IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jadmsc/v11y2021i4p111-d653186.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Identity Reinforcement or Risky Organizational Change? Category Spanning in Humanitarian Projects

Author

Listed:
  • Eva A. P. Kooijman

    (Department of Economics, Università della Svizzera Italiana, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland)

  • Nikolaus Beck

    (Department of Economics, Università della Svizzera Italiana, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland)

Abstract

In this study, we investigate the consequences of organizational change that consist of adding new categories to the portfolio of humanitarian organizations. Our aim is to discern differences in these consequences between specialist and generalist organizations. Previous research has shown that spanning categories lead to disadvantages in the evaluation of organizations by audience members in terms of the attention they receive from the audience but did not focus on the distinction between specialists, organizations that have no history in spanning categories, and generalists, organizations that have already done so in the past. Using fixed effect logit regression methods on project approval among 2480 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the humanitarian sector, we show that category spanning is tantamount to risky organizational change for specialist organizations, which leads to a reduction in project approval. However, generalists benefit from category spanning, which indicates identity reinforcement. We also show that in the case of urgent demand, spanning categories has a less detrimental effect. Consequently, organizations that have successfully undergone a change from a specialist to a generalist identity no longer suffer from category spanning. Moreover, also situations of urgent demand reduce the negative consequences of category spanning.

Suggested Citation

  • Eva A. P. Kooijman & Nikolaus Beck, 2021. "Identity Reinforcement or Risky Organizational Change? Category Spanning in Humanitarian Projects," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-17, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:11:y:2021:i:4:p:111-:d:653186
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/11/4/111/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/11/4/111/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Philippe Monin & Hayagreeva Rao & Rodolphe Durand, 2005. "Border crossing : Bricolage and the Erosion of Categorical Boundaries in French Gastronomy," Post-Print hal-02311675, HAL.
    2. Giacomo Negro & Ming D. Leung, 2013. "“Actual” and Perceptual Effects of Category Spanning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 684-696, June.
    3. Greta Hsu & Michael T. Hannan, 2005. "Identities, Genres, and Organizational Forms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(5), pages 474-490, October.
    4. Gary Chamberlain, 1980. "Analysis of Covariance with Qualitative Data," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 47(1), pages 225-238.
    5. Rodolphe Durand & Hayagreeva Rao & Philippe Monin, 2005. "Border Crossing: Bricolage and the Erosion of Categorical Boundaries in French Gastronomy," Post-Print hal-00457938, HAL.
    6. Giacomo Negro & Michael T. Hannan & Hayagreeva Rao, 2011. "Category Reinterpretation and Defection: Modernism and Tradition in Italian Winemaking," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(6), pages 1449-1463, December.
    7. Kathleen R. Conner & C. K. Prahalad, 1996. "A Resource-Based Theory of the Firm: Knowledge Versus Opportunism," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(5), pages 477-501, October.
    8. Goldenstein, Jan & Hunoldt, Michael & Oertel, Simon, 2019. "How optimal distinctiveness affects new ventures' failure risk: A contingency perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 477-495.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Elizabeth George Pontikes, 2022. "Category innovation in the software industry: 1990–2002," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(9), pages 1697-1727, September.
    2. Ming D. Leung & Amanda J. Sharkey, 2014. "Out of Sight, Out of Mind? Evidence of Perceptual Factors in the Multiple-Category Discount," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 171-184, February.
    3. Christophe Boone & Serden Özcan, 2020. "Oppositional Logics and the Antecedents of Hybridization: A Country-Level Study of the Diffusion of Islamic Banking Windows, 1975–2017," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 990-1011, July.
    4. Candace Jones & Massimo Maoret & Felipe G. Massa & Silviya Svejenova, 2012. "Rebels with a Cause: Formation, Contestation, and Expansion of the De Novo Category “Modern Architecture,” 1870–1975," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(6), pages 1523-1545, December.
    5. J.-P. Vergne & Tyler Wry, 2014. "Categorizing Categorization Research: Review, Integration, and Future Directions," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 56-94, January.
    6. Soorjith Illickal Karthikeyan & Stefan Jonsson & Filippo Carlo Wezel, 2016. "The Travails of Identity Change: Competitor Claims and Distinctiveness of British Political Parties, 1970–1992," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 106-122, February.
    7. Goldenstein, Jan & Hunoldt, Michael & Oertel, Simon, 2019. "How optimal distinctiveness affects new ventures' failure risk: A contingency perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 477-495.
    8. Li, Xu, 2024. "When firms may benefit from sticking with an old technology," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 120131, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Leung, Ming D., 2015. "Failed Searches: How the choice set of job applicants affects an employer’s likelihood of making an offer," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt89r4h7d9, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    10. Tang, Yi & Wezel, Filippo Carlo, 2015. "Up to standard?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 452-466.
    11. Greta Hsu & Özgecan Koçak & Balázs Kovács, 2018. "Co-Opt or Coexist? A Study of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries’ Identity-Based Responses to Recreational-Use Legalization in Colorado and Washington," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(1), pages 172-190, February.
    12. Rodolphe Durand & Robert M. Grant & Tammy L. Madsen & Gino Cattani & Joseph F. Porac & Howard Thomas, 2017. "Categories and competition," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 64-92, January.
    13. Trapido, Denis, 2015. "How novelty in knowledge earns recognition: The role of consistent identities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8), pages 1488-1500.
    14. Dominika Wruk & Achim Oberg & Jennifer Klutt & Indre Maurer, 2019. "The Presentation of Self as Good and Right: How Value Propositions and Business Model Features are Linked in the Sharing Economy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(4), pages 997-1021, November.
    15. Heewon Chae, 2022. "Income or education? Community‐level antecedents of firms' category‐spanning activities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 93-129, January.
    16. Wry, Tyler & Lounsbury, Michael, 2013. "Contextualizing the categorical imperative: Category linkages, technology focus, and resource acquisition in nanotechnology entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 117-133.
    17. Justin Frake, 2017. "Selling Out: The Inauthenticity Discount in the Craft Beer Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(11), pages 3930-3943, November.
    18. Carroll, Glenn R. & Wheaton, Dennis Ray, 2008. "The Organizational Construction of Authenticity: An Examination of Contemporary Food and Dining in the U.S," Research Papers 1995, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    19. Elizabeth G. Pontikes, 2018. "Category Strategy for Firm Advantage," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(4), pages 620-631, December.
    20. Giacomo Negro & Ming D. Leung, 2013. "“Actual” and Perceptual Effects of Category Spanning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 684-696, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:11:y:2021:i:4:p:111-:d:653186. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.