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Discursive practices of remedial organizational identity work: A study of the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration

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  • Breit, Eric

Abstract

This paper examines organizational identity work among members of publicly criticized and discredited organizations. It does so by exploring the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration (NAV), an organization that has been the object of considerable persistent public critique over the years since its foundation in 2006. Based on a discursive analysis of how members of NAV have interpreted the critique and constructed senses of organizational identity, the paper highlights four types of discursive practice: ‘accepting,’ ‘condemning,’ ‘distancing,’ and ‘positively calibrating.’ These practices demonstrate how the critique was incorporated into members’ organizational identity constructions in various ways and with various outcomes, and how members navigated and articulated ambivalent conceptions of the critique, the organization, and their role as organizational members. Based on the findings, implications for the role of discursive practice in remedial organizational identity work are discussed.

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  • Breit, Eric, 2014. "Discursive practices of remedial organizational identity work: A study of the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 231-241.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:scaman:v:30:y:2014:i:2:p:231-241
    DOI: 10.1016/j.scaman.2013.08.003
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