How Do We Understand Organizational Identity Effect?

Abstract

Abstract: Organizational identity is a set of characteristics that reflect an organization's distinctiveness. The solution to the issues of organizational identity requires an individual and specific comprehension. Therefore, cross-sectional quantitative research for a pre-established category established by the researcher was difficult to perform. As a result, until now, the mainstream organizational identity studies have been qualitative rather than quantitative. However, while one aspect of organizational identity studies is to solve the question of organizational identity itself, another aspect is to solve the question of its impact on the organization. Qualitative methods may be appropriate to solve the question of organizational identity itself, but quantitative methods are better suited to solve the question regarding its organizational impact. In other words, it is possible to utilize qualitative methods to comprehend an organization's identity while using quantitative methods, for example, to measure the organizational identification of its members and conflicts that arise from the differences in directivity among its members. Research utilizing quantitative methods of this type may increase in the future.Keywords: organizational identity, research methods1. IntroductionThis paper will suggest some possibilities regarding future empirical studies on organizational identity. According to Albert and Whetten (1985, p. 265), organizational identity refers to organizational characteristics that are: i) central, ii) distinctive, and in) enduring. Albert and Whetten (1985) introduced this concept, and Dutton and Dukerich (1991) initiated empirical studies. Since then, a number of studies1 have followed.In recent years, research to further the understanding of the concept of organizational identity and its impact on the organization has progressed. At the same time, discussions have emerged regarding how to comprehend organizational identity empirically.22. A Review of Research Method in Organizational Identity StudiesThe following is a review of discussions to date regarding methodologies employed in organizational identity research. Ravasi and van Rekom (2003) have identified the following characteristics regarding the methods employed in organizational identity studies: First, organizational identities are concerned either with claims made by a member(s) of an organization or with a narrative about the organization. Therefore, data used for empirical studies tend to rely on information collected from insiders with intimate knowledge of the organization in question. Archival material also provides a source of information for empirical studies. The collected data are often used for developing a descriptive argument rather than for measurement purposes. Thus, the study is qualitative in nature.The above can be confirmed in research concerning the methodologies employed in organizational identity studies by van Rekom and van Riel (2000), Oliver and Roos (2007), and Ravasi and Canato (2013).Van Rekom and van Riel (2000) examined 13 studies and found that two of them were survey-type, eight research-based on an open-ended questionnaire, and three a combination of the two.Of the 22 empirical studies examined by Oliver and Roos (2007), three represented quantitative methods alone using a large sample survey, two represented a combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods, and the remainder were qualitative in nature using such means as interviews, archival material, and data based on participant observations.Ravasi and Canato (2013) reviewed the methodologies employed in empirical studies on the subject of organizational identities that appeared in top-tier management journals between 1985 and 2011.3 They examined 33 empirical studies and classified them into five research methods, i.e., survey, extended metaphor, grounded theory, ethnography, and narrative analysis. …