Managing creatives: paradoxical approaches to identity regulation

Gotsi, Manto, Andriopoulos, Constantine, Lewis, M. W. and Ingram, A. E. 2010. Managing creatives: paradoxical approaches to identity regulation. Human Relations 63 (6) , pp. 781-805. 10.1177/0018726709342929

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Abstract

Creative workers often experience identity tensions. On the one hand, ‘creatives’ desire to see themselves as distinctive in their artistry, passion, and self-expression, nurturing an identity that energizes their innovative efforts. Yet daily pressures to meet budgets, deadlines and market demands encourage a more business-like identity that supports firm performance. Through a comparative case study of New Product Design (NPD) consultancies, we explicate the potential management of such identity tensions. Case evidence illustrates overarching, paradoxical approaches to identity regulation as the firms emphasized both differentiation and integration strategies. Differentiation practices promoted disparate identities by segregating related roles in time and space, while integration efforts encouraged a more synergistic meta-identity as ‘practical artists’. Leveraging paradox literature, we discuss how these strategies may accommodate creative workers’ needs to cope with multiple identities, as well as their aversion to sanctioned subjectivities.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Creative workers; Creativity; Identity; Identity regulation; Innovation; Paradoxes; Management
Publisher:	SAGE
ISSN:	0018-7267
Last Modified:	05 May 2022 09:01
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/19452

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