* Academy of Management Review 2000. Vol. 25. No. 1. 141-152. CONCLUSION IDENTITY DIALOGUES The Beauty of and Barriers to Organizational Theories of Identity Michael G. Pratt and Peter O. Foreman Reading these six articles reminded us of what we love and do not love about the current state of identity' research. The sources of our ambivalence are the amazing theoretical diver- sity of the field and the tendency among most identity scholars to eschew promoting one dom- inant definition of identity, identification, im- age, and the like. Our purpose here is to briefly discuss the beauty that such theoretical diver- sity adds to our understanding of identity, as well as the barriers it causes to development in this area. The beauty. The advantage and beauty of such a theoretically diverse approach are evi- dent in these articles: scholars from a wide range of disciplines can inform our knowledge of identity dynamics in organizations. Such di- versity is especially exciting when it is brought to bear on similar issues. For example, these articles converge on several points about iden- tity and, thus, deepen our understanding of the role of identity (identities) within organizations. As such, they single out several important points that should be pursued in subsequent research: Identity and pluiality. In most of the articles in this special issue, the authors discuss some as- pect of the relationship between identity and plurality. First, they suggest that there is a plu- iality of identities within organizations. In these six articles there is a consensus of dissensus— that is, multiple and potentially competing iden- tities (or "mental models") are the reality of or- ganizational life. This may seem a fairly moot point, and yet the fact is that, although there is much research that addresses multiple identi- ties at the individual level, little progress has ' Although we focus primarily on identity in organiza- tions, similar arguments can be made for identification and other identity-related concepts and terms. been made on multiple identities in organiza- tions. Second, in most of the articles, the authors suggest that the source of these multiple identi- ties is multiple groups or collectives (e.g., dyads, workgroups, social memberships, external stakeholders). This suggests that multiple iden- tities should be the norm in pluralistic organi- zations that exist in rapidly changing environ- ments. Multiple identity management. Building from the first point, the authors of most of these arti- cles also concur that the management of multi- ple identities is best achieved by managing multiple "stakeholders" (broadly defined) both within and external to the organization. Under- lying these arguments are several assumptions. To begin, there is an assumption that identities are manageable: they are not something largely unchangeable, as some view culture, nor are they "illusory," as some view image and repu- tation. There is often also the assumption that the "management" of multiple identities occurs primarily at the top management levels of an organization; it is at this level that organization- wide issues such as identity can be shaped or modified. Furthermore, because this identity management activity is vital to an organiza- tion's long-term success and survival, it consti- tutes a fundamental and critical responsibility for top-level managers. The collective wisdom of the articles suggests that the ways in which organizations structure, cope with, or respond to multiple identities have significant implications for the well-being of both the overall organiza- tion and its constituent members. Identity and power. A third point of conver- gence in these articles regards the need to explore the relationship between identities and power—be it the power of individual leaders or prototypical members, majority groups within the organization, or legitimate stakeholders. Analyses of power can help de- termine whose identities or images are set forth for public consumption, which identities are "subordinated," and which are not. De- 141