Balancing multiple organizational identities The communication and evaluation of multiple identity organization Sanquin

The identity of an organization plays a leading part in how organizational members identify with their organization and in how external stakeholders perceive, assess, and support the organization. When the organizational identity is multiple, the internal sense-making and the organization’s communication, its external comprehension, and its support are more complex. The central, distinctive, and enduring identity characteristics of a multiple identity organization (MIO) are grounded in two contrasting value systems: the ideological and the utilitarian domain. The research problem the dissertation covers is the intractable character of an MIO and the repercussions of this character for how the organization’s communication is perceived and assessed. The casus that is considered in the empirical studies is the Dutch blood supply foundation Sanquin. The findings of this dissertation will be relevant beyond MIO cases, because they exemplify the key challenges and the general importance of identity-related communication management.
Due to the availability of identity traits belonging to two domains, an MIOs identity is relatively dynamic and manageable. Still, organizational members experience difficulties in choosing the identity to identify with. Organizational identity multiplicity is newsworthy. News media use less ideological and more utilitarian identity characteristics to portray the organization than the organization itself uses in its external communication. The combination of two identities is difficult to be understood by stakeholders. It complicates the perception, influences the reputation, and endangers especially the legitimacy of the organization.