Non-Profits Digital Transformation: Understanding Organisational Identity Dynamics

Torres, Maria Julia; Püchel, Lea; Zimmer, Markus P; Brandt, Tobias

Abstract

Digital Transformation (DT) is a central socio-technical process in information systems (IS) research that scholars have theorized as redefining organisational identity (OI). This theorizing stems from studies of for-profit organisations and thus ties to their use and understanding of OI. However, nonprofits engage in DT, and because of their often, long-term organisational purpose, they typically feature distinct and rather stable organisational identities. We argue that this distinct feature makes nonprofits a critical research site for advancing our theorising of DT through the theoretical lens of OI, posing the research question: how does DT change a nonprofit’s identity? To answer this question, we conducted a longitudinal case study of Greenpeace International (GPI). Our findings suggest that GPI’s DT manifests in a cyclical five-periods-process that is deeply entangled with its OI and we contribute to the DT literature by extending existing theorizing of DT-induced identity dynamics to the context of nonprofit organisations.