| The social actor conceptualization of organizational identity has been defined as the "claims made" by those who can speak for the organization which delineate "the central and enduring attributes of an organization that distinguish it from other organizations" (Whetten, 2006, p. 220). As hybrid organizations emanate from the dictates of two institutions, a hybrid organizational identity is characterized by competing identity claims that are inviolate, indispensable, and incompatible (Albert & Adams, 2002; Albert, Godfrey, & Whetten, 1999). This qualitative case study explored the organizational identity claims of a 70 year old family owned business in the refrigerated food logistics industry. The research objective was to ascertain whether organizational identity claims competed with one another as the entity encountered critical events in its history, and if so, how these competing claims were navigated. Data were gathered from documents, interviews, and observations. Results revealed five organizational identity claims that were not inherently incompatible; a claim of family ownership and control emerged roughly as the first OI claim, connecting the entity to the values of an early leader, and appeared to preside over critical events in the history of the enterprise as an anchoring claim. Results related to differing legacies of early founders, contextual issues regarding opportunities presented by untimely succession, and the value of outside directors also emerged from the study. Conclusions offer refinements to organizational identity theory, suggesting the utility of the construct in examining critical events, and provide the first application of hybrid organizational identity theory to family business research. |
