Firms absorb deep change only when it does not threaten their institutional character.

Evidence

Strategic actors in an organization may use the stability in labels to conceal the changes they undertake, preventing resistance by organizational members. … This does not rule out change per se. However, it implies that organizations do not tolerate change that is disruptive in relation to their basic character. — Georg Schreyögg and Jörg Sydow, The Hidden Dynamics of Path Dependence, 505

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: ‘The Vocabulary Trick’ — how leaders rebrand radical restructuring with old names to defuse resistance, e.g. ‘we’re still the same bank/company’.