Identity as Process and Flow

Rather than viewing organizational identity in the usual fashion as some sort of entity, thing, or "being," we suggest that identity might be better viewed in terms of ongoing process or flow. We argue that such a counterintuitive stance generates a different way of understanding identity, which when viewed in concert with its more usual portrayal, actually produces a more insightful understanding of this key concept. We touch on several of the debates surrounding organizational identity and suggest approaches to studying its dynamics from a process research perspective.