THE LOGIC OF IDENTITY-FOCUSED ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE: RESEARCH BASED ON THE COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN by MEGAN LEPERE-SCHLOOP (Under the Direction of Laurence J. O’Toole) ABSTRACT Whether intentional or not, identity-focused organizational change alters shared understandings of that which is central, distinctive, and continuous about an organization. Research into such change has practical and academic significance because it addresses core questions pertinent to organizational theory that have real-world ramifications. This dissertation leverages the dynamic context of workplace giving to examine identity- focused change processes across national fields of nonprofit organizations including the United Way system. In order to formulate hypotheses, this dissertation draws upon insights from existing research on the workplace giving context, organizational identity, and organizational change, most notably the institutional logics perspective. Hypotheses are tested using longitudinal data from the Combined Federal Campaign, the workplace giving campaign of the US Federal Government, and a variety of analytical methods. Each chapter of this dissertation examines identity-focused change in the workplace giving arena from a slightly different vantage point. The fourth chapter of this dissertation considers the manner in which nonprofits may use various federated fund affiliation options to signal their alignment with distinct collective identities and their associated communities. I use logistic regression to examine factors associated with variation in the fund affiliation choices of nonprofits over time. I find that despite the sea change unfolding in the workplace giving arena, nonprofit fund affiliation choices continue to be shaped by an enduring logic of community identification. The fifth chapter of this dissertation examines the multifaceted nature of identity across a national field of interconnected organizations: the United Way system. I use expert coding, supervised machine learning, and descriptive statistics to examine geographic and temporal variation in the use of different identity facets over time. The findings from this study provide preliminary evidence that contextual pressures at different levels of analysis shape the identity claims made by organizations across an interconnected field. The sixth chapter of this dissertation focuses on how the interaction of local and field level context affects identity-focused organizational change as it unfolds across an interconnected system. I find that identity facet usage varies depending on the characteristics of the local community in which individual organizations operate despite national field-level pressures. INDEX WORDS: Organizational change; organizational adaptation; organizational identity; nonprofit organizations; workplace giving; United Way THE LOGIC OF IDENTITY-FOCUSED ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE: RESEARCH BASED ON THE COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN by MEGAN LEPERE-SCHLOOP BA, Oberlin College, 2001 MPA, The University of Georgia, 2013 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2017 © 2017 Megan LePere-Schloop All Rights Reserved THE LOGIC OF IDENTITY-FOCUSED ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE: RESEARCH BASED ON THE COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN by MEGAN LEPERE-SCHLOOP Major Professor: Laurence J. O’Toole Committee: Robert K. Christensen Rebecca Nesbit Tyler Scott Electronic Version Approved: Suzanne Barbour Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia August 2017 DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my daughter, Isabella. Dream big. Work hard. Keep your sense of humor. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have come to fruition without the support of my family. I love you Phil, Mindy, Isabella, and Fred. It also would not have been possible without the wisdom and support of my committee. Thank you Larry, Rob, Becky, and Tyler. Finally, I would like to thank Joel Lieske for sharing his operationalization of political subcultures in the United States, and Marshall Strauss for his assistance and insight in working with data from the Combined Federal Campaign. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................1 Dissertation overview ..................................................................................6 Data ..............................................................................................................8 Conclusion .................................................................................................11 References ..................................................................................................12 2 Theoretical Foundations...................................................................................15 Theories of organizational change .............................................................16 Organizational identity and image .............................................................42 Organizational identity framing .................................................................44 Conclusion .................................................................................................52 References ..................................................................................................53 3 The Workplace Giving Context .......................................................................65 Overview of workplace giving...................................................................66 History of workplace giving ......................................................................68 State of workplace giving research ............................................................82 vi Conclusion .................................................................................................96 References ..................................................................................................99 4 Fund Affiliation Switching as Evidence of Identity Framing ........................107 Material and symbolic costs and benefits of fund affiliation ...................111 Theorizing fund affiliation decisions in the CFC ....................................116 Data ..........................................................................................................121 Variable operationalization and analytical methods ................................123 Findings and discussion ...........................................................................127 Conclusion ...............................................................................................132 References ................................................................................................135 5 Variation in Identity Facet Usage as Evidence of Identity Framing ..............146 Identity-focused organizational change and mission statements .............150 Identity-focused change at the United Way .............................................153 Data ..........................................................................................................160 Variable operationalization and methods .................................................162 Findings and discussion ...........................................................................167 Conclusion ...............................................................................................175 References ................................................................................................177 6 Multi-level Contextual Pressures and Identity Variation...............................188 Research on United Way adaptation in the workplace giving context ....192 Theorizing the effect of context on identity facet usage ..........................195 Data ..........................................................................................................198 Variable operationalization and methods .................................................199 vii Findings....................................................................................................208 Discussion and Conclusion ......................................................................210 References ................................................................................................214 7 Conclusion .....................................................................................................225 References ................................................................................................236 viii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: Interinstitutional System Ideal Types ..................................................................60 Table 2: Theoretical Integration of Perspectives on Organizational Change ....................61 Table 3: Dissertation Research Questions, Hypotheses, and Methods ..............................62 Table 4: Historical events, pressures, institutional logics, identity facets .......................104 Table 5: Comparison of Costs and Benefits associated with Fund Affiliation Options ..138 Table 6: Fund Type