Palma, Patrícia Jardim Trindade Martins daCunha, Miguel Pina eLopes, Miguel Pereira2013-10-252013-10-252010Public Management Review, 12, 725-7461471-9037http://hdl.handle.net/10400.12/2450Policies have been introduced in the public sector to increase efficiency. Following a privatization, there is a split between operational and strategic control. In this study, we explored how a public organization restores its identity after losing its operational structure. Based on a case study of a seaport, we found that when the self-defining properties were lost, the organizational identity dissolved into a managerial public identity. The organizational meaning that provided security and guided behavior was lost and the new identity was unable to serve as a provider of meaning. Implications for new public management policy and practice are discussed.engCorporate identityNew public managementOrganizational identityPortsPublic organizationsjournal article