Settle Down or the Struggle Within: A Multiple Case-Study of Organizational Character Development

Abstract

Using a multiple-case study of two financial services firms in the Netherlands, we explain how organizational character develops when new commitments are articulated and extant commitments are maintained. We found that commitments become expressed as a result of the perceived organizational past, envisioned organizational future, and as a result of pressure from internal subgroups. Because these commitments were made salient to managers, tensions became manifest, leading to various forms of struggle. Four interrelated dynamics underlie this state of struggle, which we termed emerging dilemmas, organizational identity clarity, ambiguous or superficial commitments and structural differentiation. In such context, the enactment of three stabilizing practices, specifically, substantive integrative work, routinizing a collective conscience and leaders’ modeling behaviors, contributed to commitment affirmation or commitment violation, providing the opportunity for further anchoring these commitments in organizational character. In elaborating theory around these actions, we contribute to scholarly and practitioners understanding around how organizations may improve in embedding contradictory commitments within organizational boundaries and rejuvenate the study of organizations as value-infused social actors.