This paper addresses changes in the use of
socio-temporal comparison, in other words in expressing the distinctive nature
of an organization by connecting it to its various referents along the social
and temporal dimensions. Our examination of the evolutionary phases of a
spin-off suggests that these changes emerge from the fact that flexible use of
socio-temporal comparison allows organizational actors to meet two
identity-related challenges at the same time. 
That is, they can maintain endurance between the successive forms of
identity on the one hand and congruence between these forms and the operational
characteristics of the organization on the other. In general, we find that
organizational actors seek to maintain a coherent identity among their target
audiences by phase-specific selection, positioning, and valuation of
socio-temporal referents. Moreover, while organizational evolution continually
compels organizational actors to reconstruct identity, it also continuously
offers them new resources to do so.