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Previous studies have reported changes in organizational identities as a result of external or internal triggers. In contrast, we highlight how the paradoxical nature of an organizational identity can influence stability and change that identity. Using the example of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, we show how a "stable state of instability" of the organization´s collective identity is constantly being reproduced. We contribute to the literature on organizational identity by first analyzing a case in which identity change is not triggered by a disruptive event. Second, we show how the paradoxical nature of identity triggers attempts to reconcile contradictions of the paradox, culminating in permanent state of gradual changes of organizational identity. Finally, we exemplify how, as a form of partial organization where volunteers take part in the identity formation process, Wikipedia copes with the tensions that ensue from its collective identity.
Success in human resource management (HRM) depends on the question of whether applied practices of HRM meet specific contingency factors and are appropriately configured. Using this argument, the present article examines HRM in professional service firms (PSFs) in pursuit of three objectives. First, we introduce a conceptual framework that illustrates how the constitutive characteristics of PSFs, as contingency factors, influence HRM practices and research. Second, based on this framework, we summarize key findings of research on HRM in PSFs and open up potential avenues for further research. Third, we reflect on the argument that HRM in PSFs can contribute to an understanding of HRM practices in other organizational settings, leading to the question of the mutual transferability of HRM practices. Aside from these three primary objectives, we also introduce the contents of the special issue.