How Business Disciplines Discuss Multiple Identities in Organizations

Abstract

This article shows that while the community of scholars using the term multiple identities may seem fragmented, it is, in fact, a more coherent entity of scholars than it first appears. Also, it illustrates that the concept of multiple identities is key to advance our knowledge of the socially constructed and social actor nature of an organization's identity. A review of how business scholars – from marketing, management, Management Information Systems, Productions and Operations Management, accounting, finance, and economics – employ the term multiple identities in their studies supports these arguments. In this regard, I analyzed 189 scholars’ works listed by the Business Source Premier Database that use the term multiple identities or refer to the most cited article on multiple identities as reported by the ISI Web of Knowledge Database. Findings are presented by mapping the journals that are published with common discussions. They also are discussed in light of how they might inspire future identity studies.