Collective identity formation in hybrid organizations.

Romain Boulongne (1) , Eva Boxenbaum (2, 3)

1 HEC Paris - Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales
2 CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3
3 Copenhagen Business School

The present article examines the process of collective identity formation in the context of hybrid organizing. Empirically, we investigate hybrid organizing in a collaborative structure at the interface of two heterogeneous organizations in the domain of new renewable energies. We draw on the literature on knowledge sharing across organizational boundaries, particularly the notions of transfer, translation and transformation, to examine in real time how knowledge sharing in a hybrid setting contributes (or not) to the emergence of a new collective identity at the interface of two heterogeneous organizations. Our findings point to two factors that limit knowledge sharing and hence to new collective identity formation in a hybrid space: 1) ambiguous or multiple organizational roles and 2) strong identities of the collaborating organizations. These findings contribute to illuminating the initial formation of a new collective identity in hybrid organizing, and hence how new hybrid organizational forms may emerge non-intentionally.

Mots clés: hybrid organizing; collective identity; renewable energy

Domaines: Gestion et management

Romain Boulongne, Eva Boxenbaum. Collective identity formation in hybrid organizations.. EGOS Colloquium 2015, European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS), Jul 2015, Athens, Greece. ⟨hal-01202515⟩