The Role of Organizational Myth in Institutional Persistence: The Case of Magnum Photos

Abstract

Institutionalized organizations are pervaded by myths, that is, loosely factual historical narratives expressing organizational values. Yet, we scarcely understand how such organizations cohere around their myths over time, thus maintaining their distinctive characters and demonstrating institutional persistence. In this study, we explore how organizational myth fosters institutional persistence over a long period of time, even in the face of potentially disintegrating crises. We examine the case of Magnum Photos, a legendary photo agency founded in 1947. Our analysis of rich manually collected archival data covering more than half a century of Magnum’s existence allows us to unpack a mechanism that we term mastering the art of crisis. In mastering the art of crisis, any organizational crisis is transformed into an existential one and organizational myth is invoked for charting a course of action that would ensure the continuous organizational cohesion around the values expressed in the myth. As a new course of action is bounded by the logic of the myth, it does not disrupt the distinctive character and historic legacy of the organization. As organizational myth, by virtue of its symbolic nature, affords multiple frames of reference, it allows for reprioritization and reinterpretation of the values constituting it, thereby providing a room for successful adaptation to new circumstances. Our findings contribute to the historical turn and revival of old institutionalism in organization studies.