Bridging organizational identity work and institutional work: Preserving the identity of the Church of Norway through institutional change

Abstract

Applying institutional theory to organizational identity (OI) work, this article analyzes how the OI of the Church of Norway was reformulated when it was disestablished as a state church. Building on social constructionist perspectives and their implications for agency, drawing on a case study, this article deepens the link between institutional work and OI research by promoting institutional work as an analytical tool to understand OI work. Deviating from current trends in OI research, which emphasize the discursive bottom-up work of organizational members, this work focuses on the pivotal role of regulative elements in a highly institutionalized organization and questions the division between a social actor and the social constructionist perspective of OI. It calls for more empirical research on OI work, which encompasses broader institutional aspects.