The Communicative Constitution of Collective Identity in Interorganizational Collaboration

Abstract

This study reconceptualizes collective identity from a communication perspective using a constitutive model of communication as a theoretical framework. A longitudinal case study is used to explain the complications and inaction of a social services interorganizational collaboration as a lack of collective identity, also tracing the emergence of a new collective identity. Collective identity is theorized as an authoritative text that emerges through communicative practice and is drawn on for certain strategic ends. A communicative model of organizational constitution—based on the ‘Montreal School’ theory of coorientation—shows how textual representations of situated conversations can gain authority through abstraction and reification, providing a mechanism to organize and direct the voluntary actions of diverse stakeholders. Implications for theory and research are discussed.

Facilitating Organizing in Business Processes

“…We continue the study of facilitator practices from this and focus on the ways facilitators can support organizing by enabling the production of elements that constitute an organization. By elements we mean definitions of relationships between actors, activities, and objectives that are produced through spacing practices [12] and that are inscribed in textual objects and intended to produce collective action [10]. In our study, we focus on business process charts and process discussions, because we are interested in the organizing of business processes.…”

“…According to the Montreal School, organization is achieved through co-orientation, i.e., actors tuning in to one another and a mutual objective [8,9]. This alignment is produced through interplay between conversations and textual objects [8,10]. Eventually, collaborative dialogue produces the alignment of interests which can be inscribed in joint textual objects.…”

“…Eventually, collaborative dialogue produces the alignment of interests which can be inscribed in joint textual objects. These objects can become distanciated through reification and abstraction and as a result, gain authoritative power in the relationship [10,11].…”

From ‘matters of concern’ to ‘matters of authority’: Studying the performativity of strategy from a communicative constitution of organization (CCO) approach

“…These persons or things -and this is a central point in our argument about performativity -become co-authors of our actions and decisions, since they also express themselves through what we communicate. This idea also comes from the etymology of the word auctor, which itself comes from the Latin word augere, which means to augment (Cooren, 2010 Koschmann, 2012;Koschmann et al, 2012).…”

Sustainability and Sustainable Development

“…Both microlevel interpersonal and macrolevel organizational tensions have been examined, across for-profit and nonprofit organizations. For example, researchers have noted how organizations often struggle under ideology-viability tensions, faced with the need to enact social change while also remaining financially afloat (D'Enbeau & Buzzanell, 2011), or when different organizations must collaborate on specific issues and thus negotiate collective identity despite significant differences in their structures and mission statements (Koschmann, 2013). Organizational communication research in this vein prioritizes the long-versus short-term and mission oriented tensions of sustainability, focuses on organizational viability or the viability of interorganizational collaborations, and downplays the environmental implications of sustainable development.…”