Exploring Organizational Identity in the Context of Transformational Change: A South African Case Study

Abstract

This article explores the establishment and development of a leadership centre in a South African university. The article is concerned with reviewing the notion of identity from a systems-wide perspective and uses the concepts of discourse and identity, social identity theory and notions of contested and transitional identity as its basis for exploring the role and effect of working with a plurality of perspectives in the context of transformational change. A longitudinal case study approach was used by the authors to create deeper understandings of the complexity of human and social relations and their effect on an emerging organizational identity in the context of the case. The article supports the view that ‘idealized’ forms of organizational identity and narratives about it often ignore the ‘real’ world of competing rationalities, such as issues related to transitional, multiple and contested identities, and conflicts between social and professional identities and therefore ‘edit out’ what is involved in the struggle to create an organizational identity in a context of transformational change.

Keywords:

• Transformational change
• organizational identity
• leadership
• South Africa