Design change and the emergence of pluralistic identities

It has long been apparent that organizations can have multiple identities. Two main research streams on identity plurality have developed: hybrid and multiple organizational identities. Although these differ in their underlying assumptions, both have been widely applied in identity research. As yet however, these ideas have predominantly been developed separately, largely as a result of their different theoretical epistemological, underpinnings. We begin to reconcile these different approaches in a study of change at Pathfinder , a UK based charity undergoing a major transformation. This allowed us to observe the unexpected ways in which identity emerged to facilitate a particular response to radical change. We found both hybrid and multiple organizational identities to be present. Based on our findings, we advocate for an integrated understanding of identity plurality and develop the concept of pluralistic organizational identities.