journal of Management Inquiry, 15 (2), 85–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crank, J.P. (2004) Understanding Police Culture, 2nd edn., Anderson Publications, Cincinnati.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dutton, J.E. and Dukerich, J.M. (1991) ‘Keeping an eye on the mirror: Image and identity in organizational adaptation’, The Academy of Management Journal, 34 (3), 517–554.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dutton, J.E., Dukerich, J.M. and Harquail, C.V. (1994) ‘Organizational images and member identification’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 39, 239–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edelman, L.B. (1992) ‘Legal ambiguity and symbolic structures: Organizational mediation of civil rights law’, American Journal of Sociology, 97, 1531–1576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elsbach, K.D. and Kramer, R.M. (1996) ‘Members' responses to organizational identity threats: Encountering and countering the business week rankings’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 41, 442–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferlie, E., Ashburner, L., Fitzgerald, L. and Pettigrew, A. (1996) The New Public Management in Action, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gioia, D.A., Schultz, M. and Corley, K.G. (2000) ‘Organizational identity, image, and adaptive instability’, Academy of Management Review, 25 (1), 63–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glynn, M.A. (2000) ‘When cymbals become symbols: Conflict over organizational identity within a symphony orchestra’, Organization Science, 1 (3), 285–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golden-Biddle, K. and Rao, H. (1997) ‘Breaches in the boardroom. Organizational identity and conflicts of commitment in a nonprofit organization’, Organization Science, 8 (6), 593–611.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golden, B.R., Dukerich, J.M. and Fabian, F.H. (2000) ‘The interpretation and resolution of resource allocation issues in professional organizations: A critical examination of the professional-manager dichotomy’, Journal of Management Studies, 37 (8), 1157–1187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hannan, M.T., Pólos, L. and Carroll, G.R. (2003a) ‘Cascading organizational change’, Organization Science, 14 (5), 436–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hannan, M.T., Pólos, L. and Carroll, G.R. (2003b) ‘The fog of change: Opacity and asperity in organizations’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 48 (3), 399–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hannan, M.T., Pólos, L. and Carroll, G.R. (2007) Logics of Organization Theory: Audiences, Codes, and Ecologies, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatch, M.J. and Schultz, M. (2002) ‘The dynamics of organizational identity’, Human Relations, 55, 989–1019.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, G., Christe-Zeyse, J. and Keegan, A. (2007a) ‘Der Masterplan und sein Weg durch die Organisation – Wie Verwaltungsreformen auf dem Polizeirevier ankommen’, Gruppendynamik und Organisationsberatung, 38 (3), 282–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, G., Keegan, A., Christe-Zeyse, J. and Pólos, L. (2007b) ‘Expensive leases and disheartened cops – Why employees learn more in change projects than we think’, Paper presented at the American Academy of Management Meeting, August 2007.

  • Jacobs, G., Keegan, A., Christe-Zeyse, J., Seeberg, I. and Runde, B. (2006) ‘The fatal smirk: Insider accounts of organizational change processes in a police organization’, Journal of Organizational Change Management, 19, 173–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jann, W. (1998) ‘Neues Steuerungsmodell’, in S. von Bandemer, B. Blanke, F. Nullmeier and G. Wewer (eds.), Handbuch zur Verwaltungsreform, Leske+Budrich, Opladen, pp. 70–80.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Llewellyn, S. (2001) ‘Two-way windows: Clinicians as medical managers’, Organization Studies, 22 (4), 593–623.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manning, P.K. (1997) Police Work: The Social Organization of Policing, 2nd edn., Waveland Press, Prospect Heights, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manning, P.K. and Van Maanen, J. (1978) Policing: A View From the Street, Goodyear, Santa Monica, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • March, J.C. and Simon, H.A. (1958) Organizations, Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mensching, A. (2006) ‘Gelebte Hierarchien. Mikropolitische Arrangements und organisationskulturelle Praktiken am Beispiel der Polizei’, Dissertation, Fachbereich Erziehungswissenschaften und Psychologie der Freie Universität (FU) Berlin.

  • Pólos, L., Hannan, M.T. and Carroll, G.R. (2002) ‘Foundations of a theory of social forms’, Industrial Corporate Change, 11, 85–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollitt, C., Harrison, S., Hunter, D. and Marnoch, G. (1988) ‘The reluctant managers: Clinicians and budgets and the NHS’, Financial Accountability and Management, 4 (3), 213–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ravasi, D. and Schultz, M. (2006) ‘Responding to organizational identity threats: Exploring the role of organizational culture’, Academy of Management Journal, 49 (3), 433–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reger, R.K., Gustafson, L.R., Demarie, S.M. and Mullane, J.V. (1994) ‘Reframing the organization: Why implementing total quality is easier said than done’, Academy of Management Review, 19, 565–584.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reiner, R. (1991) Chief Constables: Bobbies, Bosses, or Bureaucrats?, Clarendon Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reiner, R. (2000) The Politics of the Police, 3rd edn., Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reuss-Ianni, E. and Ianni, F.E. (1983) ‘Street cops and management cops: The two cultures of policing’, in M. Punch (ed.), Control in the Police Organization, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 251–274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Rekom, J. and Whetten, D. (2007) ‘How organizational beliefs cohere: About essence, distinctiveness and continuity’, Paper presented at the Academy of Management Meeting in Philadelphia, August.

  • Wehe, D. (2006) ‘Führung und Steuerung – Aktuelle Entwicklungen in der Polizei des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen’, Polizei und Wissenschaft, 3, 53–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whetten, D.A. (1998) ‘Preface: Why organizational identity, and why conversations?’, in D.A. Whetten and P.C. Godfrey (eds.), Identity in Organizations. Building Theory Through Conversations, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA; London, pp. vii–xi.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the Deutsche Hochschule der Polizei (DHPol) (German Police University), the Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM) and the Erasmus Trustfonds for financial support of this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Gabriele Jacobs

  2. Fachhochschule der Polizei des Landes Brandenburg, Oranienburg, Germany

    Jochen Christe-Zeyse

  3. Amsterdam Business School, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Anne Keegan

  4. Durham Business School, Durham University, Durham, UK

    László Pólos

Authors
  1. Gabriele Jacobs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jochen Christe-Zeyse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anne Keegan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. László Pólos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jacobs, G., Christe-Zeyse, J., Keegan, A. et al. Reactions to Organizational Identity Threats in Times of Change: Illustrations from the German Police. Corp Reputation Rev 11, 245–261 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1057/crr.2008.18

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/crr.2008.18

Keywords

Search

Navigation