Strategy and identity shape each other through day-to-day activities. Instead of interpreting both as separate categories, this paper mobilizes a practice perspective of strategy and identity work and proposes the concept of ‘alignment work’ to foreground their co-constitution. Drawing upon an ethnographic study, we investigate how alignment as a social practice is constituted in day-to-day activities. Specifically, we analyze alignment work in weekly all-hands meetings of a non-profit organization. The findings reveal three dimensions of alignment work: temporal alignment work – the positioning of future operations as in line with the organization’s past, self-aware alignment work – the negotiation of expertise and reaffirmation of previous decisions in the light of new strategic directions, and relational alignment work – the evaluation and cultivation of the compatibility of potential collaborators. Discussing the differences of alignment to identity and strategy work, we highlight the usefulness of this concept for unpacking and understanding their nexus, which has practical implications for aligning as a day-to-day necessity in organizations.
