ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY IN FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS: A CASE STUDY

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.41023180111

• Palavras-chave: -

• Keywords: symbolic convergence theory, religious organizations, institutional logics, economic logic, religious logic.

• Abstract:

  Objective: The objective of this research was to understand the importance of communication processes in the construction of common frameworks of meaning that make possible the symbolic convergence between groups of individuals who must manage beliefs and practices coming from potentially contradictory institutional logics.

  Method: The research design was carried out according to the qualitative approach. The data collection techniques were semi-structured interview, document review and non-participant observation. Ernest Bormann's (1983) Symbolic Convergence Theory and the fantasy-theme analysis technique proposed by Zanin et.al. (2016) served as the framework for data analysis and interpretation.

  Results: The study showed that the daily work practice of the leaders or managers of religious congregations, which is associated with the administration of the congregation as a global or local organization, is the predominant reference in the adoption and reproduction of beliefs and practices from the economic logic. These beliefs and practices are incorporated as central, distinctive and enduring in their construction of the organization's identity and are legitimized in the formal discourse through the creation of common frames of meaning that favor consensus.